G8 Energy Ministers' Meeting To Be Held in Rome 24 and 25 May
22/05/2009
The G8 Energy Ministers' Meeting, which is due to be held in Rome on Sunday 24 and Monday 25 May, aims to foster renewed intergovernmental cooperation in an effort to combat the economic crisis by imparting a fresh boost to investment in major energy projects, and to promote the efficient use of energy by speeding up the development and use of clean and sustainable technologies. The Rome summit, organized by the Economic Development Ministry and chaired by Minister Claudio Scajola under the heading "Beyond the Summit: Towards a New World Leadership in Energy", will be the main global event devoted to the topic of energy in 2009.
The conclusions reached at the meeting will be submitted to the G8 summit in L'Aquila so that they can be approved by the heads of state and government leaders, and become operational. Some 23 energy ministers from the G8 group of countries and the other leading economies in the world are due to gather in the Italian capital. All together they represent fully 80% of the world's supply and demand in the energy field. It is necessary to respond to global climate change while guaranteeing certainty of energy supply and accessible and competitive prices. The economic crisis is hitting the world's less developed countries hardest of all, thus an action plan against energy poverty is urgent.
Attention must focus first and foremost on Africa, where the dearth of energy is responsible for social instability, uncontrolled migration and epidemics. The G8 energy ministers' meeting will also provide an opportunity for the EBF, the Energy Business Forum, to meet. This meeting between the ministers and the top managers of the world's most important energy corporations will kick off the Rome summit on Sunday 24 May, addressing the issue of a boost to investments in the energy field also as a way of countering the impact of the economic crisis.
