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"Clean Energy and Environment: Building on Kyoto"

Welcome Remarks By
Ursula Schäfer-Preuss
Vice President, Knowledge Management and Sustainable Development
Asian Development Bank

5 May 2007, 4:00–6:00 p.m.
Kyoto, Japan

Distinguished panel members, guests and speakers, ladies, and gentlemen: Good afternoon. On behalf of the Asian Development Bank, I would like to welcome all of you to this seminar on clean energy and environment.

It is particularly appropriate that we discuss this subject in the beautiful, historical and cultural city that is also the home of the Kyoto Protocol. We have come a long way since the Protocol was signed in 1997, but, as the Stern and IPCC reports remind us, we also have very far to go. We must move the clean energy agenda forward, beyond 2012, to manage climate change, so that future generations can continue to enjoy the life we take for granted.

Given Asia's phenomenal growth, its energy and development agenda has become a matter of global attention. The rapidly growing economies of Asia are driving a rising demand for energy largely met by fossil fuels. The key question is how to support Asia's economic growth while addressing the global concern of climate change. To cope with a continued rise in energy consumption, Asia must invest over $6 trillion in new energy infrastructure, mostly in the power sector, by 2030.

This is a formidable challenge which requires multiple solutions. A key strategy is to pursue energy efficiency. On the demand side, efficient lighting, and space heating and cooling can be encouraged in the residential and commercial sectors. We must promote the use of biofuels and well-designed mass transit systems in the transport sector. On the supply side, development and commercialization of renewable energy technology such as wind, solar, and biofuel can be accelerated. Power facilities and older industrial plants can be renovated and modernized. Polluting fuels and processes can be made cleaner and more efficient through new technologies. And for this, research, development and dissemination as well as transfer of new technologies should be consistently supported.

Another measure is continue to put a price on carbon, through a cap-and-trade system like that of the Kyoto Protocol or carbon emission tax. We have a myriad of non-mutually exclusive options. But they can only be implemented if backed up by appropriate policy and regulatory frameworks, as well as institutional capacities. Different national circumstances are likely to require different approaches.

Environmental impacts transcend national and regional boundaries, and therefore must be managed jointly up to the international level. This, I believe, is already well-recognized as evidenced by recent multilateral initiatives. These include the G8 Gleneagles Plan of Action on Climate Change (2005) and the resulting Investment Framework for Clean Energy and Development that multilateral development banks have developed, centering on improving access to energy, promoting a low carbon economy, and adaptation.

Dear Participants, for our part, ADB has a Clean Energy and Environment Program in 2005, that is consistent with the Investment Framework for Clean Energy and Development, and other regional initiatives. Among the key components of the Program are:

• The Energy Efficiency Initiative (EEI), which was launched in 2005 to expand ADB's operations in clean energy to $1 billion a year.
• The Carbon Market Initiative (CMI), which was approved in November 2006 to provide upfront co-financing, technical support, and marketing support for clean energy projects under the CDM.
• The Sustainable Transport Initiative (STI), to develop a coherent investment and development framework to enhance efficiency in the transport sector.
• Energy for All, to establish strategic approaches that are scalable and replicable for providing greater access to modern forms of energy for the rural and urban poor.
• Establishment of Knowledge Hubs, to serve as think tanks for ADB as well as DMCs on clean energy.

There are also parallel efforts geared towards enhancing DMCs' capacity to adapt to risks of climate change. ADB is increasingly integrating adaptation considerations in its strategic planning processes at the country level as well as in project design.

In addition, ADB is carrying on with its active support to regional cooperation and integration to allow more efficient and effective use of resources and management of common transboundary problems. This is true for instance in promoting regional power trade and addressing environment sustainability in the Greater Mekong Subregion.

I hope that this provides a useful framework to your discussions. Again, thank you very much for taking the time off your busy schedules to join us here today. I look forward to your fruitful deliberations.

Thank you.