Environment and Energy Emergency:
International Cooperation and Development Models

Workshop organized by SAFE
in cooperation with the Italian Ministry
for the Environment Land and Sea

FAO, Rome, 25 January 2007

Distinguished Delegates,
Ladies and Gentlemen,

It is with great pleasure that I open this Workshop on “Environment and Energy Emergency,” and I would like to extend to all of you a warm welcome to FAO. I wish to thank the Italian Ministry of the Environment Land and Sea, as well as SAFE – Energy Resources and Environmental Sustainability, – for organizing this important event at FAO headquarters.

The scarcity of natural resources, their widespread unsustainable use and conflict over their access threaten equitable and expanding access to energy for all. They also jeopardise the protection of the environment on which humanity depends for food and energy resources. Environment and energy are therefore accorded top priority on the international agenda, as highlighted in the 2002 Johannesburg Plan of Implementation, which underlines the need to improve access to modern energy technologies. FAO is continuously increasing its attention to these themes. The Organization’s support to sustainable energy development focuses on energy for rural development and, in particular, on bioenergy and its potential contribution towards achieving sustainable food security and development of its member countries.

There are two main reasons why bioenergy is so important for developing countries:

1. Broadening access to the supply of sustainable commercial energy is particularly important for the poorest people living in developing countries. Four out of every five persons in the world who are without electricity live in the rural areas of developing countries. The number of people who live on less than US$1 per day is about the same as that of people lacking access to commercial energy - more than two billion people.

2. The majority of poor rural people already rely on bioenergy for their energy needs. It is the only energy source to which they have access. But this bioenergy is mostly based on the use of unsustainable fuelwood and residue, which often produces significant negative impacts on the environment and on human health.

While recognizing the great opportunities, but also the potential risks of bioenergy development, FAO has embarked upon various initiatives such as the establishment of the International Bioenergy Platform (IBEP), which was presented during the Commission on Sustainable Development 14, held in New York last May, as a mechanism for organizing and facilitating a multidisciplinary and global approach to sustainable bioenergy development. This Platform will also serve as a repository of international knowledge and data for informed decision-making on bioenergy development. Bioenergy is proposed as the central theme of FAO’s 2008 report on the State of Food and Agriculture (SOFA). Also, with the support of Germany, FAO is now able to make significant progress in defining the links between bioenergy and food security and to apply this understanding for assisting countries in developing sustainable energy programmes.

Given its interdisciplinary capacity, FAO can provide substantial support to its Member Nations. However, the Organization cannot do this alone and must establish partnerships with other institutions and sectors. FAO is therefore particularly pleased to be a founding Partner of the Global Bioenergy Partnership (GBEP), which was also launched during the Ministerial Segment of the 14 th Session of the Commission on Sustainable Development, in response to an initiative by Italy which was endorsed by the G-8 Gleneagles Plan of Action. Some 20 Partners - Member Nations, international organizations, NGOs and business associations - agreed to work together in the GBEP to promote bioenergy for sustainable development. This is a good example of concrete willingness to combine efforts in the form of partnerships - across sectors and interest groups - to further the global goal of sustainable energy development. I am particularly pleased that FAO was chosen to host the GBEP Secretariat, thanks to the fruitful cooperation and support of the Italian Ministry of the Environment Land and Sea, and I reaffirm FAO’s commitment to provide its full support to the work of the Secretariat and the Partnership.

The Global Bioenergy Partnership focuses its activities on three main pillars: Energy Security, Food Security and Environmental Sustainability, and it provides a framework for enhancing the coordination and development of bioenergy activities, encouraging multi-stakeholder involvement, and fostering capacity building and technology transfer. The Partnership has chosen to concentrate its current work programme on the themes of “sustainability” and “trade”, both of which are ranked high on the international agenda and require action on the part of international and multi-stakeholders. FAO will be an active contributor to this work.

Ladies and Gentlemen,

FAO is committed to responding to the demands of its Member Nations and to bringing bioenergy to the forefront of development debates. Bioenergy is such a multi-faceted and cross-sectoral theme. FAO will therefore work with countries, international agencies and private sector associations in increasing the visibility of bioenergy and in helping to make it a tool for truly sustainable food security and rural development.

Thank you for your attention, and I wish you a successful workshop.

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