*The countries of the G8 have a key role in establishing a global deal to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, not only because they produce 40% of global emissions, but because they can help facilitate the diffusion of the technologies necessary to stabilize the climate. *Energy efficiency holds the key to both energy and climate security. Currently available technologies and practices will enable short-term and long-term targets to be met. There is a need for international cooperation that leads to increased efficiency standards for products and structures, focused finances and greater human resources and knowledge. *Sector initiatives that help drive emissions reductions in heavy energy-consuming sectors will play an important role. *Reductions in energy consumption and greenhouse gas emissions can be significantly increased through greater technological innovation and diffusion. This can be enhanced through greater research cooperation, increased targeted finance and deployment agreements.

As the world’s leaders gather in New York this week to discuss climate change, you’re going to hear a lot of well-intentioned talk about how to stop global warming. From the United Nations, Bill Clinton, and even the Bush administration, you’ll hear about how certain mechanisms—cap-and-trade systems for greenhouse gas emissions, carbon taxes, and research and development plans for new energy technologies—can fit into some sort of global emissions reduction agreement to stop climate change. Many of these ideas will be innovative and necessary; some of them will be poorly thought out. But one thing binds them together: They all come much too late.

As responsible politicians, we know that we have to act when it is necessary. We know that our duty is to initiate public policy responses to issues that could pose a threat to the people of our countries. And we know that we have to form partnerships with colleagues from other countrieś when a problem cannot be confined to national boundaries. To help us doing it is one of the main reasons for the existence of institutions such as the United Nations. However, the politicians have to ensure that the costs of public policies organized by them will not be bigger than the benefits achieved. They have to carefully consider and seriously analyze their projects and initiatives. They have to do it, even if it may be unpopular and if it means blowing against the wind of fashion and political correctness. I cońgratulate Secretary General Ban Kimoon on organizing this conference and thank him for giving us an opportunity to address the important, but until now onesidedly debated issue of climate changes. The consequences of acknowledging them as a real, big, imminent and manmade threat would be so enormous that we are obliged to think twice before making decisions. I am afraid it is not the case now.

A full consideration of observed climate change is provided in the IPCC Working Group I Fourth Assessment. This part of the Summary concerns the relationship between observed climate change and recent observed changes in the natural and human environment. The statements presented here are based largely on data sets that cover the period since 1970. The number of studies of observed trends in the physical and biological environment and their relationship to regional climate changes has increased greatly since the Third Assessment in 2001. The quality of the data sets has also improved. There is, however, a notable lack of geographic balance in data and literature on observed changes, with marked scarcity in developing countries. These studies have allowed a broader and more confident assessment of the relationship between observed warming and impacts than was made in the Third Assessment. That Assessment concluded that “there is high confidence that recent regional changes in temperature have had discernible impacts on many physical and biological systems”. From the current Assessment we conclude the following.

Almost all scientists agree that the Earth’s climate is changing, having warmed by 0.6 to 0.8o Celsius (1.1 to 1.5o Fahrenheit) since the Industrial Revolution. Science indicates that the Earth’s global average temperature is now approaching, or possibly has passed, the warmest experienced since human civilizations began to flourish about 12,000 years ago. During the 20th Century, some areas became wetter while others experienced more drought. Most climate scientists conclude that humans have induced a large part of the climate change since the 1970s. Although natural forces such as solar irradiance and volcanoes contribute to variability, scientists cannot explain the climate changes of the past few decades without including the effects of elevated greenhouse gas (GHG) concentrations resulting from fossil fuel use, land clearing, and industrial and agricultural emissions. Over the past 150 years, measured carbon dioxide concentrations have risen by more than one-third, from about 280 parts per million (ppm) to about 380 ppm. The United States contributes almost one-fifth of net global greenhouse gas emissions. Some impacts of climate change are expected to be beneficial (e.g., increased agricultural productivity in some regions), whereas others are expected to be adverse (e.g., drought in some regions, rising sea levels in some coastal areas).

And it is a great time to be here in Germany. Germany is providing exceptional leadership to the European Union and the G8, bringing its considerable political, economic, security, and diplomatic resources to bear on some of the most pressing challenges of our time. And it is a time when our two countries are working together as allies and partners to deal with global challenges as never before.

For decades, Japan dominated Asia’s energy picture. At the time of the first oil shock in 1973, it held a 60 percent share of Asia’s oil demand. During the 1980s, Japan looked to China for oil and coal as part of its energy import diversification strategy. Today, Japan remains an important energy market but its position in Asia’s energy supply and demand balance is rapidly changing. In the wake of surging regional demand, Japan’s share of oil consumption is likely to fall below 15 percent of total Asian consumption by 2020.

Changes in the atmospheric abundance of greenhouse gases and aerosols, in solar radiation and in land surface properties alter the energy balance of the climate system. These changes are expressed in terms of radiative forcing, which is used to compare how a range of human and natural factors drive warming or cooling influences on global climate. Since the Third Assessment Report (TAR), new observations and related modelling of greenhouse gases, solar activity, land surface properties and some aspects of aerosols have led to improvements in the quantitative estimates of radiative forcing.

Après l'affaire “Pétrole contre nourriture”, la justice française vient d'ouvrir deux nouveaux dossiers impliquant le groupe Total. Le lundi 8 janvier 2007, le procureur de la République de Paris a lancé une enquête préliminaire pour “corruption d'agents publics étrangers” visant l'exploitation et la commercialisation du pétrole camerounais.

Les Etats-Unis s'engagent à soutenir le Maroc dans le domaine du développement de l'énergie nucléaire civile. L'ambassadeur Greg Schulte, représentant permanent des Etats-Unis auprès du bureau des Nations unies et de l'Agence internationale de l'énergie atomique à Vienne, est en visite au Maroc pour s'entretenir avec les responsables marocains sur les opportunités de partenariat.

The economics of climate change is shaped by the science. That is what dictates the structure of the economic analysis and policies; therefore we start with the science. Human-induced climate change is caused by the emissions of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases (GHGs) that have accumulated in the atmosphere mainly over the past 100 years.

This year began with a European energy crisis caused by Russia's cutoff of gas supplies to Ukraine, where a democratic government not to the liking of Vladimir Putin had taken power. Because Russian gas passes through Ukraine on its way to Western Europe, the pressure also dropped in Paris and Vienna and Rome -- and Europeans suddenly realized they were dependent for electricity and warmth on an autocracy that was prepared to use energy as a tool of imperialism.

Après l’acquisition de son premier réacteur nucléaire, le Cnesten réfléchit à l’élaboration d’un plan d’urgence radiologique et nucléaire. Pour préparer le terrain, le centre a organisé un séminaire lundi dernier avec la participation des membres de la protection civile, la police, la gendarmerie royale, la Santé et l’Environnement.

The time has come for Americans to unite behind an 3 aggressive campaign to reduce our dependence on oil and increase domestic and global energy security. To succeed, we must move beyond the narrow interests, political polarization, and short-term thinking that have prevented meaningful national progress for the last twenty years. The Energy Security Leadership Council(“Council”) believes that real progress is possible if we can come together around balanced policies that address both the supply and demand sides of the oil equation. The Council’s recommendations, which reflect the realities of global energy interdependence, constitute a comprehensive and integrated plan for achieving a safer energy future for America.

Le premier débat national sur l’énergie qui a eu lieu le 30 octobre dernier a permis de faire le point sur l’évolution du secteur énergétique au Maroc. Les participants à cette rencontre ont passé en revue l’évolution du secteur à travers trois ateliers: la sécurité d’approvisionnement; le secteur électrique et les énergies renouvelables, et l’efficacité énergétique.

The Army should consider developing a self-contained nuclear power plant that could deploy with forces to provide energy for its garrisons and allow the service to significantly scale back its logistics operations -- including its reliance on foreign oil -- required to sustain troops around the world.

In late November, Unified Energy Systems, Russia's electricity monopoly, announced that it would cut electricity supplies to Azerbaijan from 300 megawatts to 60 megawatts in 2007. Just prior to the announcement, Russian gas giant Gazprom announced its plan to cut gas supplies to Azerbaijan and to raise the price of those supplies about 13 percent. Officially, Moscow made these decisions because Azerbaijan's gas production rose during recent months and the country is better able to cover its energy needs domestically.

At the November 24 E.U.-Russia summit, Brussels is hoping to sign a Cooperation and Partnership Agreement that covers a myriad of issues, including standardized trade and investing rules in the energy sector. Poland is blocking the agreement, however, citing fears of over-reliance on Russian oil and gas and Moscow's ban on Polish meat and plant products. Concurrently, Poland and Ukraine are calling for an extension of the Odessa-Brody pipeline that would connect Poland to oil and gas from the Caspian Sea region by bypassing Russia and thereby lessening European dependence on Russian oil.

On current trends, we are on course for an unstable, dirty & expensive energy future. In response, urgent government policy action is required in two key areas:*Promoting energy investment, *Promoting energy efficiency. In addition to improving energy security and the environment, these policies also make economic senseOn current trends, we are on course for an unstable, dirty & expensive energy future. In response, urgent government policy action is required in two key areas: Promoting energy investment and Promoting energy efficiency. In addition to improving energy security and the environment, these policies also make economic sense.

As a major oil consumer, the People’s Republic of China (PRC) has turned outward, cultivating bilateral relationships with states that can literally fuel China’s rapidly growing economy. This paper deconstructs China’s foreign policy towards supplier states in the Middle East—especially Iran and Saudi Arabia— in an effort to assess China’s grand energy strategy. It rejects the view that China can successfully pursue a “neo-mercantilist” strategy of securing reserves. It will evaluate whether China’s “no strings attached” commercial relationships with unsavory regimes threaten global security. Finally, it will consider the strategic challenge posed to the U.S. by the emergence of China in the Middle East. The paper concludes that a policy of active engagement and support for China’s increasing diversity of energy sources can help prevent harm to U.S. economic interests. It can also constrain China’s incentive to take bilateral relations with energy suppliers to the level of security guarantees, which would challenge U.S. military supremacy in the region.

Against this background the European Commission’s 2006 Green Paper on energy (European Commission, 2006) has launched a debate on a comprehensive response to the challenges facing the EU. The overarching question is how to ensure secure and low-carbon yet affordable energy. Hence, it focuses on the interface of market liberalisation, security of supply and climate change.

This paper argues that the January 2006 gas cut off in the Ukraine encouraged EU policymakers and the media to focus on the wrong Russian gas issue. The core issue for the EU is not the threat of a politically motivated gas cut off. Rather it is the prospect of Russia,through lack of investment, not being able to produce enough gas to cover Russian and EU demands. The paper considers the extent of the likely gas deficit and determines that if no action is taken by 2010 the EU may be facing a deficit close to or even beyond its current Russian gas import level.

When Labour came to power in 1997, energy was not a priority. Indeed, apart from the windfall tax and the need for a political gesture to address the ‘fat cats’ issue in the privatised utilities, it was widely assumed that energy would remain very much in the background. The privatisations and associated regulatory frameworks had reduced network costs, and fossil-fuel prices were low and falling. A policy of benign neglect, and acceptance of the Conservatives’ ‘market for energy’ approach, fi rst set out by Nigel Lawson in 1982 was adopted.

Are China’s growing energy needs insatiable, and is a resource war between China and other major energy-consuming countries, such as the United States, inevitable? China’s pursuit of overseas energy resources to feed its fast-growing economy has given rise to observations that energy is now the driving force behind Chinese foreign policy and predictions that potential conflicts between China and other countries are likely to arise as China becomes more aggressive internationally in search of resources.

This monograph examines Russia’s historical dependence on oil and gas production and the intricate system of distributing windfall profits (“rent sharing”) that underpins its economy. A full accounting of rent distribution includes not only the traditional mechanisms like budgetary expenditures and corporate profits, but also substantial informal flows through the entire economy—from price subsidies to inflated costs of production to bribes and various off-budget “contributions” by businesses to local and national government officials.

For years, international energy experts have stressed the increasing strategic importance of supply security among the goals to which economic efficiency and environmental compatibility also belong.

El ex presidente del gobierno español lo afirmó durante un seminario en Madrid. "Nunca se va a realizar", pronosticó. La iniciativa, impulsada por el venezolano Hugo Chávez, cuenta con la adhesión de la Argentina y Brasil. Y prevé la construcción de un ducto de casi 8 mil kilómetros, con un costo estimado entre US$ 17 mil y 20 mil millones.

The Nuclear Technology Review 2006 reviews the following areas: power applications, advanced fission and fusion, atomic and nuclear data, accelerator and research reactor applications, radioisotope applications and radiation technology, nuclear techniques in food and agriculture, human health, and water and the environment. Additional documentation associated with the Nuclear Technology Review 2006 is available through www.iaea.org in English only on nuclear power in developing countries, storage and disposal of spent fuel and high level radioactive waste, sterile insect technology — research and development, advances in medical radiation imaging for cancer diagnosis and treatment, applications of neutron beam technology and the front end of the uranium fuel cycle.

Canada's province of Alberta and the country of Mexico are both renowned oil economies and in both places, the government owns the oil reserves. But that's where the similarities between the two end.

There is more to today's oil crunch than temporary jolts to supply and demand. What is also roiling the energy world is an enduring shift in the balance of power between the fuel-guzzling West and oil-rich developing countries.

As the world's energy resources diminish ever more rapidly, the question of how to keep the lights on is rocketing up the political agenda to become one of the key international security issues of the age.

Russia and Algeria, the two largest suppliers of natural gas to Europe, have stepped up cooperation in the energy sector and other areas, raising fears in Europe that the two could form a gas cartel to control prices.

Dependiente energéticamente, con el barril de «Brent» por las nubes y bajo la presión de una demanda imparable que usa la energía con poca eficiencia, España se juega su futuro económico de la mano de un Gobierno que prometió el abandono progresivo de la producción nuclear y que hace un año confió el porvenir a una «mesa de diálogo» donde D7 sólo ha encontrado posturas irreconciliables.

Take any week of the year, and you are sure to find a top executive from the Russian state-owned natural gas monopoly Gazprom spending more time in a European capital than at headquarters in Moscow.

La realidad actual es que España importa el 80 por ciento de los productos energéticos que consume, muy por encima de la dependencia europea, que alcanza el 50 por ciento. Además de no contar con recursos propios, España es una isla energética, pues las interconexiones eléctricas y gasísticas con el resto de Europa son insuficientes. Asimismo, el consumo de electricidad en nuestro país no deja de crecer y lo hace a un ritmo de un 4 por ciento anual. A todo esto se une el elevado e inestable precio del petróleo, que ya supera los 70 dólares el barril, y el problema de las emisiones de dióxido de carbono a la atmósfera, que impiden cumplir con los compromisos adquiridos en el Protocolo de Kioto. De hecho, España es el país de la Unión Europea que más se aleja de los objetivos de reducción de las emisiones de CO2 para alcanzar este acuerdo y luchar, de esta forma, contra el cambio climático.

I would like to begin my presentation with a few facts on the importance of the Western Hemisphere in supplying energy resources, especially crude oil and natural gas, to the United States. Imports of crude oil from hemispheric countries (Canada, Latin America, and the Caribbean) amounted to 50 percent of total U.S. crude oil imports in 2004, the latest year for which annual figures are available. Over and above this, the United States imports significant amounts of oil products from countries in the Western Hemisphere, as can be seen in the tables at the end of this presentation. With this much energy resource reliance on the hemisphere, it is remarkable that the U.S. government has so thoroughly ignored the hemisphere in its foreign policy.

I plan to provide an update on our efforts, as well as the Department of Energy’s view on the outlook for energy markets, integration, diversification, and exploration and development of energy resources in the Western Hemisphere.

Today we are convening a hearing on Energy Security in the Western Hemisphere. Your testimony will help the Subcommittee in making an assessment of hemispheric oil markets, and the ongoing development of energy resources in North America, the Andean and Caribbean regions. By the time we are finished today, I hope the Subcommittee will have a better understanding of the energy investment climate in these regions, and the risks in hemispheric energy markets linked to political trends, the politicization of these strategic commodities, and potential production and supply disruptions.

Russia's choice of energy security to top the agenda of its Group of Eight presidency was both prescient and timely. In Europe, we have to address urgently the dual problems of our fragmented internal market and our increasing energy dependence, particularly on imported gas, which brings new risks to Europe's energy security.

Emerging economies, such as China, account for much of the projected growth, with energy demand growing at a rate of 3.2% and total energy consumption projected to more than double by 2025. This growth in energy demand will be driven by large increases in both economic growth and world population coupled with rising living standards in these countries.

China and Iran are trying to conclude a multibillion-dollar oil-and-gas deal in coming weeks, underscoring how China's appetite for energy could undermine Washington's efforts to isolate Iran.

As American evangelical Christian leaders, we recognize both our opportunity and our responsibility to offer a biblically based moral witness that can help shape public policy in the most powerful nation on earth, and therefore contribute to the well-being of the entire world.1 Whether we will enter the public square and offer our witness there is no longer an open question. We are in that square, and we will not withdraw.

Ethanol could help cure America's "addiction" to oil, with the fledgling industry poised for a boom to sate the country's thirst for renewable alternatives to gasoline, industry sources said on Wednesday.

Environmentally concerned evangelicals, including megachurch pastors, Christian college presidents, and theologians, announced their support February 8 for a major effort to combat global warming.

The report indicated that the Complex had redundant facilities, security concerns, high cost, excessive competition between the weapons labs, and inadequate equipment for the production plants. To redress these problems, the Task Force proposed restructuring the Complex.

Yet far from being a sword the world community can brandish against a recalcitrant Iran, oil is a shield Iran can use to protect itself. Analysts predict interruption in Iranian crude to world markets would send oil prices to more than $100 per barrel, weakening the resolve of governments around the world to take on the security challenge of Iran's nuclear ambitions.

If you do not know the difference between uranium metal and uranium oxide, you never heard of “Green Salt” until today, and you have been more interested in Pittsburgh vs. Seattle than Tehran vs. Vienna, here’s your chance to catch up on the latest developments in the Iranian nuclear showdown.

Europe´s energy policy should focus on this new energy reality, rather on continuing to find ever more effective solutions to yesterday´s problem of excess supply and low cost.

The United Nations Climate Change Conference closed with the adoption of more than forty decisions that will strengthen global efforts to fight climate change.

The ratification and implementation of the Kyoto Protocol would have a significant impact on the economic performance of Spain. The carbon dioxide emission reductions for the first period (2008-2012) are significant, and the reductions required to meet either of the proposed emission caps for the second period (2013-2017) and beyond are daunting.

The analysis, which was prepared by Global Insight Inc. an international economic modelling firm, assumes that the cost of emission allowances under Kyoto would be passed along to consumers in the form of higher energy prices and ultimately high prices for all goods and services.

Science does not support the alarmist claims underpinning Kyoto and kindred schemes to curb industrial emissions of greenhouse gases (GHGs), chiefly carbon dioxide (CO2) from fossil energy use.