Climate Change High on Symposium Agenda
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Author: Saudi Aramco News
Released 26 November 2007
RIYADH, November 21, 2007 -- Climate change is becoming one of the most important issues of the day, and OPEC leaders discussed multifaceted, multiparty approaches during their symposium.
HE Ali I. Al-Naimi, Minister of Petroleum and Mineral Resources, opened the session saying that OPEC had a responsibility to find “balanced, equitable and sustainable solutions” to the problems of climate change. Al-Naimi told delegates the Kingdom recognized early on that research and development are important to help reduce the impact of oil on the environment. The Kingdom invests in education and research in addition to participating in international accords on climate change.
HE Dr. Odein Ajumogobia
OPEC is part of the solution to climate change, not part of the problem,” said Yvo de Boer, executive secretary for the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change. “Climate change is the defining issue of our era and unequivocally a result of human activity.”
He said the upcoming UN Climate Change Conference in Bali, Indonesia, needs to set in motion a negotiating agenda for the next two years to provide time for the enactment of policy.
The UN official said OPEC should focus its future investment in research into clean fossil fuel production, working to reduce emissions from oil-based power plants, a reduction in gas flaring and carbon capture and storage.
Dr. Adnan Shihab-Eldin also spoke of technological investments in his paper, which called for wider cooperation on tackling climate change. The challenge is more compelling than energy security for the oil industry, he said, observing that global efforts to find a solution should be unbiased and not create distorted markets.
Nigerian oil minister HE Dr. Odein Ajumogobia and Indonesian energy minister HE Purnomo Yusgiantoro both expressed optimism at the prospects of reducing their countries’ impact on climate change. However, they cautioned that any program must be balanced with the need to support economic development.
Both panelists also highlighted their efforts to reduce climate change, particularly through emissions reductions.
Experts suggested that climate change was an issue in which OPEC played and will continue to play a key role. Commitment to future investment in research and technology is clear, but it must be within an agreed international framework given the global scale of the issue.