Klima-, Energi- og Bygningsudvalget 2012-13
KEB Alm.del Bilag 146
Offentligt
Dear Sir or Madam,I am writing to remind you about the international parliamentary forum on renewable energy anddevelopment which will be held by the Climate Parliament onMarch 7th – 8th, 2013.Please finda draft programme attached.The meeting will be held at the European Parliament in Brussels. It will convene Members ofParliament from Africa, Asia and Europe in an urgent dialogue with major multilateral agencies oninternational cooperation to promote renewables world-wide.Confirmed speakers so far include:• Sri Mulyani Indrawati, Managing Director, World Bank Group;• Werner Hoyer, President of the European Investment Bank;• Philippe Benoit, Head of Energy Efficiency and Environment, International Energy Agency;• Donald Kaberuka, President of the African Development Bank;• Villa Kulild, Director-General of the Norwegian Agency for Development Cooperation;• Rintaro Tamaki, Deputy Secretary-General for Environment, Development, Green Growth andFinancial Affairs at the OECD;• Josué Tanaka, Managing Director for Climate Change & Energy Efficiency, European Bank ofReconstruction & Development• Mark Radka, Head of Energy, United Nations Environment ProgrammeScientists tell us that the transition from fossil fuels to renewable energy is happening too slowly toprevent changes in our climate that will reduce our food supply, threaten our coastal cities and leadto increasingly frequent extreme weather events such as the droughts and storms we saw last year.The transition to renewable energy requires close cooperation at both regional and global levels.Members of Parliament have a key role in generating international action at the speed and scaleneeded.Meanwhile, international organisations such as the regional development banks, the EuropeanUnion, UN agencies and the World Bank are investing vast sums of money in infrastructure. Butare they doing enough to promote clean energy? As legislators, we approve the budgets that fundtheir work. Members of Parliament from both donor and recipient countries need to monitor thework of those organisations on behalf of our constituents. MPs can encourage them to give toppriority to accelerating the global transition to a low carbon economy.There are many areas where action is needed from international institutions. To create a reliablesupply of clean energy, the nations of each major world region must share their resources amongthemselves through cross-border trading. In this way, everyone can be connected to the areas wheresolar, wind, hydro and other renewable energy sources are most abundant, and local fluctuations insun and wind can be smoothed out. This requires a new level of international cooperation onenergy issues.In the global sunbelt, where most of the world’s poor majority lives, bilateral and multilateraldevelopment agencies have an important role to play in enabling access to clean energy foreveryone.
This Climate Parliament Forum will enable legislators to question agency heads and senior officialsfrom the African Development Bank, the Asian Development Bank, the European Bank forReconstruction and Development, the European Commission, the European Investment Bank, theInternational Energy Agency, the International Renewable Energy Agency, the OECD, the UNDevelopment Programme, the UN Industrial Development Organisation, the World Bank and somemajor bilateral agencies about what they are doing – or not doing – to support renewable energy.Part of the discussion will include MPs from all three regions, and part will take place in regionalgroups.The Climate Parliament will be happy to cover the costs of your airfare and accommodation.There will be simultaneous interpretation between Chinese, English and French.I very much hope you can join us. Please respond to Ben Martin at the Climate ParliamentSecretariat, at[email protected]or tel.+44(0) 7709 913460.We look forward to hearing from you.Yours sincerely,Sir Graham Watson MEPChairman, Climate ParliamentPresident of the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe Party (ALDE Party)Liberal Democrat MEP for South West England and Gibraltar