Singapore and the International Energy Agency (IEA) will co-host the Singapore-IEA Ministerial Roundtable at SIEW on Wednesday, 26 October 2022. The theme of the Ministerial Roundtable is “Energy Security in a Low Carbon World”.
The world is currently facing a truly global energy crisis. This has captured the urgent attention of governments, but it also elevates the need for international cooperation between countries. As a principle, countries would need to work together to manage the current crisis. There are ways, in the short-term, to tackle the current issues – the IEA recently released a five-point plan in this regard. However, today’s energy crisis must not distract from the urgent task of progressively decarbonising energy systems. The acceleration of low-carbon energy transition is ultimately the long-term solution to our energy security challenges.
Despite the demands of the current crisis, we need to continue to challenge traditional notions of energy security, which focus narrowly on oil and gas supply and price volatility. In the energy systems of the future, energy security will be much more holistic than this. For example, this will involve the ability to integrate high shares of renewables in power systems, and the availability of critical minerals for clean energy technologies and processes.
Southeast Asia is emerging to be a key player in the global energy transition. According to the IEA’s Southeast Asia Energy Outlook 2022, the region is one of the world’s fastest growing economies and several countries have announced ambitious climate plans which will lead to significant developments in clean energy, energy efficiency and energy access. That said, Southeast Asia continues to be dependent on global oil and gas markets and have been significantly impacted by record-high global energy prices. To mitigate the impact of volatile energy markets, countries would need to tap on solutions that can address both goals of accelerating energy transition and maintaining energy security and affordability.
The Singapore-IEA Ministerial Roundtable, with the theme of “Energy Security in a Low-Carbon World”, will facilitate discussion among ministers and energy thought leaders from Southeast Asia and the wider Asia-Pacific region. The discussion will focus on (i) key short-term priorities in managing current crisis; (ii) the linkages and trade-offs between energy security and energy transitions over time; (iii) and collaboration needed to achieve an energy secure, people-centred low carbon future.
Roundtable speakers are invited to share their perspectives on the following topics:
- What are short-term solutions to mitigate the impact of the global energy crisis in your country/region?
- What are your domestic priorities in building a secure and green energy economy?
- How to realise green opportunities through technological innovation and partnerships?
- How to stimulate public and private investments in projects that promote energy security and energy transition?
- What are possible regional and global approaches to enhancing our energy security and accelerating energy transition?
Proposed Agenda
The proposed agenda is outlined below.
| Time (SGT) | Session |
| 1100 - 1110 | Welcome Remarks by Singapore |
| 1110 - 1130 | Presentation by IEA Executive Director Dr Fatih Birol on Managing Energy Security and Clean Energy Transitions |
| 1110 - 1130 | Plenary Session: Energy Security in a Low Carbon World
|
| 1220 - 1230 | Closing Remarks by Singapore and IEA |