Nefnd Sameinuðu þjóðanna um sjálfbæra þróun (CSD)
Þórir Ibsen, skrifstofustjóri auðlinda- og umhverfisskrifstofu í utanríkisráðuneytinu flutti fjórar ræður á undirbúningsfundi fyrir 15. fund nefndar S.þ. um sjálfbæra þróun í New York dagana 26. febrúar til 1. mars. Við opnun fundarins flutti hann skýrslu af alþjóðlegri ráðsefnu um vetni í þágu sjálfbærrar þróunar, sem haldin var á vegum íslenskra stjórnvalda og efnahags- og félagsmálaskrifstofu S.þ., í Reykjavík 28. og 29. september 2006. Ísland hefur mikið til málanna að leggja í þeim málefnum sem eru á dagskrá 14. og 15. funda nefndar S.þ. um sjálfbæra þróun, en þau eru sjálfbær orka, loftslagsbreytingar, loftmengun og iðnþróun. Ísland býr yfir einstakri þekkingu og reynslu af nýtingu endurnýjanlegra orkugjafa og leggja íslensk stjórnvöld ríka áherslu á alþjóðlega samvinnu um að auka hlutdeild hreinna og endurnýjanlegra orkugjafa í orkubúskap heimsins. Auk framangreindrar skýrslu flutti Þórir ræður um sjálfbæra orku og um gagnsemi endurnýjalegra orkugjafa fyrir smáar eyþjóðir og til að draga úr loftmengun og losun gróðurhúsalofttegunda. Lögð var m.a. áhersla á þau tækifæri sem bjóðast við nýtingu jarðhita og vatnsorku og notkun vetnis sem orkubera. Fimmtánda fund nefndarinnar sækja ráðherrar víðsvegar að úr heiminum og verður hann haldinn dagana 30. apríl til 11. maí.
Ræðurnar eru á ensku.
Statement by
Thórir Ibsen
Director, Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Affairs
Ministry for Foreign Affairs
at the
Intergovernmental Preparatory Meeting for the Fifteenth Session of the United Nations Commission on Sustainable Development
International Seminar on the Hydrogen Economy
for Sustainable Development
Reykjavik, Iceland, 28-29 September 2006
Summary of Conclusions and Recommendations
New York, 26 February 2007
It is a privilege and honour to present to you and distinguished colleagues at the Intergovernmental Preparatory Meeting for CSD 15, the conclusions and recommendations of the International Seminar on the Hydrogen Economy for Sustainable Development, held in Reykjavik on 28 and 29 September 2006.
The seminar was co-organized by the Government of Iceland and the United Nations Department of Social and Economic Affairs, and was attended by over 80 participants from 20 countries. It was convened to provide an opportunity for energy policy makers and representatives from governments, industry and academia from both developed and developing countries to exchange information on progress in the development and application of hydrogen energy technologies.
I will not enumerate all the conclusions and recommendations presented in the summary document, but it is worth touching on a few of the most salient issues.
Firstly, participants were of the unanimous view that alternative energy resources and technologies must be found if the world is to meet the energy needs of the present generation in a sustainable manner. Towards that end, production and use of hydrogen (H2) offers alternative energy pathways to sustainable development. Hydrogen can be produced by any primary energy source providing a flexible energy carrier which can substitute fossil fuels. The recent development of fuel cell technology opens new opportunities for hydrogen use. Furthermore, participants concluded that a hydrogen economy may offer an attractive opportunity for countries that lack indigenous fossil fuels but possess ample renewable energy resources.
While participants were keen as to the potential and value of hydrogen, they also recognized the challenges ahead in advancing a hydrogen economy. Among others they noted;
• That the costs of hydrogen energy technologies will have to be significantly reduced;
• Public education and capacity building must be substantially strengthened;
• Visionary thinking is required along with intensive R&D efforts, and increased cooperation across academic disciplines, industrial sub-sectors and national borders; and
• Further steps must be taken to develop indigenous renewable sources of energy.
To meet these challenges, participants noted;
• The role of international energy technology partnerships such as the International Partnership for the Hydrogen Economy (IPHE) for the development of the hydrogen economy and collaborative projects;
• The possibility of outsourcing of research and development work on hydrogen energy technology to developing countries and to countries with economies in transition. This would decrease cost and stimulate capacity building in developing countries.
• The need for hydrogen demonstration projects in developing countries;
• The importance of international codes and standards was recognized as a precondition for the development of the hydrogen energy industry and investments in hydrogen energy infrastructure for international trade;
• The need for building capacity in cleaner energy systems, including the production and utilization of hydrogen, and the early transfer of these technologies to developing countries; and
• The role of networking and regional cooperation, both North-South and South-South cooperation among centres of excellence and research.
Mr. Chairman, this concludes my report. I would like to take this opportunity to thank the Department of Social and Economic Affairs for the co-operation in preparing this successful seminar. The full summary of conclusions and recommendations is available as a document of the Fifteenth Session of the Commission on Sustainable Development.
Statement by
Thórir Ibsen
Director, Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Affairs
Ministry for Foreign Affairs
at the
Intergovernmental Preparatory Meeting for the Fifteenth Session of the United Nations
Commission on Sustainable Development
Small Island Developing States (SIDS)
New York, 26 February 2007
The themes chosen for this particular cycle of the CSD’s work, CSD 14 and CSD 15, and in particular their inter-linkages, are widely acknowledged to be of particular significance to Small Island Developing States (SIDS), for whom especially the impact of climate change, should it continue at the rate projected, will be catastrophic Iceland, an island state, shares many of the concerns of Small Island Developing States in the area of sustainable development. Like other island states, Iceland bases its livelihood on its natural resources and is committed to utilizing those resources in a sustainable manner. In doing so there are many challenges and issues we have in common, including the issues on the agenda of CSD 15. Iceland shares the emphasis placed on the urgent need for real action on renewable energy in the Mauritius Strategy for Sustainable Development of SIDS and is encouraged to see that steps are being taken in this direction. The issue is both to improve access for SIDS to affordable energy services and adapt emerging energy efficient technologies to the needs of SIDS and other developing countries. Iceland has sought to share its experience of harnessing geothermal energy with developing countries by hosting the United Nations University Geothermal Training Programme. Further, my Government is in the process of increasing its Official Development Assistance. A part of that increase has been and will continue to be directed towards the Small Island Developing States. Two years have now passed since the Government of Iceland launched a special Small Island Developing States initiative, with initial contribution of one million US dollars in a special Icelandic fund to support programmes addressing sustainable use of natural resources in Small Island Developing States, including renewable energy. I am pleased to inform you that more resources have been committed to SIDS projects than was initially pledged. Since the Mauritius meeting we have at least used 1,7 million USD under the umbrella of the Icelandic SIDS initiative. Among initiatives I can mention: • Special contribution to The Energy Sector Management Assistance Programme (ESMAP) in the World Bank, with the aim of increasing the bank´s focus on energy issues in the SIDS; • Support for SIDS participation in CSD 13 and 14; and • Support for private sector development in SIDS by covering the cost of including 20 small states in the World Bank’s Doing Business Report, which can contribute to facilitating private investment in the energy sector. We look forward to the continuation of our cooperation.
Statement by
Thórir Ibsen
Director, Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Affairs
Ministry for Foreign Affairs
at the
Intergovernmental Preparatory Meeting for the Fifteenth Session of the United Nations Commission on Sustainable Development
Energy for Sustainable Development
New York, 27 February 2007
Iceland is of the view that the most effective way to advance the transition to a global energy system for sustainable development would be through substantially expanding the share of renewable energy in the world energy supply.
As we have all been made painfully aware by the recent report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, the time has run out for fossil fuels. We must look to renewable energy resources as the long term basis for sustainable development. Only by increasing the share of renewable energy supply can we hope to obtain the Millennium Development Goals.
To us, this prospect is not a mere vision but a highly probable possibility based on proven technology and national experience.
In my own country, Iceland, we have succeeded in using our own indigenous energy resources to secure the whole nation access to reliable electricity and energy for house heating – all by harnessing our renewable energy resources. Hydro- and geothermal constitute over 90% of our stationary energy consumption and more than 70% of Iceland’s total energy use.
Steps are furthermore being taken to increase the utilization of sustainable energy resources even further through the use of new and forward-looking technologies. Hydrogen technology is one option we are seriously pursuing with partners on both sides of the Atlantic for using local renewable energy resources to produce a pollution free energy carrier for vehicles and ships.
Many respond to this story of success by saying that we in Iceland are exceptionally fortunate to have generous renewable sources.
Yet most countries are endowed with some form of renewable energy resources, to a larger or smaller extent. What is required is political will and more effective international cooperation both with respect to technology transfer and innovative financing. In Iceland, we could have continued to rely on imported fuels, but we chose not to.
Technologies in the area of renewable energy are diverse. Three I would like to mention specifically, from which we have had practical experience.
On the lower cost end, we find geothermal energy. Contrary to what many people belief, economically exploitable geothermal resources are widely available. Geothermal is already used in 73 countries and known in over 90 countries, many of them developing countries. Geothermal energy has multiple use, extending from house heating, through energy exchange and industrial processes to electricity generation. Geothermal energy has also the advantage of being based on proven technologies with a century of practical experience behind it, and it can be easily transferred to developing countries.
One a larger scale we have hydro. There are vast potentials both small and large scale hydro, not the least in the developing countries. For broader nature conservation reasons, there has been a trend towards favouring small scale hydro at the cost of larger scale hydro. This overlooks rapid improvements in design and technology of highly modern hydro plants. There is also growing interest of power companies and international investors in improving the supply side energy-efficiency of existing hydro-plants. This development should be encouraged.
On the high cost end we have opportunity to progress through the deployment of leap-frog technologies like hydrogen. It is true that technology for using hydrogen as an energy carrier is still at the development stage and remains as yet quite costly. Yet, one of the main advantages of hydrogen technology is that it may enable poor developing countries make flexible use of localized renewable resources such as hydropower, wind, bio energy, geothermal resources and solar power. As is made evident in the conclusions of the International Seminar on the Hydrogen Economy for Sustainable Development, held in Reykjavik on 28 and 29 September 2006, hydrogen technology is possible and there are practical ways the world community can follow to promote its development.
Statement by
Thórir Ibsen
Director, Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Affairs
Ministry for Foreign Affairs
at the
Intergovernmental Preparatory Meeting for the Fifteenth Session of the United Nations Commission on Sustainable Development
Inter-linkages and cross-cutting issues,
including means of implementation
New York, 1 March 2007
Mr. Chairman,
The themes chosen for CSD 14 and 15 entail particularly close inter-linkages, especially for the small island developing states (SIDS), vulnerable groups and the least developed countries.
Energy services are a pivotal part of our economic well-being and security, but the persistently unsustainable production and consumption patterns in the industrialized world continue to drive excessive demand for fossil fuels with detrimental implications for the climate.
Likewise, providing energy access in developing countries is a key to alleviating poverty. Yet if the large share of the developing countries in the projected 60% rise in the global energy demand by 2030, will be met by the conventional fossil based energy, the air quality and public health problems will become insurmountable, especially for the urban poor and women and children in the developing countries.
Renewable energy is already the third electricity generation source worldwide (after coal and gas). It offers various economic, environmental, security and reliability benefits as compared with fossil fuels. As was recognized at the Bonn conference in 2004, up to 1 billion people could be given access to energy services from renewable sources.
What is needed is an enabling policy framework and leadership. To mention but a few steps;
• Remove market distortions to ensure the competitiveness of renewable energy supplies in the market-place;
• Encourage International Financial Institutions to raise the profile of renewables in their lending strategies;
• Improve coordination on renewables among the various bodies within the United Nations system;
• Establish benchmarks for increased share of renewables in the energy supply of power intensive industry;
• Promote partnerships across countries and regions between power companies, private investors and local, regional and/or national authorities to invest in power supply from indigenous renewable resources for local community and business use.
Thank You Mr. Chairman.