Global energy security dominates G8 meeting in Rome

May 24, 2009, 10:16 GMT

Rome - The need to safeguard global energy security to promote worldwide economic recovery topped the agenda as energy ministers and officials from the world's richest nations began talks Sunday in Rome.

Representatives from the Group of Eight (G8) most developed economies, which include the United States, Japan, Germany, France, Britain, Italy, Canada and Russia, are also set to discuss new 'clean' technologies to increase energy efficiency and reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

The G8 energy meeting aims to draft a joint energy strategy, which owuld then be presented at the main G8 leaders' summit, scheduled to take place in L'Aquila, Italy in July.

Issues to be considered include ways to curb harmful climate change as well as boosting energy resources in poorer countries.

Energy officials from emerging economies such as Brazil, China, Egypt, India, Saudi Arabia, and South Africa are also participating in some of the discussions.

The two-day meeting at a downtown Rome hotel takes place against the backdrop of the global economic slump, with estimates suggesting that worldwide electricity use is set to fall this year for the first time since records began in 1945.

In a report to be presented at the Rome meeting, the International Energy Agency (IEA) will forecast a 3.5-per-cent contraction in global power consumption this year, its chief economist, Fatih Birol was quoted as saying in news reports.

The IEA, a Paris-based energy adviser to 28 industrialized countries expects electricity consumption to decline in 2009 by 10 per cent in Russia, almost 5 per cent across member countries of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, and by 2 per cent in China.

Falling industrial demand would account for three quarters of the expected global drop.

Last November, before the full effects of the global financial crisis became clear, the IEA projected a 32.5 per cent rise in electricity consumption from 2006 to 2015. Global power demand grew by 2.5 per cent last year, after a 4.7 per cent rise in 2007.

The Rome meeting also takes place within the context of rebounding oil prices, which have recently risen above 60 dollars a barrel.

Speaking ahead of Sunday's talks, US Energy Secretary Steven Chu said the need to maintain 'stable prices' should also be in the interest of producer nations since any spike would dampen demand.

In Rome, Chu is also expected to brief colleagues on President Barack Obama's plans to boost development of alternative energy sources aimed at reducing dependency on petroleum products.