COMMITTEE ON ENERGY AND NATURAL RESOURCES BEGINS SECOND SESSION

Press Release
ENR/7

COMMITTEE ON ENERGY AND NATURAL RESOURCES BEGINS SECOND SESSION

Despite continued growth in world energy consumption, the developing countries had experienced a 2.3 per cent decline over the past year, the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources heard this morning as it began its second session.

The declining energy consumption had seriously affected the economic and social development performance of developing countries, JoAnne Disano, Director of the Division for Sustainable Development in the Department of Economic and Social Affairs, told the Committee in her introductory remarks. On the other hand, the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) countries, representing almost 60 per cent of total world commercial energy demand, had shown a growth in consumption over the last year, maintaining the trend of the past 10 years.

Ms. Disano said that hydroelectricity projects accounted for much of the use of renewable energy, which was increasing in absolute terms. While renewable energy showed great potential in developing countries, lack of financing, and of technological and human resources, had impeded the use of modern techniques. Concrete recommendations were needed to overcome those barriers and to promote the increased use of renewable energy in the developing world.

Regarding integrated water resources management, she noted that the Secretary-General's report on water supply and sanitation envisaged that two- thirds of the world's population could see their water resources under moderate or severe strain by the year 2025. The Committee's intersessional paper on linkages between water use, land use and ecosystems should provide a useful input to the review by the Commission on Sustainable Development of Agenda 21 for the Rio + 10 session in 2002.

The imperative of climate change argued in favour of long-term collaboration in environmentally sound energy technologies, she said. Wider use of such technologies would not be possible in developing countries without the financial support of industrialized nations. The Committee's concrete recommendations on those issues would be of great value to the ninth session of the Commission on Sustainable Development.

Also this morning, the Committee reelected Christian M. Katsande (Zimbabwe) as its Chairman. Also reelected were Wilhelmus Turkenburg (Netherlands) as Vice- Chairman and Chairman of the Energy Sub-group, and Wafik Meshref (Egypt) as Rapporteur of the Energy Sub-group. Ainun Nishat (Bangladesh) was elected Vice-

Natural Resources Committee - 1a - Press Release ENR/7 1st Meeting (AM) 14 August 2000

Chairman and Chairman of the Water Sub-group while Sergey Natalchuk (Russian Federation) becomes the Rapporteur of the Water Sub-group.

The Committee on Energy and Natural Resources for Development will meet again on Monday, 21 August to consider outcomes of the seventh and eighth sessions of the Commission on Sustainable Development and the multipurpose use of hydro resources.

Documents before Committee

As the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources for Development began its second session this morning, it was expected to elect officers and adopt its agenda and organization of work. Before the Committee were the provisional agenda (document E/C.14/2000/1) and the organization of work for the session (document E/C.14.2000.L.1).

Also before the Committee was the Secretary-General's report on status of hydroelectricity generation (document E/C.14/2000/5), which notes the cost- effectiveness of expanded hydropower use. It does not create market distortions and can sharply reduce carbon dioxide emissions from the electric power sector. Nonetheless, drawbacks include the effects of dams on river ecosystems, ecological changes, effects on fish and reduced water flow. A conspicuous effect of large- scale hydropower development is population displacement, which may be minimized by careful site selection and project design limiting the maximum reservoir level.

The Secretary-General’s report says that worldwide generation of hydroelectricity rose from 2,041,448 million kilowatt-hours (kWh) in 1987 to 2,588,324 kWh in 1996, an annual gain of about 2.3 per cent for the 10-year period. The United States Energy Information Agency's International Energy Outlook, 2000, projects a 54 per cent consumption increase between 1997 and 2020, just enough to maintain the hydroelectricity and other renewable sources of energy share at about 8 per cent of total world energy consumption.

According to the report, the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) countries were by far the largest hydroelectricity producers between 1960 and 1996, with an estimated total of 1,338,825 million kWh in 1996, while the rest of the world registered hydroelectric production of about 1,250,499 million kWh.

Asia's water resources constitute a vast potential, both for generating hydroelectricity and for irrigation, the report says. Several major river systems have excellent potential and lend themselves to construction of dams with low heads and great volumes of flow. In many African countries, the hydroelectricity share of installed electricity generation capacity is quite high and is expected to double in the next two decades. In Central and South America, hydroelectric dams account for more than 50 per cent or more of Latin America's total installed generating capacity.

According to the report, almost all developing countries are under political and social pressure to supply electricity to scattered rural areas. Rural supply is often constrained by low population densities and the very low purchasing power of rural people. Mini-hydropower is an increasingly attractive means of generating primary electricity. Consisting of easily built dams on small rivers and streams, using landfill and rocks and connected to micro-turbines and generators, such systems can meet the needs of one family or several households.

The Secretary-General's report on coordination of energy activities within the United Nations system (document E/C.14/2000/6) says that the Ad Hoc Inter- Agency Task Force on energy has been successful in its initial efforts to establish a common system-wide approach to energy and sustainable development and facilitate regular communication and information exchange. Efforts at cooperation with agencies outside the United Nations system working in the energy field would further enhance overall cooperation in that area.

According to the report, United Nations entities and agencies provide detailed periodic descriptions of their activities to the Ad Hoc Inter-Agency Task Force for coordination purposes. The areas of emphasis adopted by individual entities are determined largely by their mandates. The regional commissions focus on promoting regional cooperation and undertake energy-related activities accordingly. Agencies with specific mandates, such as the World Health Organization (WHO) and the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), incorporate energy aspects in various projects aimed at achieving their goals.

The Secretary-General's report on follow-up to the first session of the Committee on Energy: energy sector (E/C.14/2000/7) says that critical issues raised by the Committee regarding the achievement of a sustainable energy future were well received by the Economic and Social Council, the Commission on Sustainable Development and the Ad Hoc Open-ended Intergovernmental Group of Experts on Energy and Sustainable Development. Those issues were also taken into careful consideration in the Secretary-General's report, "Energy and Sustainable Development: key issues" (E/CN.17.ESD/2000/3).

Consistent with the Committee's recommendation, the report continues, the critical role of accelerated development and the application of environmentally sound energy technologies to meet the growing demand for energy for worldwide sustainable development has gained increasing importance in debates and deliberations in all energy-related forums.

One of the recommendations made during the Committee's first session concerned the outcomes of the ninth session of the Commission on Sustainable Development, the report states. That includes creating better understanding of and approaches to energy and sustainable development issues for the new millennium, recognizing outstanding issues and constraints and initiating a mechanism to promote commonly acceptable recommendations on best practices for achieving a sustainable energy future for all.

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