EU, Australia Join Forces to Fight Climate Change
May 20, 2009 // Published as a news service by IHS
The two parties also signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) committing the EU to be a founding partner of the Global Carbon Capture and Storage Institute.
The institute is an initiative of the Australian government to accelerate the deployment of carbon capture and storage technology globally and the sharing of information. Currently, it has the support of 85 bodies, including 16 national governments and 40 major companies.
"The UN climate conference on climate change to be held in Copenhagen in December will be essential to reach a global agreement to save the planet," said Piebalgs after the meeting. "Australia and the EU share the same concerns about climate change and aim at similar solutions. I believe we need to join forces in Copenhagen to be successful in this endeavour."
In his first visit to Australia, Piebalgs met with the Minister for Resources, Energy and Tourism, Martin Ferguson; the Minister for Climate Change and Water, Penny Wong; and the Minister for Trade, Simon Crean.
Background
Australia is a global energy actor and a key energy partner to the EU. It is the world's fourth largest coal producer, with a production of 323 million tons of hard coal and 72 million tons of lignite. Since 1984 Australia is the world's largest exporter of coal, and the third largest hard coal exporter to the EU.
Australia is also an important producer of liquefied natural gas, with exports of more than 44 billion cubic meters in 2008/2009. Australia holds one-third of the world's uranium resources at competitive prices. In 2007, the EU exported to Australia energy products with a value of €28 million.
Source: European Commission (EC).