IEA energy ministers formulating stance on climate change

International Energy Agency energy ministers are formulating the agency's stance on global climate change policy ahead of another pivotal international conference on the leading environmental issue facing the energy industry.

The Governing Board of the International Energy Agency (IEA) met at ministerial level in Paris May 23. Among other topics, the ministers addressed the relationship between energy and the environment. A particular concern was new climate change commitments under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (Unfccc).

The ministers agreed that IEA's most pressing challenge is to devise and implement achievable and cost-effective limitation and reduction objectives for greenhouse gas emissions. These are expected to be agreed upon at the third session of Conference of the Parties to the Unfccc in Kyoto in December.

IEA's view

The board said energy use has been decisive in economic development but the consumption of fossil fuels has increased CO2 emissions.

In the absence of new limitation and reduction measures, economic growth will continue to cause increased CO2 emissions.

The overall carbon content of the 23 IEA countries' energy requirements has been decreasing during the last 20 years, due in particular to the development of nuclear power and to increasing use of natural gas. However, the assembly predicted this decrease is unlikely to continue in the absence of specific measures to effect climate change, at least in part because nuclear programs have now been slowed or halted in most countries.

Possible energy responses to climate change were discussed. The ministers agreed that it is essential that developed countries cooperate to improve efficiency worldwide, increase introduction of non-fossil fuels, enhance the commercialization of climate-friendly technologies, encourage long-term energy research and development, and deploy energy technologies in developing countries.

What's needed

The assembly said far-reaching policies and measurements needed to reach emissions targets will involve costs and take time to implement.

No single response option will achieve the goal of mitigating climate change; it is essential to define a mix of policies and measures and to implement those according to national circumstances, which vary widely among and within IEA countries.

These were among the ideas discussed:

The phased reduction of fossil fuel subsidies and the incorporation of real costs into prices may provide both economic and environmental benefits.
Energy efficiency standards, information dissemination, labeling audits, and voluntary agreements have been effective in the past.
Efficient implementation of the best available, cost-effective technology, including its deployment in developing countries, should be encouraged.
Longer-term research and development, undertaken cooperatively between governments and between industry and government to develop and demonstrate cleaner and more efficient energy technologies, may encourage the application of these technologies.
Joint projects to provide flexibility across countries may ensure cost-effectiveness.
Innovative ideas such as international or national emissions trading to cut costs and share burdens may also offer efficient means of controlling greenhouse gas emissions.

The timescale of any commitments should be compatible with capital stock turnover in the energy sector and the wider economy, because the magnitude and age of existing energy infrastructure constrain the rate at which cost-effective emissions reductions can be achieved in the near-term, said the ministers.

Further, market dynamics, the rate of capital stock turnover, and consumer preferences form the bounds of viable responses.