World Summit on Sustainable Development Department of Public Information - News and Media Services Division - New York
	Johannesburg, South Africa 26 August-4 September 2002	28 August 2002

PRESS CONFERENCE BY INTERNATIONAL ENERGY AGENCY   There could be no sustainable development without an affordable and secure supply of energy used in an environmentally sympathetic way, and with threats to that security stemming from a geopolitical disruption or inadequate investment structures, a secure supply could not be taken for granted, the Executive Director of the International Energy Agency (IEA) said today at a Summit press conference sponsored by the delegation of the United Kingdom. Executive Director Robert Priddle was joined by Jonathan Pershing, Head of the Energy and Environment Division and Faith Birol, Head of the Economic Analysis Division. The IEA was established in 1974 as the energy arm of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD). Its original purpose was to contribute to the oil security of its 26 developed country members and it now carries out a comprehensive programme of energy cooperation among its members. Mr. Priddle said his Agency could bring precision and constructive ideas to the energy debate. For example, one contentious issue in the negotiations was the idea of a commitment to obtain 15 per cent of the energy supply from renewable energy by 2015. The proportion of the world's energy supplied by new renewable forms of energy was now about 2 per cent. To raise that to 15 per cent by 2015 was "clearly impossible". But, if one included renewable energy in the form of biomass, which was a major form of energy for many people, then 13 per cent of the world's energy already came from biomass. So, then that 15 per cent target looked much more attainable. On the other hand, he added, biomass used on that scale was a problem for a sustainable future, since it involved a burden on women, who spent many hours per day collecting wood and other refuse, and could also involve serious environmental damage, if it was not harvested in a sustainable way. Its burning in inefficient stoves caused pollution in living huts, damaging health. The Summit was divided on the general issue of energy and sustainable development, he continued. Energy was recognized as a key component of a sustainable future, although that had not been perceived that way in Rio. Next month, the Agency would release global projections of the world's growing demand for energy and how that was supplied. Non-OECD countries needed to find $2 trillion over the next 30 years simply to finance investment in new electricity generation. Even if they were able to mobilize that sum, that would still leave many in the world without access to electricity. The first step to solving any problem was to get its definition right, and that's what the energy Agency could bring to the present debate, he said. The Agency had defined eight key areas of action to achieve sustainable energy and enable energy to play its proper role in a sustainable development picture: energy security; greater efficiency; greater use of renewable energy; improving the way energy markets work; enhancing the role of technology and research to provide clean and cost-effective energy; addressing health, environment and safety concerns; increasing access; and developing sustainable transportation systems. He said that Agency had conducted the first detailed country-by-country analysis of reliance on biomass and access to electricity. Among its findings, 1.6 billion people today had no access to electricity. Even more staggering, was that on basis of today's situation, in 30 years, there would still be 1.4 billion people without electricity, owing to the expected substantial growth in global population. In terms of reliance on biomass, 2.4 billion people relied on it for cooking and heating, and that figure would increase by 2030 to 2.6 billion. Responding to a question about biomass, Mr. Priddle said that, from earliest days, the Agency knew there could be no energy security for one part of the world without it in all others. The whole world should use energy efficiently and have secure access to it. The implications of 1.6 billion people having no access to electricity was what the Summit was about -- poverty alleviation and finding a way to create a sustainable future. Replying to a question about targets, he said that all countries of the IEA already had specific policies to promote renewable energy, and 23 of the 26 had specific targets for electricity generation, which would come from new renewable sources by a certain date. So the governments were engaged; they had to determine what was reasonable to do and recognize that most forms of renewable energy were not competitive in commercial terms. Thus, requiring people to use renewable energy would impose an additional cost on them. To a question about market failure in reforming electricity and gas markets, he said there had been some sobering experiences, but also some remarkable successes, such as in the northeast of the United States, and the United Kingdom. It was not that the drive to a competitive market was fundamentally flawed; the process in some regions had been flawed. Mobilizing that huge investment was a major challenge and required engaging the private sector in developing country markets, so that had to be acceptably commercial, and people there wd have to pay for electricity. The trouble with targets, he responded to a further question, was that precision and a country-by-country analysis was required. Country targets had to differ from each other because of the enormous differences among countries. There was no simple, single target that would embrace that terrific range. Certainly, there was no need for an international renewable energy agency. There was already a good network between people working in that field. Press Conferences Summit News