Doha, Qatar – HE Yury Sentyurin, Secretary General of the Gas Exporting Countries Forum (GECF) participated in the G20 Energy Ministerial Meeting and reaffirmed its commitment to greater international cooperation in ensuring the resilience of energy systems and affordable and secure energy for all.
The two-day
deliberations acknowledged the unprecedented impact that the Covid-19 pandemic
has had on energy markets and paved the ways for the sector’s recovery efforts.
The Meeting assumed vital importance against the backdrop of a global pandemic
and was devoted to the energy market stability amidst low oil and gas prices
and lacklustre demand.
The final Communiqué
crystallised the resolve of the G20 countries to utilise the widest variety of
technologies and fuels to ensure a stable and uninterrupted supply of energy
for economic growth. It is not a coincidence that, as per decision of the G20
Members, the GECF has become a part of the dialogue and was directly referred to
in the final Communiqué.
It noted that
in order to enhance energy security, “the role of open, flexible, transparent,
competitive, stable and reliable energy markets, as well as stable,
predictable, necessary, fair, and non-discriminatory, regulatory frameworks in
promoting market stability and investments”. On this note, the GECF, alongside
the IEA, IEF, IRENA, OPEC, and other peers, was invited to further consider
this matter in their respective work programmes.
In the context
of circular carbon economy for cleaner and more sustainable energy systems, the
Communiqué highlights the crucial role of the GECF and other relevant
international organisations in promoting public and private investments,
innovative public as well as private financing, policy enablers, and
cross-sector collaborations.
These steps are largely in line with the previous G20 announcements,
including the 2020 Statement of the G20 Extraordinary Energy Ministers Meeting,
2019 Communiqué of G20 Ministerial Meeting on Energy Transitions and Global
Environment for Sustainable Growth in Japan and the 2018 Communiqué in
Argentina.
This ethos is also echoed by the GECF – a coalition of 20 of the major
natural gas exporting countries – and reflected in its guiding documents at the
highest political level of the Heads of State and Government, in particular in
the 2019 Malabo Declaration, which was the outcome of the 5th GECF
Summit.
To raise the
voice of natural gas industry, the GECF called on the group of 20 major
industrialised and emerging economies, many of whom are consumers of the GECF commodity,
to renew their faith in cooperation and multilateralism to bring about
prosperity for all.
The Statement of
the GECF, prepared within the framework of the G20 Energy Ministerial Meeting, stressed:
“In challenging times, the GECF is determined to strengthen
cooperation with G20 and underpin global energy security as reliable supplier
of natural gas to meet the growing energy demand globally.
The Forum fully supports G20 commitments towards clean and
environmentally friendly energy sources, to promote economic development with a
smaller carbon footprint. We are confident that the issues of both
environmental protection and climate change should remain at the focus of joint
efforts.
The GECF supported the policy developments being undertaken by
Energy Sustainability Working Group Meeting (ESWG) in 2020 under Saudi Arabia
Presidency, on the circular carbon economy, which is a closed-loop system
geared at establishing a balance of the carbon cycle.
We see this framework as a primary initiative on reducing, reusing
and removing greenhouse gases. This initiative is an excellent example of
technology exchange and international cooperation, for the benefit of energy
security and access for the whole global economy.
The Forum joins a growing international consensus that the clean
methane sourced of hydrogen based on CCUS technologies will play a significant
role in the World’s transition to a sustainable energy future. The GECF also believes
that natural gas will continue to contribute to G20’s clean cooking programme.”
Among all the
hydrocarbon resources in the world, GECF highlighted that, only natural gas is
expected to increase its share in the global energy mix from 23% currently to
28% in 2050 due to its clean attributes, which are fundamental to achieving the
UN Sustainable Development Goals as well as the Paris Agreement. Natural gas
also boasts the potential to expand its access significantly over the coming
decades due to its abundance and flexibility, and is widely seen as the fuel to
steward the transition to lower-emission energy systems.
The GECF has
been participating in the G20 events for years as a way to deepen its
cooperation with the platform. This year, it took part in the first G20 Energy
Sustainability Working Group Meeting, under the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia’s
Presidency of the G20, which has selected the unifying theme of “Realising
Opportunities of the 21st Century for All”.