2. The world badly needs secure energy supplies and a stable
climate. But the international mechanisms regulating how
energy is exploited and shared belong to another
era, analysts say.
By Kieran Cooke
Climate News Network
LONDON – Existing governmental bodies overseeing the global energy sector are
inadequate and have failed to adapt to widespread changes in energy supply and
demand, says a new report.
A shake-up of global energy institutions is urgently needed – and nothing short of
a technology revolution is called for in order to tackle the twin challenges of rising
energy demand and climate change mitigation.
The report, The Reform of Global Energy Governance, by Neil Hirst at the
Grantham Institute for Climate Change at Imperial College, London and Antony
Froggatt of the London-based think tank, Chatham House, outlines how the energy
market has changed in recent years.
3. The most developed countries traditionally made up the bulk of world energy demand
but now account for less than 45 percent – a share that is continuing to decline. The
developing nations are the new big players on the block.
Largest energy consumer
China is now the world's largest energy consumer and also its largest CO2 emitter.
World oil demand, largely driven by the so-called Bric countries –
Brazil, Russia, India, China – increased by 24 percent between 1990 and 2009 and is
set to go up by a further 12 percent by 2025.
These profound and far-reaching changes in the global energy scene are having a big
impact not only on the way economies develop but on the climate. Yet the institutions
which oversee an energy trade that is worth about $2.3 trillion per year – or 16
percent of all international trade – belong to another era, analysts say..
The main player in global energy governance, the International Energy Agency, or IEA, does not
even have the Bric countries as members, with institutional rules and structures standing in the
way of any change. This, says the report, is "a serious problem."
Profound differences persist between the OPEC countries, who are committed to production
quotas, and the IEA countries, who value open energy markets above all else.
4. The energy scene is increasingly dominated by national oil companies who scramble round the
world investing their dollars in energy resources. The oil market has become highly volatile and
unstable.
Shale gas revolution
Governments juggle with questions of security and cost of supply, the national and global
environment, economic growth and development, jobs, poverty eradication, import
dependency, resource income, technological leadership and diplomatic relations.
"The collective outcome of these decisions determines, to a large extent, the rate and limits of
global warming," says the report.
Meanwhile "the shale gas revolution" that has taken place in the United States has already had a
significant effect on world energy markets. A "golden age of gas" is already under way.
The report's authors point out that while gas can contribute positively to climate mitigation where
it replaces coal, it's by no means all good news on the climate front. "For instance, although the
substitution of gas for coal in the U.S. has reduced American carbon emissions, it may also be
contributing to increased U.S. coal exports and lower international coal prices," the authors note.
Both energy provision and climate change are issues that can be addressed only at a global
level, says the report. A revolution not only in the way the energy market is run but in energy
technology is needed. Low carbon development strategies have to be found.
5. "Only through a revolution in energy technology can we
meet the increasing demand for energy services without a
disastrous increase in energy-related CO2 emissions,"
says the report.
"The world has changed, and global energy governance
will also need to change to meet the energy policy
challenges of today."
Kieran Cooke is a founding member of the Climate News
Network and a former BBC and Financial Times
correspondent in Ireland and Southeast Asia.
Climate News Network is a journalism news service
started by four veteran British environmental reporters
and broadcasters. It delivers news and commentary about
climate change for free to media outlets worldwide.
