First G20 Energy and Sustainability Working Group
Xiamen , China
The International Energy Forum (IEF) participated in the discussions of the First G20 Energy and Sustainability Working Group meeting hosted by the National Energy Administration of China on 28 January 2016 in Xiamen, China.
Building on the outcomes of work of carried out under the 2015 G20 Presidency and the First G20 Energy Ministers Meeting held on 2 October 2016 in Istanbul, Turkey, the Chinese G20 Presidency circulated a discussion paper for the First Energy and Sustainability Working Group to consider. Discussions focused on agreeing the work plan for 2016 and an assessment of the possible outcomes of the Second G20 Energy Ministerial Meeting scheduled to take place on 30 June 2016.
In relation to the Energy and Sustainability Working Group agenda items on “Energy Efficiency” and “Global Energy Governance”, the IEF informed delegates that the 6th Asian Energy Ministerial Roundtable hosted by the State of Qatar on 8-10 November 2015 in Doha Qatar, endorsed a proposal of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia delivered by HRH Prince Abdulaziz bin Salman Al-Saud, to establish an Asian Energy Efficiency Knowledge Sharing Framework under the IEF.
In relation to the Energy and Sustainability Working Group discussions under agenda item “Implementation of Previous Commitments”, the IEF drew attention to:
- The G20 Ministers Meeting Communiqué of 2 October 2015 in which Ministers expressed the need “to promote market transparency and efficiency” and “commit to further strengthen the Joint Organisations Data Initiative (JODI) by encouraging and facilitating the collection and dissemination of high quality energy data as well as enhancing support for capacity building”. The IEF informed delegates on its ongoing work with JODI Partner Organisations (APEC, Eurostat, GECF, IEA, OLADE, OPEC, and UNSD) that is currently geared towards improving the timeliness and completeness of energy data collection for JODI-Oil and JODI-Gas, including on inventories and LNG markets, assessments for enhancing energy market data transparency in other sectors, and collaboration with CNPC to host a JODI training workshop to strengthen data collection capacity for the Asian region scheduled to take place in the second Quarter of 2016.
- In response to a reference about energy market volatility, the IEF recalled that G20 Energy Ministers “welcome the joint work of the IEA, IEF and OPEC to further understand energy outlooks and the interaction between physical and financial markets and encourage them to continue their fruitful collaboration on market transparency”. In this regard the IEF offered to report on the outcomes of the Joint IEA-IEF-OPEC Symposia on Energy Outlooks and Physical Financial Energy Market Interactions, should that be of ongoing interest to the group.
In conclusion the IEF reaffirmed its commitment to assist the Energy Sustainability Working Group in advancing its agenda, and readiness to contribute to the Second G20 Energy Ministers’ Meeting hosted under the G20 Presidency of China in June 2016.
