27th Energy Charter Conference
Tokyo, Japan
The Energy Charter Conference held its 27th Meeting on 25-26 November 2016 in Tokyo under the Chairmanship of HE Fumio Kishida, the Minister for Foreign Affairs of Japan.
IEF Secretary General, Dr Sun Xiansheng was invited to deliver a keynote speech to the conference, which 25 years after its conception was taking place in East Asia for the first time. Dr Sun’s speech entitled "Global Energy Architecture and its Implication in Asia" is available for download below.
The Energy Charter characterized the conference as a milestone event that recognised the increasing importance of the Asian region in the global energy landscape and also the role of the International Energy Charter as a universal regulatory framework for energy investment, cross-border trade, transit and energy efficiency. The primary themes explored by participants in the conference included discussions on the relevance of the Energy Charter Process to global challenges, not least in the context of helping to reach the goal of universal energy access under the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and the commitment to a low-carbon economy expressed in the Paris Agreement. The conference programme also addressed issues including continued investment in energy projects and better regional interconnection to improve universal access to affordable, reliable, clean, sustainable and modern energy services in Sub-Saharan and Asia-Pacific regions, which are key areas of common interest between the G20 and the International Energy Charter.
Dr Sun also participated as an observer in the Ministerial Session of the conference on 26 November, the theme of which was "Relevance of the International Energy Charter to Global Challenges: its potential contributions to sustainable development and global efforts on climate change".
More detail on these events can be found at the official website of the Energy Charter.
