Energy ministers aim to craft a framework for ensuring an energy resilient Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) community when they meet in Cebu from October 12 to 14, 2015.
In a recent briefing held at Capitol, Energy Undersecretary Loreta Ayson said the key elements of the Cebu declaration will “revolve around energy resources, investments, clean technologies, resilient infrastructures, and regional standards for products and services.”
One of the specific issues to be threshed out during the 12th APEC Energy Ministers’ Meeting and Associated Meetings in Cebu pertains to strengthening energy infrastructure against adverse climate change effects.
Ayson cited recent natural disasters in 2015 in the Asia-Pacific region that affected energy sources, such as the bushfires in Australia, flooding in the Andean Cusco region of Southern Peru, winter weather that hit Tennessee in the US last February, flash floods in Chile’s Atacama desert, coal mine flooding in China’s Shanxi province, forest fires in Russia’s Khakassia Republic in Southern Siberia, and strong earthquake in Japan’s Bonin Islands.
The affected countries are among APEC’s 21 member economies.
Proposed interventions for these and other disastrous scenarios will come from Japan, the United States, Chinese Taipei, Indonesia, and Russia, Ayson added.
Other equally important topics include cutting-edge energy efficiency technologies and ensuring these are available, community-based sourcing for poverty-stricken areas with inadequate supply of energy, and energy trade and investment.
Ayala Corporation Chairperson and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Jaime Augusto Zobel de Ayala and International Energy Agency incoming Executive Director Dr. Faith Birol are part of an international panel scheduled to speak during the 12th APEC Energy Ministers’ Meeting.
