Climate Change & Peak Oil: An Integrated Policy Response for Australia

Ian Dunlop: Climate Change & Peak Oil

Wednesday, 04 April 2007

An integrated policy response Ian Dunlop has outlined the need for an integrated policy response for Australia to the twin challenges of Peak Oil and Climate Change. Full report as submitted to the Prime Ministerial Task Group on Emissions Trading. Climate change and peak oil are inextricably linked. Each one is a major issue in its own right, but their convergence has received minimal attention, which is unfortunate as it is likely to have far greater impact than the sum of the individual parts. Policy must ensure that solutions to the one reinforce, and do not conflict with, solutions to the other. Current piecemeal government policy is totally inadequate to meet the challenges of climate change. Emissions trading is now, reluctantly, under discussion but it is only one component of the comprehensive policy required. Peak oil is barely on the agenda, although it may be the issue which has the greatest impact in the short-term. This paper suggests a comprehensive, integrated policy, at both global and national levels, which will provide a coherent response to both issues. Above all, visionary, principled, long-term leadership is need from government, the community and business. Short-term political or corporate expediency is no longer acceptable; bi-partisan cooperation is essential. Action is required in the next 6-12 months, not in the 3-5 years favoured in political debate. Ian Dunlop is a senior member of ASPO-Sydney. He is an engineer and was formerly a senior international oil, gas and coal industry executive. He chaired the Australian Coal Association in 1987-88, chaired the Australian Greenhouse Office Experts Group on Emissions Trading from 1998-2000 and was CEO of the Australian Institute of Company Directors from 1997-2001. He has a particular interest in the interaction of corporate governance, corporate responsibility and sustainability. Read More

Petrocaribe Summit Promotes Energy Security

By Odeen Ishmael

CARACAS, Venezuela, Fri. August 24, 2007: The third PetroCaribe summit, held in Caracas on August, 11, assessed the achievements in the Caribbean region’s energy integration over the past two years.

The attending Presidents and Prime Ministers and other heads of delegations agreed that progress has been made in the field of energy, and initiatives of a social character have benefited some of the poorest sectors in some of the countries. Attending the forum for the first time were the Presidents of Haiti and Nicaragua who formalized their nations’ membership of the 16-nation Caribbean Basin group initiated by Venezuela in 2005.

In addition, the summit, chaired by Venezuela’s President Hugo Chavez, implemented new measures to guarantee regional energy sovereignty through the signing of an Energy Security Treaty which promises energy security through reliable and timely supply from Venezuela and the increase in the fuel storage capacity. Read More

Developing World Seeks Funds And Technology To Tackle Climate ChangeEnergy Security

This week's debate is laying the groundwork for a high-level meeting called by UN chief Ban Ki-moon on the sidelines of the September General Assembly meeting, and for a major climate change conference in Bali, Indonesia, in December.

by Gerard Aziakou
United Nations (AFP) Aug 01, 2007
Rich nations were challenged Wednesday to make deeper cuts in their greenhouse gas emissions and to provide the developing world with funding and technology to help it tackle climate change. Developed countries "have a specific responsibility" to carry out deeper cuts in greenhouse gas emission "in accordance with the commitments made under the UNFCCC and its Kyoto Protocol," Pakistani Environment Minister Mukhdoom Faisal Hayat told the General Assembly on behalf of the Group of 77 and China. Read More

The UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) is the parent of the 1997 Kyoto Protocol, the landmark environmental treaty that mandates cuts in the gases blamed for global warming.