G20 Energy Ministers met for the first time in the history of the G20 to discuss collaboration between G20 countries on strategic energy issues on the basis of the G20 Energy Principles agreed to in 2014 at the G20 Leaders' Summit in Brisbane, Australia.
3 October 2015: G20 Energy Ministers met for the first time in the history of the G20 to discuss collaboration between G20 countries on strategic energy issues, on the basis of the G20 Energy Principles agreed to at the G20 Leaders’ Summit in Brisbane, Australia, in November 2014.
The meeting, which convened on 2 October 2015, in Istanbul, Turkey, focused on: access to energy for all; renewable energy; energy efficiency; and energy investments in light of current market conditions.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan addressed the meeting during the opening session. A working breakfast convened just prior to the meeting with the participation of G20 Energy Ministers and the Business 20 (B20) Energy Dialogue Platform.
A Ministerial Communiqué was adopted at the end of the meeting and will be presented to the G20 Leaders’ Summit in Antalya, Turkey, in November 2015. The Communiqué addresses, inter alia: access to energy for all; international energy institutions; market transparency; energy security; inefficient fossil fuel subsidies; innovative energy technologies; and climate change. The Communiqué also highlights the ‘Voluntary Energy Efficient Investment Principles,’ which are aimed at accelerating capital flows for energy efficiency.
On energy efficiency, Ministers welcomed the ‘Report on the Voluntary Implementation of the Energy Efficiency Action Plan’. The report was led by the International Partnership for Energy Efficiency Cooperation (IPEEC), following the endorsement of the ‘G20 Energy Efficiency Action Plan’ in Brisbane last year. The Communiqué also notes the ‘Voluntary Energy Efficiency Investment Principles’ for participating G20 countries, a outcome of the Energy Efficiency Finance Task Group (EEFTG), co-chaired by Mexico and France.
On energy access and renewable energy, Ministers adopted: the ‘G20 Energy Access Plan: Voluntary Collaboration on Energy Access’ and the ‘G20 Toolkit of Voluntary Options on Renewable Energy Deployment’.
In a statement to the press following the meeting, Ali Rıza Alaboyun, Turkish Minister for Energy and Natural Resources, highlighted agreement on the ‘G20 Energy Access Action Plan,’ noting that the energy access rate in Africa has increased less than 1% in the past decade. He called for increased energy investments in Africa, particularly through the private sector, and boosting annual additional installed power capacity to 6-7 GW. He further noted that ministers’ support for “a positive and balanced outcome” at the Paris Climate Change Conference.
Energy Ministers agreed to convene again during China’s G20 Presidency, in 2016. [G20 Press Release] [Ministerial Communiqué] [Statement of Turkish Minister for Energy and Natural Resources] [IPEEC Press Release] [IISD RS Story on the G20 Leaders’ Summit] [IISD RS Story on the EEFTG]