(MENAFN- The Journal Of Turkish Weekly) The 6th International Energy Forum entitled "On the Road to Antalya G-20 Summit: Global Energy Security Today and Tomorrow" was held in Istanbul, Turkey on May 15th, 2015. Organized by Sabancı University's Istanbul International Center for Energy and Climate (IICEC), the Forum brought together influential government officials, industrialists and academics to discuss current energy and climate issues.
The Forum was launched with remarks by Chairman of the Board of Trustees of Sabancı University Güler Sabancı and International Energy Agency (IEA) Vice Chairman Fatih Birol. The keynote speakers were Special Adviser to the Prime Minister of Japan Eiichi Hasegawa and US Energy Counselor to the Secretary Melanie Kenderdine.
After the keynote speeches, the first panel saw the expectations of the governments of the G-20 debated in the context of energy security by five G-20 countries' representatives. In the second and last panel, business representatives expressed their views on the expectations of businesses from the B-20.
Güler Sabancı stated in her speech that Turkey should take advantage of the currently low oil prices by taking necessary structural precautions in order to decrease import dependency. She also mentioned Turkey's potential to become a gas hub, the importance of electricity and liberalization of gas markets, and the necessity to reach an agreement at the Paris Climate Change Conference that will be held between July 7th and 10th, 2015.
Fatih Birol began his speech by emphasizing the weight of the G-20 within the international community, pointing out that having the group encompasses nearly 90% of the world economy, 75% of the world population, 80% of world energy demand and 75% of energy investment. He went on to note that seeing that nearly 80% of carbon dioxide emissions stem from G-20 countries, the Paris Climate Change Conference is an important event that could allow G-20 countries to formulate concrete measures to stop global temperature increases. He also indicated that the necessity for more investment in energy efficiency, lower carbon technologies and nuclear energy should be signaled to the energy world at the Paris Conference.
Birol also highlighted the issue of energy access in the context of Africa. He said that although Africa was home to 30% of the world's energy deposits discovered within the last 5 years, 620 million people still live without electricity on the continent. He also emphasized Turkey's key role as a stable country in an often-volatile region that houses 70% of the world's oil and gas reserves, especially considering the political instability in Iraq, Syria and Libya, and the crisis between the EU and Russia. He ended his speech by placing special emphasis on Turkey's timely G-20 Presidency amid rapid changes in the global economic and geopolitical landscape.
Prominent issues addressed in the keynote speeches included the plummeting oil prices and the consequences thereof as well as Turkey's interest in becoming a natural gas hub. Eiichi Hasegawa noted that the number of active oil rigs across the globe decreased from 1,600 in 2014 to 866 in 2015 as a consequence of the decline in oil prices. Melanie Kenderdine engaged in a conceptualization of gas hubs by using the Henry Hub in the US as an example. This hub comprises 9 interstate pipelines, 4 intrastate pipelines, and 2 compressors. It has the capacity to transport 590 mcm gas per day. She pointed out Turkey's interest in becoming a gas hub and said that cooperation with the EU would be important in realizing this goal considering that 48% of Turkey's exports were destined for the EU in 2013.
Later, IEA Vice Chairman Fatih Birol moderated the first panel, which consisted of Member of the Council of State Ana Palacio from the Kingdom of Spain, Ambassador of Hungary to Turkey Gabor Kiss, US Energy Counselor to the Secretary Melanie Kenderdine, Ambassador of Ukraine to Turkey Dr. Sergiy Korsunskiy and Switzerland's State Secretary for Energy Dr. Walter Steinmann. Here, discussions dealt with the diversification of energy routes and sources, transferability of EU energy and climate targets for the G-20, modernization of energy infrastructures, transparency, and the importance of energy efficiency. Birol stated that although the number of electric appliances used in Europe has substantially increased, electricity consumption on the continent has remained the same thanks to efficiency.
At the end of the first panel, the necessity of policy implementation, investment, inclusiveness, and development of monitoring systems appeared as prominent topics that governments expect from the G-20.
President of the Turkish Industry and Business Association (TUSIAD) Cansen BaÅŸaran Symes went on to moderate the second panel, which consisted of Edison S.p.A CEO Bruno Lescoeur, E.ON SE CEO Dr. Johannes Teyssen, GE CEO John Rice and EWE AG CEO Dr. Werner Brinker. Here, these important representatives from the business world explained that they expect the B-20 to promote environment stability through regulation, to increase transparency and credibility in decision making processes, and to provide confidence to investors. The businessmen on the panel stated that they find it more reasonable to make local energy investments in Africa to solve the problem of energy access on the continent.
To conclude, the energy security priorities of the G-20 as discussed at the recent International Energy Forum in Istanbul can be seen as working towards providing energy, and especially electricity, access in Sub Saharan Africa, putting an end to global warming by way of concrete steps, and investing in energy efficiency and renewable energy.
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