Energy Charter Annual Policy Conference focuses on investment

The Energy Charter Secretariat held its Annual Policy Conference in Luxembourg on 28 May 2009. The meeting was organised in cooperation with the European Investment Bank (EIB), which also hosted the event. This year the main theme of the conference related to the provision of sustainable and secure energy, with a special emphasis on the financing of energy investments. The issue of finance has become of critical importance in the light of the global financial crisis and ailing major credit institutions. This crisis has had a negative impact on the availability of financing for energy investments raising concerns about the future energy supply-demand balance.

The conference provided a valuable opportunity to bring together the worlds of international finance, the energy industry and representatives of producer, consumer and transit countries, as well as leading experts on energy investments. The key challenges for energy investment were examined focusing on the needs of the various energy sectors - hydrocarbons, nuclear, and renewable sources. In other sessions, the role of multilateral institutions in promoting investment in energy projects during the current difficult climate was considered. New approaches and tools for financing investment were also explored.

Speakers and participants stressed the importance of international cooperation in the energy sector as a means to promote investment. It was noted that there is an increasing role for national governments and international financial institutions in stimulating the economic recovery of the energy sector to meet the future demands, to promote energy efficiency and to bring forward alternative energy sources in order to address climate change. The private sector was also identified as having a central role through the mobilisation of the required financial resources, know-how and in the promotion of new technologies. The conference concluded that multilateral legal frameworks, notably the Energy Charter Treaty, made a valuable, indeed vital, contribution as frameworks for facilitating investment, including through ensuring the operation of a level playing field for potential investors.

A conference report based upon the proceedings and discussions is available. Furthermore, the main conclusions derived from this policy conference will be submitted for endorsement to the Energy Charter Conference at the end of 2009.

Programme and Presentations

Welcome and Opening Statements

Rémy Jacob
Director, Strategy and Corporate Centre, European Investment Bank

Plutarchos Sakellaris
Vice-President, European Investment Bank

André Mernier
Secretary General, Energy Charter Secretariat

Keynote address

Joan MacNaughton CB
Senior Vice-President, Power & Environmental Policies, ALSTOM Power Systems

Session one: International legal framework for energy investment: The Energy Charter Treaty and other instruments

Chaired by Takekazu Kawamura, Chairman of the Energy Charter Conference

Bilateral Investment Treaties and International Energy Investments
by Elisabeth Türk, Senior Investment Law Expert, Division on Investment & Enterprise, United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD)

Legal Framework Building for Energy Cooperation: Role of Governments and Private Sector in Multinational Energy Projects
by Peter Cameron, Director of Research and Reader in International Economic Law at The Centre for Energy, Petroleum and Mineral Law and Policy, University of Dundee

A Multilateral Legal Framework for Energy Investment: What is the Added Value?
by Ralf Dickel, Director of Trade and Transit, Energy Charter Secretariat

Session two: Identification of investment needs, opportunities and risks across sectors

Chaired by Christian Cleutinx, Director General, Euratom Supply Agency, European Commission

Managing Risk and Financing for Natural Gas
by Philippe Hochart, Vice-President Caspian Iran, GDF Suez, Global Gas & LNG

Managing Risk and Financing for Oil
by Yury Lavrov, Head of the Representative Office in Belgium, Lukoil Oil Company

Managing Risk and Financing for Nuclear Energy
by Massimo Garribba, Head of Unit, Euratom coordination, legal questions andinternational relations, Nuclear Energy Directorate, European Commission

Facilitating Finance for Low-Carbon Investments
by James Wilson, International Business Development Director, Rest of the World Division, Iberdrola Renewables SAU

Session three: Modalities in energy finance - new financial products

Chaired by Grammatiki Tsingou-Papadopetrou, Director General, Projects Directorate, European Investment Bank

Managing Risk and Financing for Energy Efficiency and for Renewable Energy Resources
by Gianpiero Nacci, Energy Efficiency & Climate Change, European Bank for Reconstruction and Development

Role of the International Financial Institution in Securing Funds for Energy Investments
by Peter D. Thomson, Director of Sustainable Development Department of the Europe and Central Asia Region of the World Bank

New Financial Instruments Supporting International Energy Investments
by Thomas Barrett, Director, Action for Growth Instruments, European Investment Bank

Energy Finance in the Asia-Pacific Rim: Experience of JBIC
by Takeshi Sakamoto, Senior Representative, Japan Bank for International Cooperation (JBIC)

Concluding panel discussion: The international legal framework for energy investments - the way forward

Chaired by André Mernier, Secretary General, Energy Charter Secretariat

Dario Chello
Director for Energy Efficiency and Investment, Energy Charter Secretariat

Christian Cleutinx
Director General, European Commission, Euratom Supply Agency

Howard Chase
Director, European Government Affairs, BP Europe

Chris Hurst
Director Energy and Transport, European Investment Bank