Energy and Climate Change Mitigation

Resources

Declaration of Commitment of Port of Spain. Securing Our Citizens’ Future by Promoting Human Prosperity, Energy Security and Environmental Sustainability. Fifth Summit of the Americas, Port of Spain, Trinidad and Tobago, 2009.

Paragraph 45: We recognise that energy is an essential resource for improving the standard of living of our peoples and that access to energy is of paramount importance to economic growth with equity and social inclusion. We will aim to develop cleaner, more affordable and sustainable energy systems, to promote access to energy and energy efficient technologies and practices in all sectors. We will aim to diversify our energy matrices by increasing, where appropriate, the contribution of renewable energy sources, and will encourage the cleaner, more efficient use of fossil fuels and other fuels.

Paragraph 46: We reaffirm the sovereign right of each country to the conservation, development and sustainable use of its own energy resources. We will continue to promote efficient and transparent energy resource management for achieving sustainable development in all our countries, taking into consideration national circumstances. We support the exchange of experiences and best practices and will seek to cooperate, where appropriate, in the implementation of energy efforts in the Hemisphere.

Paragraph 47: We will foster energy efficiency and conservation in the public and private sectors, particularly in our transport systems, industrial sectors, commercial enterprises, including small and medium-sized enterprises, as well as at the household level, and will promote cleaner, more sustainable patterns of production and consumption.

Paragraph 48: Taking into consideration national needs and priorities and consistent with applicable national and international law, we will strive to foster investment and innovation in the development and diversification of energy sources and of efficient and environmentally friendly technologies, including cleaner technologies for the production of fossil fuels. Furthermore we recognise the importance of transparency in energy–related government and private sector activities.

Paragraph 49: We recognise the potential of new, emerging, and environmentally friendly technologies for diversifying the energy matrix and the creation of jobs. In this regard, we will encourage, as appropriate, the sustainable development, production, and use of both current and next generation biofuels, with awareness of their social, economic and environmental impact. In accordance with our national priorities, we will work together to facilitate their use, through international cooperation and the sharing of experiences on biofuel technologies and policies.1

Paragraph 50: We will encourage the development of diverse renewable energy sources and technologies. We will develop national strategies, in keeping with each country’s capacity, to promote the science-based development and use of increasingly advanced technologies for sustainable energy production, taking into account possible social or environmental impacts.

Paragraph 51: We recognise that many sources of energy are available at particular times and locations. We will therefore, in accordance with applicable national and international law and considering the particular needs and priorities of each of our countries, encourage investment in the development and scaling-up of renewable and non-renewable energy, energy integration projects, new, efficient energy generation, including storage and energy sharing systems, cross border transportation and distribution systems and other energy-trading and cooperation networks. We affirm that nuclear energy production in our countries will be carried out in strict compliance with our respective obligations under the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons, as well as under other applicable multilateral international agreements on non-proliferation, nuclear safety and nuclear security, to which the Member State is a party. We will cooperate to improve the security, safety, quality, reliability and protection of our critical energy infrastructure and supply networks, including regional interconnection networks where feasible and useful, and will seek to ensure that all links in the energy supply chain operate to the highest standards of human health and safety, environmental protection and physical security.

Paragraph 52: Based on our technical and financial capabilities, and consistent with applicable national and international law, we will continue to promote cleaner energy through research and development, capacity building and the transfer, on mutually agreed terms, as well as the commercialisation, of environmentally sustainable technologies. We will also promote, where appropriate, participation in mitigation and adaptation mechanisms and funds, and in international carbon markets. Priority should be given to the sharing of information and experiences, and to increasing international cooperation and the fostering of domestic enabling environments to support clean energy technologies that could benefit all our nations.

Paragraph 53: We will aim to develop public education campaigns in each nation, with commitments from governments and industry, which serve to provide the people of the Americas with access to accurate, reliable and impartial information on energy, environmental and climate change issues.

Paragraph 54: We will take further action to improve and enhance the collection and reporting of market data on oil and other energy sources in all countries to ensure smooth functioning of energy markets at the regional and global levels. We will also support ongoing international initiatives such as the Joint Oil Data Initiative to promote improved governance, transparency and accountability in the energy sector.

Paragraph 55: We will continue to support the development and implementation of voluntary corporate social responsibility best practices in the energy sector, with particular emphasis on initiatives that enhance dialogue among government, industry, local communities, indigenous groups and nongovernmental organisations, to enable all stakeholders to better understand, participate in and benefit from energy sector activities. We welcome the efforts of countries to effectively manage their extractive sector, thereby contributing to economic and social development, and environmental stewardship.

Paragraph 56: We recognise the different and valuable existing energy cooperation and integration initiatives in the region, based, inter alia, on solidarity, complementarity, efficiency and sustainability. In this sense, and in order to advance hemispheric energy cooperation, we instruct our Ministers or pertinent national authorities, in a spirit of partnership, to develop cooperation strategies that will promote access for our people to reliable, efficient, affordable and clean energy, especially for the poorest sectors, and foster sharing of best practices and experiences, with a view to increasing energy efficiency, diversifying energy sources and minimising environmental impact, with the support of the institutions of the Joint Summit Working Group (JSWG) and other relevant international and regional organisations, within the scope of their mandates, as well as the private sector, as appropriate. To this end, we will convene a meeting as a first step toward the development of an implementation plan for this initiative, as well as other energy action items arising from this Declaration, for the consideration and approval of Ministers or pertinent national authorities. We further instruct Ministers or pertinent national authorities to submit a progress report on the implementation of this initiative by the next Summit of the Americas.

1 Footnote for paragraph 49 presented by the delegation of Bolivia: Bolivia is of the view that the development of cooperative policies and arrangements intended to expand biofuels in the Western Hemisphere can adversely affect and impact on the availability of foods and raise food prices, increase deforestation, displace populations due to the demand for land, and ultimately aggravate the food crisis. It would directly affect low-income persons, especially the poorest economies of the developing countries. Thus, while the Bolivian Government recognizes the need to seek and use alternative, environmentally friendly sources of energy, such as geothermal, solar, wind energy and small and medium-sized hydroelectric plants, it proposes an alternative vision based on living well