Bold action needed to develop sustainable energy and transport, say OSCE conference participants

PRAGUE, 14 September 2011 – Sustainable, efficient and environmentally friendly energy and transport policies are the focus of a three-day OSCE conference that opened today in Prague.

More than 300 policymakers and experts from 56 countries are at the 19th OSCE Economic and Environmental Forum on “Promotion of common actions and co-operation in the OSCE area in the fields of development of sustainable energy and transport”.

Opening the conference, Karel Schwarzenberg, the First Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Czech Republic, said: “The Economic and Environmental Dimension is not only vital part of our cross dimensional approach towards security in the OSCE area, it is also a field where practical co-operation helps to restore trust and confidence among OSCE participating States.”

Energy security is a priority of the 2011 Lithuanian OSCE Chairmanship said Egidijus Meilūnas, the Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs of Lithuania, adding: “Long-term energy security largely depends on the sustainable production and consumption of energy. The issues at stake are complex and interlinked. This is why we have to adopt a broad view of energy security.”

“The Lithuanian Chairmanship strongly believes that such interrelated challenges as climate change, effective resource management and energy efficiency can and must be addressed at the same time. This is the way to obtain concrete results and to facilitate the achievement of our long-term goals in the field of energy security.”

Speaking about the OSCE’s role, OSCE Secretary General Lamberto Zannier said: “For the OSCE, addressing sustainable energy and transport means promoting co-operation – among states, across regions and between governments, international organizations, private industry and civil society.”

“Sustainable energy and transport solutions are essential to modern life. They are essential in light of the need to address global climate change, and they are essential in the context of economic uncertainty and highly volatile prices for fossil fuels. Yet such policies are not easy to develop, or to put into practice. They must take into account the intricate links between economic development, trade, social and environmental issues, climate change, and security concerns. And they cannot succeed at the national level alone.”

In his keynote speech, Jan Kubiš, the UN Under Secretary General and Executive Secretary of the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe, said: “In the energy sector - similarly to transport - the environmental challenge is enormous. The time to act is now. And there is a need to act on a scale that will address the challenge. The change will not come overnight and policy responses must be bold if the world is to get on the path to a sustainable future. ”

The Forum, organized by the office of Goran Svilanović, the Co-ordinator of OSCE Economic and Environmental Activities, builds on the results of preparatory meetings held in Vienna on 7-8 February and Druskinikia, Lithuania on 4-5 April on sustainable energy and sustainable transport respectively.