Climate change was the only issue
where consensus failed to be reached at the G20 meeting of leaders of the globe’s
biggest economies, held in in Osaka, Japan at the end of last week.
Nineteen
out of twenty states, including oil-rich Saudi Arabia, agreed to a final
Communiqué that said on energy:
“34. Noting the important work of the International
Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) and Intergovernmental Science-policy Platform on
Biodiversity and Ecosystem Sources (IPBES), and in the light of recent extreme
weather events and disasters, we recognize the urgent need for addressing
complex and pressing global issues and challenges, including climate change,
resource efficiency, air, land, fresh water and marine pollution, including
marine plastic litter, biodiversity loss, sustainable consumption and
production, urban environmental quality and other environmental issues, and for
promoting and leading energy transitions, with the best available science,
while promoting sustainable growth. A paradigm shift is needed where the
virtuous cycle of environment and growth is accelerated through innovations,
and with business communities playing an important role, in synergy with the
public sector. To this end we stress the importance of accelerating the
virtuous cycle and leading transformations to a resilient, inclusive, and
sustainable future. We emphasize the importance of taking concrete and
practical actions and collecting international best practices and wisdom from
around the world, mobilizing public and private finance, technology and
investment and improving business environments.
Climate
Change
35. To
this end, we strive to foster inclusive finance for sustainable development,
including public and private financing mobilization and alignment between them,
as well as innovation in a wide range of areas for low emissions and resilient
development. Climate actions at all levels with broad participation, including
by non-state actors, will be the key to realizing such a paradigm shift. In
further enhancing this effort, as appropriate to each country’s circumstances,
we will look into a wide range of clean technologies and approaches, including
smart cities, ecosystem and community based approaches, nature based solutions
and traditional and indigenous knowledge. We need to enhance efforts to support
actions and cooperation in adaptation and disaster risk reduction, in
particular, for the most vulnerable communities, and to elaborate further and
foster coherence between mitigation action, adaptation measures, environmental
protection, and resilient infrastructure. We note the successful adoption of
the implementation guidelines for the Paris Agreement and the completion of the
stocktaking of the Talanoa Dialogue at the United Nations Framework Convention
on Climate Change Conference of Parties (UNFCCC COP) 24 and the outcomes of the
meeting of G20 energy and environment ministers in Karuizawa, subsequent to the
successful G20 Buenos Aires Summit. We are determined to make best use of this
momentum, and thus look forward to a successful Climate Action Summit of the UN
Secretary-General and concrete outcomes at UNFCCC COP 25 in Santiago, Chile.
Signatories to the Paris Agreement who confirmed at Buenos Aires its
irreversibility and are determined to implement it, reaffirm their commitment
to its full implementation, reflecting common but differentiated responsibilities
and respective capabilities, in the light of different national circumstances.
By 2020 we aim to communicate, update or maintain our NDCs, taking into account
that further global efforts are needed. We emphasize the importance of
providing financial resources to assist developing countries with respect to
both mitigation and adaptation in accordance with the Paris Agreement.”
Then
there was the US opt-out:
36. The
United States reiterates its decision to withdraw from the Paris Agreement
because it disadvantages American workers and taxpayers. The U.S. reaffirms its
strong commitment to promoting economic growth, energy security and access, and
environmental protection. The U.S.’s balanced approach to energy and
environment allows for the delivery of affordable, reliable, and secure energy
to all its citizens while utilizing all energy sources and technologies,
including clean and advanced fossil fuels and technologies, renewables, and
civil nuclear power, while also reducing emissions and promoting economic
growth. The United States is a world leader in reducing emissions. U.S.
energy-related CO2 emissions fell by 14% between 2005 and 2017 even as its
economy grew by 19.4% largely due to the development and deployment of
innovative energy technologies. The United States remains committed to the
development and deployment of advanced technologies to continue to reduce
emissions and provide for a cleaner environment.
It ended with a more general paragraph on Energy:
37. We
acknowledge the importance of energy transitions that realize the “3E+S”
(Energy Security, Economic Efficiency, and Environment + Safety) in order to
transform our energy systems into affordable, reliable, sustainable and low GHG
emissions systems as soon as possible, recognizing that there are different
possible national paths to achieve this goal. Recalling the G20 Ministerial
Meeting on Energy Transitions and Global Environment for Sustainable Growth
Communique, we acknowledge the role of all energy sources and technologies in
the energy mix and different possible national paths to achieve cleaner energy systems.
We also recognize opportunities offered by further development of innovative,
clean and efficient technologies for energy transitions, including hydrogen as
well as, depending on national circumstances, the Carbon Capture, Utilization
and Storage (CCUS) taking note of work on “Carbon Recycling” and “Emissions to
Value”. We acknowledge the G20 Japanese Presidency’s initiative called Research
and Development 20 for clean energy technologies (“RD20”). In light of recent
events highlighting concern about safe flow of energy, we acknowledge the
importance of global energy security as one of the guiding principles for the
transformation of energy systems, including resilience, safety and development
of infrastructure and undisrupted flow of energy from various sources,
suppliers, and routes. We recognize the value of international cooperation on a
wide range of energy-related issues including energy access, affordability and
energy efficiency, and energy storage. We reaffirm our joint commitment on
medium term rationalization and phasing-out of Inefficient Fossil Fuel
Subsidies that encourage wasteful consumption, while providing targeted support
for the poorest.
The US opt out stands out like a sore
thumb!
In his post-Summit press conference on
29 June in Osaka, the following exchange took place, where President Trump unintentionally
revealed his deep ignorance of energy issues
Q You praised this G20 Summit as extremely successful, yet it was a “G19 against one” summit, if we look at climate change. Why is it that you still think ignoring the dangers of climate change is in the interest of the American (inaudible)?
THE PRESIDENT: I don’t ignore it. So we have the best numbers that we’ve ever had recently. And I’m not looking to put our companies out of business. I’m not looking to create a standard that is so high that we’re going to lose 20, 25 percent of our production. I’m not willing to do that. We have the cleanest water we’ve ever had. We have the cleanest air. You saw the reports come out recently. We have the cleanest air we’ve ever had. But I’m not willing to sacrifice the tremendous power of what we’ve built up over a long period of time, and what I’ve enhanced and revived. I’m not — I’m just not willing to do that.
And they understand where I stand. And, you know, I’m not necessarily sure I agree. I can tell you, I’m not sure that I agree with certain countries, what they’re doing. Because I think they’re losing a lot of the power of what they can do with factories and with — and I’m not talking about political power, although that comes with it — I’m talking about the powering of a plant. It doesn’t always work with a windmill. When the wind goes off, the plant isn’t working. It doesn’t always work with solar, because solar is just not strong enough.
And a lot of them want to go to wind, which has caused a lot of problems. And, you know, the problem with wind is, in the United States, we’re subsidizing these wind towers all over the place because wind doesn’t work — for the most part, doesn’t work without subsidy. And I don’t want to be subsidizing things that don’t have to be subsidized.
The United States is paying tremendous amounts of money on subsidies for wind. I don’t like it. I don’t like it. I don’t want to do that.
The Japanese
Presidency of the G20 organized a Ministerial
Meeting on Energy Transitions and Global Environment for Sustainable Growth,
held on
15-16 June
2019, Karuizawa, (Japan) for which a
background paper was commissioned from the
International energy Agency (IEA), titled
Securing Investments in Low Carbon Power Generation
Sources.
The paper opened by stressing “The
power sector is extremely important in the global decarbonisation effort. While
electricity’s share in total final energy consumption is less than 20%, almost
40% of CO2 emissions are attributable to the electricity sector.”
It added later specifically on Nuclear:
“Nuclear
power plants currently generate more than 10% of global electricity supply, and
its share in
low-carbon
generation is close to 30%. The outlook for investments in nuclear power
plants,
particularly
in advanced economies, is highly uncertain. More countries have adopted
liberalised and
unbundled
electricity market systems; the perceived cost competitiveness of nuclear
projects
compared
with renewables and gas-fired power plants has deteriorated substantially; and
social
acceptance
of nuclear projects in general has worsened dramatically as a result of the
Fukushima
Daiichi
Nuclear Power Plant Accident in 2011. While nuclear power production in
advanced
economies
is set to decline slightly by 2040 under current and proposed policies, current
trends,
coupled
with the lack of explicit policy support, could mean a much sharper decline.
Without further
lifetime
extensions or new projects, nuclear power production in advanced economies
would drop by
two-thirds
by 2040. This would result in additional cumulative emissions of 3 900 MtCO2 from these
economies,
or 5%, over the next two decades, despite robust growth of renewables and
investments
in energy
efficiency to meet policy ambitions.”
Here are some of its conclusions:
• Current low-carbon investments are not on track. Even if under current policies low-carbon
sources
are expected to be the fastest-growing source of energy until 2040, this will
not be
enough to
fulfil the climate change mitigation goals of the Paris Agreement.
• The power sector is extremely important in the global decarbonisation
effort. While
electricity’s share in total final energy consumption is less than
20%, almost 40% of CO2
emissions are attributable to the electricity sector. Furthermore, deep decarbonisation of the
electricity
system is necessary if electrification in transport, industry and other sectors
is to
become
the key to further decarbonisation.
• Low-carbon sources’ total share in the energy mix has been kept at
roughly the same level
as in the early 2000s. Despite the
large investments in wind and solar over last ten years, these
efforts
have only compensated for the low growth in other sources such as nuclear and
hydropower.
• Even if wind and solar PV deployment could be accelerated, other low-carbon technologies
like dispatchable renewables, nuclear power and CCUS also need to
be expanded at
massive scale to decarbonise the power sector. The level of additional renewable generation
sources
required to achieve the Sustainable Development Scenario is already extremely
high.
Expanding
the level even more to make up for the lack of growth or decline in nuclear
power or
CCUS
implies enormous challenges in terms of not only additional costs but also land
availability and local
acceptance.
Nuclear still is seen as having a place in the energy mix,
but without any real enthusiasm.
Backstory
G20 Karuizawa
Innovation Action Plan on Energy Transitions and Global Environment for
Sustainable Growth 《Energy
and Environment》
Preamble 1. Breakthrough innovations are an indispensable
impetus for a virtuous cycle of environment and growth for leading energy
transitions to improve the “3E+S” (Energy Security, Economic Efficiency, and
Environment + Safety) as well as addressing key global issues and challenges,
such as climate change, biodiversity loss, resource efficiency, sustainable
consumption and production, energy poverty, land, fresh water, marine and air
pollution including PM2.5 and HFCs, urban environmental quality, and energy
access. We emphasize the importance of promoting synergies and an inclusive
approach when tackling related issues for sustainable growth in response to the
energy and environment dimensions of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable
Development. 2. We, the G20 members, have an important role in supporting the
private sector in the promotion of innovation, investment, and a better
business environment to develop and deploy affordable, reliable, sustainable,
and low GHG emissions energy systems, and to achieve a cleaner, more resilient
and sustainable future. Governments play a key role for innovation in providing
clear signals and in creating an enabling environment. 3. In this regard, and
on a voluntary basis, we take the concrete actions jointly and individually
described below. This list is not intended to cover all activities for
innovation and we continue to explore further cooperation. 4. We propose that
international and regional organizations may (1) collect innovation policy
information of G20 members, (2) expand their analysis to better identify
“innovation gaps” and actions that support energy transitions and help achieve
a cleaner environment, and (3) report to the G20 on their findings. We propose
that the next presidency also tasks relevant organizations to work on the
subject with guidance and expected outcomes and can utilize the innovation
portal and innovation tracking in the energy sector of relevant international
organizations. 5. We take the following voluntary actions for international
cooperation on innovation. 6.
We seek to enhance international cooperation in relevant existing fora and
encourage, in a holistic manner, research, development and deployment of
innovative technologies and approaches including air and water related
technologies, behavioral science for life-style change, bioenergy, Carbon
Capture Utilization and Storage (CCUS), clean vehicles, deep renovation and Net
Zero Energy Building, demand-side management, energy access technologies,
energy efficiency technologies, energy storage, hydrogen, grid digitalization,
2 low carbon technologies, nature-based solutions, renewables, resilient and
sustainable cities and communities with integration of technologies, and
resource efficient technologies, depending on national circumstances. 7. We
support the expansion of networks for innovation globally among industry,
academia, and government in coordination with existing efforts. We also promote
international collaboration among leading G20 members’ research and development
institutes, universities and business to advance innovation for clean energy
technologies and resource and energy efficiency and to explore further
international joint research and development. We welcome the G20 Japanese
Presidency’s initiative aimed at spurring innovation in the context of climate
change through the international conference, called Research & Development
20 for clean energy technologies (“RD20”), while acknowledging the importance
of creating synergies with existing R&D initiatives. 8. We recognize the
importance of quantitative analysis on better understanding future energy
demand and supply and the role of innovation of both sides driven by digitalization,
Artificial Intelligence (AI), the Internet of Things (IoT), and the sharing
economy. We encourage efforts made by the global scientific community and
international organizations and frameworks to further refine and develop the
full spectrum of economy-wide scenarios for energy and climate models. 9.
We support efforts to mobilize finance and to improve the market and investment
environment for various energy options, innovative technologies and quality
infrastructure that enhance energy access, resilience, cleaner environment and
water access. We support continued effort to mobilize private finance and
investment, including from institutional investors, through public finance and
risk mitigation measures such as trade insurance, while recognizing that public
finance plays an important role. 10. We promote improving business environments
for the power sector, including actions that increase security and flexibility
of electricity and that embrace innovative storage and distribution
technologies, responding to increasing variability due to increasing deployment
of renewable energy. We support development of electricity market mechanisms
that drive investmentsin grid and power sources by increasing the
predictability of return on investment, such as capacity markets and market
distortion avoidance. 11.
We explore business matching, workshops and other international collaboration
to improve business environments and encourage business activities. The
following ideas are suggested from G20 members as possible areas: the
development of energy saving labeling and standards, Global Energy Efficiency
Benchmark by the IEA, eco-labeling and environmentally friendly public
procurement criteria, enhanced transparency and harmonization of rules and 3
reaching out to local and smaller-scale markets. 12. We welcome launching
analytical work to study and deliver recommendations or options on creating
better business environments for nurturing business opportunities associated
with cleaner environment in coordination with the relevant organizations and
business communities, and focusing on public-private partnerships. 4 《Energy》
Preamble The G20 Karuizawa Energy Innovation Action Plan is intended to
strengthen our cooperative concrete activities on energy transitions on voluntary
basis under Japanese presidency in 2019, adopted at the Ministerial Meeting in
Karuizawa. This list does not intend to cover all collaborative or national
activities for innovation and we will continue to explore further opportunities
for cooperation. 1. We continue to collaborate on a broad
range of issues in support of wasting less energy and energy transitions also
through the G20 Energy Efficiency Leading Programme (EELP) and take note of the
progress on the Energy Efficiency Hub. Noting the IEA’s work to develop the
Global Energy Efficiency Benchmark, we continue to promote analyses on this
with support of capable international and regional organizations in an
inclusive manner and by sharing knowledge and best practices. 2. We share the
importance of the work on behavior undertaken under Argentina’s presidency, and
the need for policies, that can drive investments in energy efficiency. 3.
We share our best practices in accelerating energy innovation including in the
use of policy to provide a signal to markets, and implement capacity building
programs, management models of electricity system to promote further expansion
of renewable energy, recognizing the importance of new flexibility solutions
such as demand side management and off-grid solutions and energy storage
technologies. We will strive to share lessons on innovation and technology
development to increase direct renewable energy use in the transport, heat and
industry sectors. The G20 members stress the importance of policy frameworks,
in accordance with their circumstances, that stimulate innovation ecosystems,
and recognize the role of startups and Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) in
promoting energy transitions. 4. We encourage the work of IRENA, the IEA and
CEM to continue their work to analyze key technologies for energy transitions
to further utilization of renewable energy. IRENA and IEA are encouraged to
analyze the impact of energy efficiency in promoting renewable energies. We
also support and encourage the work of the IEA, IRENA, the Biofuture Platform,
MI, International Solar Alliance (ISA) and other international initiatives in
promoting sustainable bioenergy and other renewable energy development and
deployment, and will increase our cooperation under these fora. 5.
We support the acceleration of our work that will lead to concrete actions
which were summarized in the chair’s summary at Hydrogen Energy Ministerial
Meeting (HEM) 2018, including exchange of best practices, international joint
research, evaluation of hydrogen’s potential, e.g. for power to x, outreach and
addressing regulatory barriers, codes and standards. We promote further
international cooperation and discuss concrete actions through frameworks 5
such as HEM 2019 (autumn), the Clean Energy Ministerial (CEM), Mission
Innovation (MI) and the International Partnership for Hydrogen and Fuel Cells
in the Economy (IPHE), and ask relevant international and regional
organizations such as the IEA, IRENA and the ERIA to develop the analysis of
potential pathways to a hydrogen-enabled clean energy future, including the use
of methanol and ethanol as hydrogen carriers in fuel cells. We note that
hydrogen as well as other synthetic fuels can play a major role in in the clean
energy future with a view to long-term strategies. 6.
We strengthen international collaboration on development and deployment of
Carbon Capture Utilization and Storage (CCUS) under the frameworks such as CEM,
MI, the International CCUS Summit and the Carbon Sequestration Leadership Forum
(CSLF). In particular, we recognize the importance of (A) Preparing national
readiness assessments or action plans, including developing policy and
regulatory frameworks that provide investment certainty, (B) Engaging financial
institutions, and (C) Facilitating large-scale CCUS chains, depending on
national circumstances. 7. To explore international cooperation on “Carbon
Recycling” and “Emissions to Value” among industry, academia and government, we
facilitate discussions on research and development, stable investment environments,
and attracting finance for innovative technologies through opportunities such
as the International Conference on Carbon Recycling to be held in September
2019. 8. To explore and expand the potential of digitalization
of the energy sector, including in developing more robust and comprehensive
energy data to support energy transitions, improving the flexibility of power
systems, enabling more efficient energy use through smarter cities, intelligent
transport systems and behavioral changes, we note the IEA’s initiative to
hosting additional workshops on the interlinkage between digitalization and
other policy aims including energy efficiency in hopes of considering on
potential outline on how digitalization, e.g. through smart meters, other
flexibility options and smart grids, can accelerate the smart production and
use of energy and improve grid security and resilience. We also encourage
continued work on how to mitigate the potential increased energy demand
associated with the digitalization of our economies. 9.
We share the importance of analyzing the life cycle of various energy resources
from production to end use. Analyses on the energy value chain enhances the
efficient and cleaner use of energy resources and can incentivize innovation in
areas such as vehicles including life cycle analysis and Well-to-Wheel
analysis. We acknowledge efforts of international fora such as Global Fuel
Economy Initiative (GFEI) and Biofuture Platform by sharing technology
challenges and recognize their role in furthering best practices. 6 10.
We strive to share our best practices and future policy insights on power
systems in order to expand low emissions investment and demand side management,
biomass power generation, electricity storage, increase connectivity, enhance
flexibility, and increase resiliency. We promote knowledge exchange on
technologies for system integration of variable renewables under international
frameworks such as the IEA, IRENA, MI and CEM, ISA and Biofuture Platform. We
note relevant international organization’s work such as the IEA to analyze
developments in electricity markets and the conditions necessary to support
investment in low emissions power systems and power system transformation, and
to share those analyses through workshops, publications and in other forms. 11. Those countries
that opt to continue utilizing nuclear energy encourage the progress in
exploring opportunities to collaborate on advanced nuclear energy technologies,
including small modular reactors, and innovative uses of nuclear energy
including integration of nuclear and renewables, and heat usage, in
collaboration with relevant international organizations such as International
Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) , and the IEA and cooperating under international
fora including the CEM NICE Future initiative. 12. Those countries that are
using, plan to use or have used nuclear energy support accelerating cooperation
on final disposal of high-level radioactive waste, and safe and efficient
decommissioning. They are invited to share experience and expertise of public
dialogue activities and to promote technical cooperation for final disposal of
high-level radioactive waste, among countries using nuclear power, including
through an international roundtable organized by OECD Nuclear Energy Agency
(NEA). As to decommissioning, they share experience and knowledge on
regulation, project management, and other points, in IAEA and other relevant
international organizations. 13. We
further encourage efforts at various international fora to increase market
liquidity, flexibility and transparency as well as open fair and transparent
competition and cooperation to support the role of natural gas in new sectors
such as transportation including bunkering in the maritime industry, and
utilization of small scale LNG. We discuss measures to enhance the security of
natural gas such as sharing knowledge and the best practices on mid and long
term natural gas supply security as well as on emergency response. We enhance
bilateral and multilateral cooperative frameworks, such as the annual LNG
Producer-Consumer Conference, that support development of a flexible and
transparent global LNG market as well as enhancing energy security of the LNG
value chain, in the context of transitions toward lower emission energy systems.
14. We promote producer-consumer dialogue as facilitator of stable and
transparent market including through the framework of International Energy
Forum (IEF). We note the discussion at High Efficiency Low Emission (HELE)
working group last autumn, which includes the role of HELE 7 technologies and
promoting investment and funding of advanced and cleaner fossil fuel
technologies, and continue HELE working group activities. 15.
We highlight the importance and the urgency of advancing universal access to
affordable, sustainable and modern energy services and clean cooking
facilities, and we will explore ways to enhance the implementation of G20
regional energy action plans. We highlight the important role of international
cooperation and public-private partnerships on sustainable technological,
financial, business model, policy and planning innovation in line with the
spirit of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. We also highlight the
important role of community-based approaches in promoting energy access.
DOCUMENTS
FOR THE JAPANESE PRESIDENCY OF THE G20
a) Outcomes
b) Related Reports on Energy session
b-1: Deliverables
·
“Securing investments in low carbon power generation sources”, prepared with the support of the IEA
·
“Solutions to Integrate High Shares of Variable Renewable Energy”, prepared with the support of IRENA
b-2: Update Report
·
“Update on Recent Progress in Reform of Inefficient Fossil-fuel Subsidies
that Encourage Wasteful Consumption”, prepared by OECD / the IEA
THANKS FOR SHARING SUCH A AMAZING WORK
ReplyDeleteNICE WORK
Energy Analysis in USA