Committed to energy diversity
Thursday, May 31, 2007
APEC energy ministers yesterday signed the Darwin Declaration recognising the need to deploy cleaner, more efficient and sustainable energy technologies.
The declaration was released at the conclusion of the eighth Apec Energy Ministers' meeting which began on Tuesday.
"This is a landmark achievement for the Apec member economies. Energy Ministers from across the 21 economies have agreed to a number of ways forward to achieve energy security and sustainable development," Australian Industry Minister and Chair of the meeting, Ian Macfarlane said. "The decisions and deliberations we have had, particularly in relation to clean development and climate, will be an integral part of broader considerations undertaken by Apec Leaders when they meet in Sydney in September 2007.
"The future prosperity of the Apec region relies on securing energy supplies, and on clean and efficient energy production and use," said the Australian leader.
In the Declaration, the ministers among others agreed to improve energy efficiency through a range of measures, including the establishment of an Energy Investment & Trade Study and Roundtable and a voluntary Apec Energy Peer Review Mechanism to improve the operations of energy markets.
"The voluntary Peer Review will focus on assisting Apec economies to increase their energy efficiency and reduce their dependence on oil," Macfarlane said.
"This will support the twin objectives of energy security and environmental sustainability and highlights the fact that while energy is paramount to Apec, environmental sustainability is also a key concern of member economies."
The Declaration looks at facilitating investment and trade in down stream and upstream oil markets. To ensure sufficient investment in refining capacity to meet growing demand, Apec economies are encouraged to provide a transparent and streamlined regularatory framework, facilitate freer trade of oil products and create a positive environment for technology development to help refiners to produce cleaner oil products efficiently.
The Declaration also looked at emergency preparedness to ensure Apec economies manage the consequences of short-term supply disruptions.
It also sought to improve oil date sharing among Apec member countries as lacked of transparency and reliable oil market data aggravates price volatility.
The Declaration also emphasised at developing best practice towards energy efficient transportation, intensifying efforts to develop and deploy techniques for the cost-effective use of non-food feedstocks.
It also encourages international collaboration on research and development of alternative fuels.
The 21 APEC members are Australia, Brunei, Canada, Chile, China, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Japan, South Korea, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea, Peru, the Philippines, Russia, Singapore, Taiwan, Thailand, the United States and Vietnam. Agencies
The declaration was released at the conclusion of the eighth Apec Energy Ministers' meeting which began on Tuesday.
"This is a landmark achievement for the Apec member economies. Energy Ministers from across the 21 economies have agreed to a number of ways forward to achieve energy security and sustainable development," Australian Industry Minister and Chair of the meeting, Ian Macfarlane said. "The decisions and deliberations we have had, particularly in relation to clean development and climate, will be an integral part of broader considerations undertaken by Apec Leaders when they meet in Sydney in September 2007.
"The future prosperity of the Apec region relies on securing energy supplies, and on clean and efficient energy production and use," said the Australian leader.
In the Declaration, the ministers among others agreed to improve energy efficiency through a range of measures, including the establishment of an Energy Investment & Trade Study and Roundtable and a voluntary Apec Energy Peer Review Mechanism to improve the operations of energy markets.
"The voluntary Peer Review will focus on assisting Apec economies to increase their energy efficiency and reduce their dependence on oil," Macfarlane said.
"This will support the twin objectives of energy security and environmental sustainability and highlights the fact that while energy is paramount to Apec, environmental sustainability is also a key concern of member economies."
The Declaration looks at facilitating investment and trade in down stream and upstream oil markets. To ensure sufficient investment in refining capacity to meet growing demand, Apec economies are encouraged to provide a transparent and streamlined regularatory framework, facilitate freer trade of oil products and create a positive environment for technology development to help refiners to produce cleaner oil products efficiently.
The Declaration also looked at emergency preparedness to ensure Apec economies manage the consequences of short-term supply disruptions.
It also sought to improve oil date sharing among Apec member countries as lacked of transparency and reliable oil market data aggravates price volatility.
The Declaration also emphasised at developing best practice towards energy efficient transportation, intensifying efforts to develop and deploy techniques for the cost-effective use of non-food feedstocks.
It also encourages international collaboration on research and development of alternative fuels.
The 21 APEC members are Australia, Brunei, Canada, Chile, China, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Japan, South Korea, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea, Peru, the Philippines, Russia, Singapore, Taiwan, Thailand, the United States and Vietnam. Agencies
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