CEBU—Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (Apec) energy ministers on Monday vowed to “climate-proof” the energy infrastructures of vulnerable member-countries that fall victim every now and then to natural and human-induced disasters.
The group issued the commitment as it begins to make short-, medium- and long-term plans to deal with a global phenomenon that has the potential to wreak wide economic havoc on member-economies.
“Recognizing this global concern on climate change, we, in international fora such as Apec, believe that now is the more opportune time to heighten discussions and information sharing, learning from each other’s experiences and best practices and come up with a collective action toward an energy-resilient Apec community,” Energy Undersecretary Loreta Ayson said in her welcome remarks during Monday’s Apec-Special Energy Working Group (EWG) Meeting.
The Apec energy ministers discussed various best practices on climate-proofing energy infrastructures, avenues for promoting cutting-edge energy-efficient technologies, community-based clean energies to help alleviate poverty and, most important, facilitate energy trade and investment in the Apec community.
They are expected to come up with what will be called “the Cebu Declaration” embodying and focusing on plans and strategies “Towards an Energy Resilient Apec Community.”
The EWG, chaired by Dr. Phyllis Yoshida, will be tasked by the energy ministers to develop and implement action plans to carry out the agreements to be finalized in the declaration and may cover the following areas: Resiliency of Energy Infrastructures; Energy Investments; Low Carbon Development/Clean Energy technologies; Energy-water Nexus; Ecotourism Sites Regional Standards on Energy Products and Services; Inventory and Mapping of Energy Resources; Human Resources Development; and Gender Fair Approaches in Energy.
The action plans will include the implementation of doubling renewable-energy capacities by 2030 from 2010 levels, and reducing energy intensity by 45 percent by 2035 from 2005 levels.
The Apec economies include Australia, Brunei Darussalam, Canada, Chile, People’s Republic of China, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Japan, Republic of Korea, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea, Peru, the Philippines, Russia, Singapore, Chinese Taipei, Thailand, the United States and Vietnam. Mongolia will also attend the EMM12 as an observer.
Separately, at a news conference held in the afternoon, Yoshida cited a plan to put up micro grids or small-scale grids that can disconnect from the central grid and operate autonomously, strengthen grid resilience and help mitigate grid disturbances.
“So when power in one area goes out, power can be sent to micro grid, which, in turn, can send electricity to, say, a hospital. If there are disasters, those micro grids can come online very quickly. So, that’s one example that we are looking at,” the EWG chairman said.
The Department of Energy, for its part, said it proposed to the Apec energy ministers “several proposals that has something to do with vulnerability assessment of energy infrastructure.” This may include a set of standards for power plants in the Philippines aimed at further strengthening the facilities “so these can withstand extreme conditions brought about by disasters,” the DOE official said.
In addition to this, the DOE proposed to the EWG the crafting of a “hazard map” that will identify vulnerable areas.
“In the document that we worked on today, we just finalized a draft but is still to be reviewed by the ministers tomorrow and hopefully adopt and approve this declaration,” Ayson, referring to the agency’s proposals, said.
Yoshida, meanwhile, urged businessmen in the energy sector to continue with their investments. The Apec, she pointed out, merely promotes trade and investment in the energy sector. “We can’t put investments. So, we encourage the CEOs to work on the PPP [public-private partnership] projects.”
The Apec is a regional economic forum established in 1989 to leverage the growing interdependence of the region.