Thank you for the kind introduction.
May I offer my congratulations on today’s conference to His Excellency Mr. Wannarat Channukul, Energy Minister of Thailand as well as to all of today’s distinguished participants.
It is wonderful to be back in Bangkok after a particularly long and cold Korean winter.
As I reflect on the state of the world today and the changes that confront us daily, I am reminded that the only thing we know about the future is that it will be different. We are still recovering from a serious economic crisis. With the instability in the Middle East oil prices are rising once again. While the world may not welcome change, it is the only thing that has brought progress. Thus today’s presentations on the possibilities and priorities of green energy are even more compelling than ever.
As we are all aware of, one traditional weakness of the energy sector has been the fact that instability leads to an increase in oil prices. We know all too well from past crises that even a less than five percent reduction in energy supply means a leap in the price of oil.
In this respect the theme of today’s conference, “green energy” could not be more topical. While green energy still only plays a small role in our lives in comparison to traditional forms of energy, in the future it will become the alternative for most forms of energy we depend on now. When we consider the side effects of the use of fossil fuels such as global warming, it is important that growth in the use of green energy come sooner rather than later.
The United Nations has noted that the top three environmental risks threatening the world are rampant climate change, reduced biodiversity, and the turning of productive lands into deserts. The World Energy Council or “WEC,” like those of you in attendance today, is deeply concerned about the looming energy crisis and climate change. We are actively engaged in finding solutions to these problems, with flagship programs like the Green Eco-energy Park in Mongolia and other sites around the world that fight desertification with renewable energy in the form of a hybrid wind and solar power device. Once arable lands turn to deserts, it is extremely hard to return them to productivity. What we can do is to stop or slow down the process.
WEC is the only global organization which deals with these issues without, shall we say, the burden of representing one interest or another. For example, OPEC is the voice of the oil exporting countries, while IEA speaks for the importers. OPEC and IEA generally deal with oil, but WEC is a multi-energy forum. This forum encompasses all types of energy including oil, coal, natural gas, nuclear, hydro, and renewables.
In general OPEC and the IEA are restricted to representing largely the public voice. WEC not only well understands public policy, but also we know what the private interests are as well as what other major groups, such as academics and NGOs, have to contribute to the energy dialogue.
In summary, WEC is a multi-energy, broadly based non-commercial organization that represents all stakeholders. These stakeholders include the public and private sectors as well as exporters and importers. Thus, we can take on major challenges like addressing climate change and energy security.
Thus, recognized as the leading multi-energy organization in the world, WEC is the only truly global and inclusive forum for thought leadership and tangible engagement committee to a sustainable energy future. We have a network of over 90 national Member Committees representing over 3,000 member organizations, including governments, industry and expert institutions.
In 2011 WEC’s activities will be focused on six main Activity Areas, representing the broad areas in which WEC will work going forward. The first three will deal with policy and strategy.
We begin with Energy and Climate Policy Assessment. Here we will be looking at energy policies on a country-by-country basis and evaluate them for their effectiveness.
The second is Scenarios. Here we will build on the excellent work done in the 2005-2007 cycle on Energy Policy Scenarios to 2050 except that the methodology and modeling for the new Scenarios work will eventually be open source.
Next we turn to Energy Resources and Technologies. In this project we will build on our long-running Survey of Energy Resources, but the new work will also look at the technologies needed to extract and use those resources efficiently.
The next three activities are action and outcome-oriented processes where WEC works with relevant stakeholders to advance agenda through the exchange and promotion of best practices and the building of partnerships.
To start, let’s take the issue of Energy Access. We will undertake work to study ways in which energy poverty can be alleviated and how commercial electricity can be brought to the nearly 2 billion people in the world who do not have such access. Of course here green energy will play a vital role.
We will also examine Energy and Urban Innovation looking at the challenges and opportunities of energy in large cities, building on WEC’s previous work on mega-cities. Today’s presentation on smart grids will undoubtedly touch on this.
Finally we will tackle Global Frameworks, including climate change and energy rules of trade. This area will look at the COP process and energy and climate change issues as well as focusing on links with international organizations, such as the WTO.
Now I would like to turn to our World Energy Congress which was successfully held in Montreal, Canada last year. This congress, the premier international multi-energy forum and exhibition, was an opportunity for participants to better understand energy issues and solutions from a global perspective. In Montreal, over 6,000 delegates from 137 countries including some 70 ministers participated in a comprehensive program.
In 2013, the World Energy Congress returns to Asia. It will be held in Daegu, Korea from October 13 to 17, 2013. At this Congress we expect high level attendance from not only energy companies, but also representatives from the public sector, international organizations, in addition to academia and private think tanks.
At the Daegu Congress I look forward to WEC providing the catalyst that will spark an effective response to the needs of both developing and developed countries as well create what I like to describe as being an “innovative, sustainable partnership” between producers and consumers, the public and private, and a variety of energy types of which, no doubt, green energy will play a major part.
I would like to issue my personal invitation to everyone present here today to come to Daegu. Not only will this be WEC’s finest Congress yet, but also participants will have the opportunity to network and showcase products at the exhibition and experience a variety of exciting cultural activities.
As I close, let me emphasize how grateful I am for this opportunity to visit Thailand once again and having the honor of participating in today’s conference.
Thank you very much.
