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ST PETERSBURG, Russia, June 21, 2006 (Refocus
Weekly)
Energy ministers from the G8 nations have
reaffirmed an earlier commitment to promote clean energy and achieve
sustainable development around the world by increased access to
reliable and affordable energy.
“Lack of access to modern energy services is a barrier to
economic growth and can put at risk the achievement of the
Millennium Development Goals, especially in sub-saharan Africa,” and
discussed “important linkages” between energy services and health,
education, gender inequality and environmental sustainability. “We
welcome the existing initiatives in the energy sector and look
forward to the completion and implementation of the World Bank's
Clean Energy Investment Framework and underline that it should give
increased attention to improving access to energy services.”
“We welcome the agreement reached on replenishing the Global
Environment Facility which can serve as a major tool for developing
access to clean energy,” and a statement from their meeting in
Moscow said “increased access to energy services can spur economic
and social development provided that policies for economic growth
and poverty reduction are in place.” There is need to give a
“specific pro-poor focus to energy strategies, with emphasis on
access to modern energy services for the most vulnerable population
groups,” and they emphasized the “importance of increased access to
cleaner fuels in household consumption which can reduce air
pollution.”
“We reaffirm the commitment made at Gleneagles to promote clean
energy and achieve sustainable development globally, including by
increased access to reliable and affordable energy,” and concluded
that “energy security will not become a reality without
diversification, which most importantly means the expansion of types
of energy in use into low-carbon alternative power, renewables and
innovations for conventional energy sectors.” Nuclear energy
requires “appreciable efforts to ensure safety, environmental
accountability, and rigorous international monitoring.”
The energy ministers from the Group of Eight countries were meeting
in St. Petersburg, in advance of next month's summit among the
country leaders.
In his official online welcome to the G8 meeting, Russian president
Vladimir Putin promised to “give a fresh impetus to efforts to find
solutions to key international problems in energy, education and
healthcare” and to urge other leaders to “redouble efforts to ensure
global energy security.” Efforts should be “comprehensive and must
stimulate stabilization of the global energy markets, development of
innovation technologies, use of renewable energy sources and
protection of the environment.”
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