Current Activities
The APEC Energy Trade and Investment Study is currently being
undertaken to identify all existing barriers to energy trade and investment in
APEC region. An APEC Energy Trade and Investment Roundtable meeting will be held
in Cairns, Australia on 24-25 September 2008 to develop a plan of action to
address these trade and investment impediments.
At
their meeting in Iquitos, Peru the EWG responded to Leaders' directives by discussing
and endorsing the APEC Peer Review Mechanism on Energy Efficiency
(PREE). The
key objectives of PREE are to promote information sharing among APEC members on
energy efficiency performances as well as on policies and measures for improving
energy efficiency; to explore how energy efficiency goals on an overall and/or
sectoral basis and action plans could be effectively formulated and improved in
each APEC economy under review. New Zealand and Chile have volunteered to
undergo the peer review at EWG37 which will be held in the first half of 2009.
In the Sydney APEC
Leaders' Declaration on Climate Change, Energy Security and Clean Development,
endorsed on 9 September 2007, APEC Leaders highlighted the importance of
improving energy efficiency by working towards achieving an APEC-wide regional
aspirational goal of a reduction in energy intensity of at least 25 per cent by
2030 (with 2005 as the base year). They also decided to establish an
Asia-Pacific Network for Energy Technology (APNet) to strengthen collaboration
on energy research in the region, particularly in areas such as clean fossil
energy and renewable energy sources.
The 8th
APEC Energy Ministers Meeting (EMM8) was held in Darwin, Australia on May
27-30, 2007. The discussion focused on improving energy efficiency and support
for the development and deployment of cleaner and more efficient energy
technologies.
Energy Ministers directed officials to improve energy efficiency by:
- setting individual goals and action plans;
- collaborating with the IEA to develop energy efficiency indicators;
- sharing information on energy efficiency policies and measures;
- encouraging APEC economies to contribute to and utilize the APEC
Energy Standards Information System (ESIS); and
- establishing Peer Review Mechanism on Energy Efficiency , which will be a useful way
to take these efforts forward on energy efficiency.
Energy Ministers also agreed to develop and deploy cleaner and more efficient
energy technologies and also determined that addressing the challenges of energy
security and sustainable development should be based on well-functioning markets
and directed the Energy Working Group to contribute to the proposed APEC Energy
Trade & Investment Study and Roundtable.
