The BGA Energy and Natural Resources team, led by Senior Director Bradford Simmons, wrote an update to clients on the recent Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) energy ministerial.

Context

  • The first energy minister-level meeting of the APEC grouping in eight years was held in Seattle, Washington, from August 15-16. The meeting took place at a time when the Indo-Pacific has faced extreme weather eventsranging from record-breaking heat, unprecedented storms and flooding and historical forest fires exacerbated by climate change.
  • APEC’s 21 economies account for 56 percent of the world’s energy demand, 58 percent of the world’s energy supply and 68 percent of the electricity generated globally. U.S. Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm, as this year’s ministerial chair, called on the ministers to “work together.”

Significance

  • The meeting helped lift energy’s profile in APEC; however, the final declaration of issues were presented as a chair’s statement, not a common ministers’ statement. The statement also lacks the depth of substance and scope covered in the statements of peer energy and climate multilateral forums. This is an indication that APEC atrophied in this sector after an unprecedented time gap between energy ministerials and the bureaucratic strains created by an intensive Asia energy multilateral calendar in 2023.
  • The focus on hydrogen, which was the only technology that received dedicated language in the statement, is notable. The focus on hydrogen production, a clean energy transition, access to clean energy technologies, carbon-free sources of energy and the reduction of methane emissions brings much-needed modernization to the APEC energy agenda.

Implications

  • Businesses should note the meeting’s call for expanded investment in minerals, materials and technologies as inputs for zero-carbon technologies.
  • One major deliverable of the meeting was a call to support access to clean energy technologies by removing barriers to deployment and enhancing regional interconnectivity. A cross-border carbon-capture, utilization and storage regime could be a future APEC workstream.

We will continue to keep you updated on developments in Australia as they occur. If you have any questions or comments, please contact BGA Senior Adviser Amb. C. Lawrence Greenwood or Senior Director Bradford Simmons.

Best regards,

BGA Research Team

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Senior Director

Brad manages BGA client relationships and engagements across the Indo-Pacific in the energy, climate and resource sectors. He brings over a decade of energy and climate public policy experience to BGA and is an expert in regional energy markets, supply chains and geopolitics.  Prior to joining BGA, Brad served in the civil service at the U.S. departments of State and Energy. As a director in the Department of Energy’s Office of International Market Development, Brad was responsible for integrating the department’s international commercial and energy policymaking agendas. In this role, he led the development and execution of the department’s international ... Read More