For its 50th anniversary, the International Energy Agency (IEA), a world reference in this sector, is doing things in a big way.
It brings together on Tuesday and Wednesday in Paris nearly 1000 people, around thirty ministers of energy and climate, coming from Australia, the Netherlands and Egypt, the President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen , the American envoy for the climate, John Kerry, as well as bosses of large groups.
The objective of this meeting organized by the agency, an emanation of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD)?
Work on financing the global energy and climate transition.
This is the peace project of our times, and we must ensure that all parts of the globe feel supported, not just the rich
Eamon Ryan, Irish Minister for Environment and Climate
The question today is how to continue to produce, move around, heat and feed ourselves, without warming the climate.
And how to finance the major investments necessary for this critical turning point for the future of life on the planet.
All without causing additional inequalities and conflicts, said Eamon Ryan, Irish Minister of Environment and Climate who chairs the meeting alongside the French Minister of Economy and Energy, Bruno Le Maire.
“This is the peace project of our times, and we must ensure that all parts of the globe feel supported, not just the rich
,” declared the Irish minister before the opening of the conference.
“If the world wants to develop alternative energies to fossil fuels”
which would no longer emit CO2 warming the atmosphere as coal, oil and natural gas currently do, global investments, public and private, will have to reach 4,500 billion dollars (4,200 billion euros) per year by 2030, he recalled.
Of this total, the IEA estimates that
“at least 2,200 billion should be invested each year in emerging and developing countries
,” he added.
Innovation first
Founded in 1974, just after the oil crisis, to ensure the security of supplies of black gold, the IEA has in recent years ended up assigning itself a central mission: to fight climate change by accelerating the energy transition.
The agency, established since its creation in Paris, collects an unrivaled amount of data on all energy sources and publishes numerous reports considered as references.
“The IEA has become a global hub”
in the fight against climate change, Emmanuel Macron applauded remotely.
Its executive director, Turkish economist Fatih Birol, who tirelessly spreads his message to leaders and business leaders around the world, on Tuesday called on governments to invest in innovation.
“We must support technologies that are not yet on the market”
and
“the industry that produces them
,” he stressed.
An exhortation which complements his call, three years ago, to stop all hydrocarbon extraction projects.
Also read: How Norway plans to become Europe's CO2 graveyard
Faced with the challenge of global warming, the energy world is still too much in
“business as usual”
and must evolve towards more
“innovation and technology
,” lamented John Kerry before the Paris gathering.
“We need to deploy existing, cost-effective technologies as quickly as possible, and bring new technologies to market faster than we currently do,”
said Joe Biden's advisor, referring to cost-saving innovations. energy, reduce CO2 emissions and move away from fossil fuels.
"For what?
Because this year, it’s hotter than last year, and next year, it will be hotter than this year
,” he said.
It is
“time for diplomats and environment ministers to step aside in front of energy ministers, industry and researchers”
to advance the fight against global warming, said Eamon Ryan.