"The Challenges of Energy and Environment in Asia"
Speech by
Ursula Schäfer-Preuss
Vice President, Knowledge Management and Sustainable Development
Asian Development Bank
Conference on Multilateral Economic Cooperation with the Association of Southeast
Asian Nations (CMEC-ASEAN)
18 September 2007
Berlin, Germany
I. Introduction
Good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen, distinguished guests. It is my privilege to represent the
Asian Development Bank (ADB) at this important conference. First of all, I want to express our
thanks to the conference organizers, the Asia-Pacific Forum Berlin – particularly Mr. Rolf
Eckrodt, the President, and Mr. Sven Harpering, the Managing Director. We fully appreciate
that this conference is made possible by their tireless efforts.
As we celebrate the 40th anniversary of ASEAN, we at ADB believe that this conference is both
very timely and important. The Cebu Declaration of January 2007 on Climate Change and
Energy Security is a good example of ASEAN’s important role. By recognizing the
achievements of ASEAN, we also understand the future challenges that the ASEAN members,
and Asia in general, will face. In my presentation today, I wish to focus on the challenges of
energy and environment in Asia. Indeed, as established through the Kyoto Protocol,
environment and energy are now clearly entwined.
I will also discuss the main activities of ADB in addressing these issues. The challenges require
multiple solutions and approaches – ranging from meeting financing and knowledge gaps, to
forging global agreements while developing solutions to be adapted to local requirements.
Through all this, however, we at ADB believe that the success largely depends on global
consensus and partnership to support local actions; and again, this is why I believe this
conference is so timely and important.
II. Asia's Energy and Environment Challenges
First, I want to provide you with a brief update on Asia. ADB has recently described Asia as a
region with two faces. Asia has made remarkable economic progress in the past 30 years,
leading to an impressive reduction in poverty levels. It is, clearly, the fastest growing region in the world. Despite this, more than 600 million people still live on $1 a day or less. The region’s development has been supported by a steady rise in energy consumption, but about 1 billion people in the Asia-Pacific still lack access to electricity.
The region also faces the twin challenge of ensuring energy security and preventing
environmental degradation. Because of its high dependence on fossil fuels, Asia now accounts
for 27% of the world's energy-related greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, three times its share
30 years ago. Asia needs an estimated $6 trillion in investments in energy by 2030, the bulk of it to provide electricity in the People’s Republic of China and India. If this investment goes
primarily to coal-fired power plants, Asia’s share in global GHG emissions could rise to 40% by
2030.
The effects of GHG emissions have been closely researched by many well-respected scientists,
and I will not discuss them in detail here. However, I will say here that they can lead to
increased distress on agriculture and food security, floods and other natural disasters, while
significant concerns on human habitat and safety remain, especially for those living near river
deltas. Such risks are compounded by a lack of proper infrastructure and disaster
preparedness. The poorest people in the region will suffer first and most. Unless action is taken
now, the progress achieved on the Millennium Development Goals could be reversed in the
near future.
III. Call For Global Consensus And Actions
In recognition that climate change affects all of us, we have seen a number of important global initiatives in this regard. ADB is firmly committed to do whatever we can to further promote the respective goals. Building from the Kyoto Protocol, the development community is responding to actions called for at the Gleneagles G-8 meeting of July 2005. An Investment Framework for Clean Energy Development by all multilateral development banks has emerged, and now the banks have agreed to share knowledge on each of the operations on clean energy. A joint
report on this will be forthcoming. In the same light, we welcome the agreement between
industrialized nations and the emerging economies during the G-8 Heiligendamm Summit held
in June this year to cooperate more closely on such areas as energy efficiency to reduce carbon
emissions. These global activities provide very important milestones for all of us. In addition,
ADB looks forward to the upcoming UNFCCC Conference to be held in December at Bali,
Indonesia, and next year’s G-8 Summit to be held in Hokkaido Toyako, Japan. These events
are expected to further strengthen global commitments on climate change.
At the same time, ADB believes that the global community must now look beyond the first
commitment period of the Kyoto Protocol. Uncertainty about the post-2012 framework is
increasingly becoming an impediment to additional investment in clean energy projects. While
various parties are debating this issue, many developing countries are installing massive
conventional, low efficiency energy systems that “lock in” voluminous amounts of GHG
emissions over their system life periods – typically over 30 years. People’s Republic of China,
for example, is installing on average more than one coal-fired power plant every week. India is
also installing a new coal plant every fortnight. Therefore, there is an urgent need for the global
community to develop a post-2012 framework, aimed at inducing as many partners as possible
to adopt a policy promoting cleaner forms of energy.
IV. ADB’s Response
Now, I will briefly explain various activities and initiatives by ADB to address the need to balance energy security and sustainable development. These are multi-faceted problems, and thus we have been providing multi-faceted solutions and support for our developing member countries.
Through our Clean Energy and Environment Program, we continue to help fill gaps in
knowledge and financing to support Asia’s transition to a low-carbon economy while addressing
the region’s energy needs. The Energy Efficiency Initiative will expand ADB’s energy efficiency,
clean energy, renewable energy projects portfolio to $1 billion a year by 2008. We launched the
Carbon Market Initiative in 2006 to capture the growing flow of finances from developed to
developing countries under the Kyoto Protocol’s Clean Development Mechanism. The Energy
for All Initiative will give poor people in both rural and urban areas greater access to modern and cleaner forms of energy, in line with achieving the Millennium Development Goals.
In addition, ADB is also tackling urban issues through our Sustainable Transport Initiative, which will provide advice and financing for public urban transport innovations and new mobility
patterns to improve efficiency and reduce pollution. It will include investment programs and
innovative financing options dealing with the climate change implications of mobility patterns
and integrated public transport systems. We support the Clean Air Initiative for Asian Cities, a
multi-stakeholder forum on urban air quality management in Asia.
ADB is not only providing financing for projects, but we believe that effective knowledge
management is an important part of our clean energy and environment program. To help
facilitate this, we have established three knowledge hubs: TERI (The Energy and Resources
Institute) in India for renewable energy; Tsinghua University in the People’s Republic of China
for climate change; and the AIT (Asian Institute of Technology) in Thailand to promote the 3Rs
of “reduce, reuse, and recycle.” We believe these hubs will strengthen the Asia-Pacific's
regional capacity to generate innovative science, technology, and knowledge for a more
sustainable use of energy. In addition, we are helping our developing member countries to use
renewable energy sources, such as wind and solar power, and explore more efficient and
cleaner technology options for fossil fuel energy sources. Technologies have been developed to
reduce carbon emissions, and they now need to be transferred to developing countries. Finally,
in recognition of the fact that there is new knowledge on energy and environment, ADB is also
developing a new energy strategy – one that will address the challenges we face and highlight
our commitment to finding clean energy solutions.
All these efforts are beginning to produce positive signs of success. For example, through
ADB’s Efficient Utilization of Agricultural Wastes Project in the People’s Republic of China, we
aim to improve the environment and promote economic growth to improve the living conditions
of rural households in the provinces of Henan, Jiangxi, Hubei and Shanxi. The project will generate
cleaner bio-gas energy and increase agricultural productivity through efficient use of agricultural
wastes. Through this, awareness of biomass rural energy development has expanded at both
the national and provincial levels. ADB’s Central Asian Countries Initiative for Land
Management brings together the five countries (Kazakhstan, Kyrgyz Republic, Tajikistan,
Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan) of that sub-region to address land degradation problems. In the
Greater Mekong Subregion (GMS), ADB is sponsoring an analysis of climate change impacts
on natural resources productivity. It is part of the $25 million GMS Core Environment Program –
supported by both the Netherlands and Sweden.
V. Conclusions And Next Steps
Ladies and gentlemen, let me close by thanking the organizers and participants again for this
important conference. I also hope I was able to provide all of you with a clearer view of the
energy and environment issue for Asia, and the role of ADB. While there are clear signs of
positive steps being taken, we also recognize that there are many challenges ahead of us. In
the context of global agreements, ADB will continue the efforts to achieve our common goals.
However, we also recognize that we cannot do this alone and that we need to have strong
partnerships. Climate change affects all of us, and so we all sit in one boat in that context.
Accordingly, we need joint efforts to develop global solutions to expedite local actions. On
behalf of ADB, I would like to take this opportunity to further strengthen our current partnerships,
and build new ones for the future.
Our common challenge seems clear. How environment is managed will have implications not
only for Asia but for the world. Thus, we must all be in this for the long haul, in a robust
collective effort to meet this massive challenge. The final global outcome will depend upon the
collective determination of all of us in ensuring a more prosperous, cleaner, safer, and healthier
world for future generations.
Thank you.
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