In Brief

WORLD ENERGY OUTLOOK CALLS FOR INCREASED INVESTMENT IN ALTERNATIVE ENERGY

The World Energy Outlook 2006 - the flagship publication of the International Energy Agency (IEA) - was released to International Press in London on 7 November.

The Outlook presents two alternative scenarios for the state of world energy markets through 2030. A Reference Scenario predicts how energy markets are likely to evolve given current government energy policies, while an Alternative Policy Scenario explores the rosier energy future which is possible if governments implement all of the energy initiatives they are currently considering.

Under the Reference Scenario, the WEO predicts that China and India will lead a surge in global energy demand, which will increase by 53 percent by 2030. The Outlook also predicts that world oil demand will reach 116 million barrels/day over the next 25 years (up from 84mb/d in 2005). OECD countries and developing Asia will turn increasingly to oil and gas imports to keep up with their rising energy demands, which will be met primarily by a small number of major OPEC producers. Global carbon dioxide emissions will increase by 55 percent. All of these trends will exacerbate energy importers' vulnerability to potential supply disruption and price shocks, as well as negatively affecting global climate change, the report says.

If governments around the world implement the energy policies they are currently considering, however, the future looks considerably brighter. The Alternative Policy Scenario included in the Outlook predicts that over the next 25 years global energy demand can be decreased by 10 percent and global carbon dioxide emissions can be reduced by 16 percent. The Outlook suggests that these changes could be achieved by improved efficiency of energy use along with an increased use of nuclear and renewable power sources.

The Outlook calls for a major push in investment in new energy supplies, especially in developing countries, and identifies under-investment in this area as one of the biggest future risks.

Claude Mandil, Executive Director of the IEA, expressed optimism over the needed changes. "These policies are very cost-effective," Mr. Mandil explained at the WEO launch on 7 November. "There are additional upfront costs involved, but they are quickly outweighed by savings in fuel and expenditures."

"Government Reactions to WEO," WEO PRESS ROOM, November 2006; "The World Energy Outlook 2006 Maps Out a Cleaner, Cleverer and More Competitive Energy Future," WEO PRESS RELEASE, 7 November 2006.

NORTHERN NATIONS BLOCK SOUTH PACIFIC FISH CONSERVATION

Northern hemisphere fishing nations have blocked efforts to regulate deep sea fishing and bottom trawling in the South Pacific.

At a recent meeting intended to establish a South Pacific Regional Fisheries Management Organisation in Hobart, Australia, the EU, Russia and South Korea halted a plan on bottom trawling protection, a proposal supported by Australia, New Zealand, Chile, the Pacific Island States and the US. The meeting aimed at developing a regional fisheries agreement to manage non-highly migratory fish stocks within set boundaries from the Indian Ocean to South America and from the Antarctic to an undecided northern boundary. The meeting also planned to set up interim measures to manage the effects of bottom trawling.

"I'm particularly disappointed that the European community refused to limit their current fishing effort in the region. This went against the precautionary, ecosystem-based approach that South Pacific and South American states were asking for," Jim Anderton, New Zealand Minister of Agriculture and Fishers said.

Out of concern for the sustainability of its own deep ocean mackerel stocks, the Chilean government said it is limiting its own national fishing effort. Mackerel stocks are of great economic significance to the coastal communities of Latin America.

The European Community wants the freedom to expand catch levels.

"These Northern Hemisphere countries have a poor track record of managing their own fisheries, and seem set on continuing this in South Pacific waters," said Anderton. "It is clear that some governments seem bent on delaying any decision to cap levels of fishing so that they have the opportunity to rapidly expand their fishery exploitation, to the point that by the time we get any precautionary management measures in place, commercial fish stocks will have collapsed," added Alistair Graham from WWF International.

A third negotiating session on the proposed South Pacific Regional Fisheries Management Organisation will be held in Chile early next year.

"New Zealand condemns Europe over Pacific fishing," GERMAN PRESS AGENCY, 13 November 2006; "Northern Nations Block South Pacific Fish Conservation," ENS, 13 November 2006; "Europe refuses to negotiate South Pacific fishing cap," ABC, 11 November 2006.

CHINA PLEDGES COMMITMENT TO AFRICAN DEVELOPMENT, BUT IS IT ENVIRONMENTALLY FRIENDLY?

Political and business leaders from China and 48 of the 53 African countries attended a summit in Beijing on 4-5 November during which they vowed to greatly expand trade and investment flows, as well as other forms of bilateral cooperation. They adopted a declaration proclaiming the establishment of a "new type of strategic partnership" between China and Africa, calling for enhanced "South-South cooperation and North-South dialogue to promote balanced, coordinated and sustainable development of the global economy." The document urged rich countries to boost foreign aid spending, honour commitments to open markets and expand debt relief in order to help African countries reduce poverty, control desertification, and achieve the UN Millennium Development Goals.

Many analysts say that China's primary motive in cultivating this partnership is to secure supplies of oil, iron ore, copper, and other natural resources for its booming economy. Currently one third of China's oil imports come from Africa. The summit also saw USD 1.9 billion in business deals struck between China and Africa primarily in the minerals, infrastructure and telecommunications sectors.

China has faced criticism that its commercial involvement and its loans have not been tied to human rights, governance, or environmental principles. World Bank President Paul Wolfowitz recently criticised China for not basing loans on the Equator Principles, a voluntary set of social and environmental standards followed by nearly 80 percent of the world's commercial banks. He said that Chinese lenders risked repeating Western banks' history of making loans to support damaging behaviour by corrupt regimes.

Chinese officials reject these claims, insisting that they simply do not wish to impose values on their trading partners. In the action plan adopted at the summit, they further said that China will work to help African countries "turn their advantages in energy and resources into development strengths" while giving "high priority" to environmental protection and sustainable development in the continent.

For a full report, see BRIDGES Weekly Trade News Digest, 8 November 2006, http://www.ictsd.org/weekly/06-11-08/story1.htm.

To access the Action Plan, visit http://www.china.org.cn/english/features/China-Africa/81869.htm.

ICTSD reporting; "China to Double Aid to Africa," UN INTEGRATED REGIONAL INFORMATION NETWORKS, 4 November 2006; "President Hu: wide-ranging consensus reached during Beijing summit," XINHUA, 5 November 2006; "'Win-Win' Deals at China-Africa Summit," INTER PRESS SERVICE, 6 November 2006; "Wolfowitz slams China banks on Africa lending," FINANCIAL TIMES, 24 October 2006; "China in Africa: Strictly Business," COUNCIL ON FOREIGN RELATIONS, 6 November 2006; "We have read Africa's future, and it is written in Chinese...", THE EAST AFRICAN, 6 November 2006.

SOUTH-SOUTH COOPERATION ON NEW BIOFUELS INITIATIVE IN SENEGAL

Brazil and India are supporting a new programme in Senegal to produce biofuels. Launched on 27 October, the programme aims to decrease Senegal's dependence on imported oil and to spearhead the production of an alternative, environmentally-friendly energy.

While Senegal will supply the land and labour, Brazil will provide scientific and technical knowledge and Indian entrepreneurs will contribute the necessary capital.

"Senegal has considerable advantages to develop the biofuels sector, because the country presents good climatic and geological conditions necessary for the increase in plants used as raw materials for ethanol or diethyl ether production," José Neiva Santos, head of the Brazilian delegation, said.

The programme is set on 50,000 hectares of land, which will be used to grow different crops, including castor oil plants, sunflowers and jatropha in Kolda and Tambacounda. The different crops, the methods to produce biofuels and costs will be compared and evaluated.

The extracted oil will be transformed into biofuels in Khelcom, 100 km from Dakar. Biofuels, such as bioethanol, biodiesel and biogas, are renewable fuels produced mainly from agricultural crops or organic matter. Global production is on the increase, although pros and cons are hotly debated (see Bridges Trade BioRes, 6 October 2006, http://www.ictsd.org/biores/06-10-06/story2.htm).

"Brazil and India join Senegal for biofuel production," SCIENCE AND DEVELOPMENT NETWORK, 1 November 2006.

UN PANEL CALLS FOR REFORMS TO ENVIRONMENT, DEVELOPMENT POLICY

A high-level panel on UN reform has published a report saying that streamlining UN country operations on development, environment, and humanitarian assistance could save as much as a fifth of expenditures for more productive use.

Presented last week, the UN Secretary General's High-Level Panel's report, "Delivering as One," recommends consolidating UN operations under the control of a single programme in each country, alongside the creation of new oversight groups. The panel plans to begin with five to-be-determined pilot countries, and expand to all nations by 2012.

Co-chaired by the prime ministers of Mozambique, Norway, and Pakistan along with Gordon Brown, the British finance minister, the panel's report acknowledges that the expansion of multilateral institutions and bureaucracies since the UN's founding 60 years ago has resulted in overlapping or contradictory mandates, and insufficient coordination in pursuing common goals. In unusually harsh language, it said "The UN's status as a central actor in the multilateral system is undermined by lack of focus on results, thereby failing... the poorest and most vulnerable. [Its] work on development and environment is often fragmented and weak. Inefficient and ineffective governance and unpredictable funding have contributed to policy incoherence, duplication and operational ineffectiveness."

The report concluded that the two main groups responsible for supervising and coordinating action for sustainable development -- the Economic and Social Council (Ecosoc) and the Commission on Sustainable Development (CSD) -- were falling short of their goals. Moreover, the UN Development Programme (UNDP), which should be the foremost body in developing countries, not only lacked the power to regulate other agencies but often competed with them.

The panel thus called for a new oversight body for UN operations, proposing a UN Sustainable Development Board elected from governments and answerable to Ecosoc.

It also urged a stronger focus on gender equality, recommending that the three existing UN women's groups be merged into a more powerful agency under a new under-secretary general.

WWF hailed the report as a "step in the right direction" towards placing environmental concerns "at the centre of development decision making."

Incoming UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has said that implementing the report will be one of his top three priorities. His term begins in January 2007.

To access the report visit: http://www.un.org/events/panel/resources/pdfs/HLP-SWC-FinalReport.pdf.

"Some way but not all way on UN reform," BBC NEWS, 11 November 2006; "Inefficient UN 'punching well below its weight,'" MAIL & GUARDIAN ONLINE, 10 November 2006; "UN seeks to unify efforts," UNITED PRESS INTERNATIONAL, 10 November 2006.