The International Energy Charter is a declaration of political intention aiming at strengthening energy cooperation between the signatory states and which does not bear any legally binding obligation or financial commitment.
The International Energy Charter has been formally adopted and signed at the Ministerial Conference, which was hosted by the government of The Netherlands. It maps out common principles for international cooperation in the field of energy.
The International Energy Charter reflects some of the most topical energy challenges of the 21st century, in particular:
- the full scope of multilateral documents and agreements on energy developed in the last two decades, and the synergies among energy-related multilateral fora, including the Energy Charter, in view of follow-up action
- the growing weight of developing countries for global energy security
- the “trilemma” between energy security, economic development and environmental protection
- the role of enhanced energy trade for sustainable development
- the need to promote access to modern energy services, energy poverty reduction, clean technology and capacity building
- the need for diversification of energy sources and routes
- the role of regional integration of energy markets
By including all these relevant issues, the International Energy Charter promotes mutually beneficial energy cooperation among nations for the sake of energy security and sustainability. The International Energy Charter thus fits well into the global policy agenda reflected, for instance, in the G20 Leaders’ Communiqué of the Brisbane Summit in November 2014 and the UN Document “The Future We Want” endorsed by the UN Conference on Sustainable Development in June 2012.
