Global energy governance reform and China's participation - Final report

Authors: Neil Hirst and Yang Yufeng
Published: June 2016

Executive summary

This is the final report of a joint project on global energy governance reform and China’s participation, involving China’s Energy Research Institute (ERI) and the Grantham Institute at Imperial College London.   

The project has had the benefit of an international senior Steering Committee and of a Senior Consulting Group in China. The project leaders have travelled widely and have engaged leading policy makers and experts around the world and have issued three consultation documents.

The project has promoted more inclusive global energy governance and enhanced Chinese engagement. There has been significant progress in all the main areas where we and our Steering Committee have advocated change. We have been a part of the dialogue that has stimulated these changes and our contribution has been widely recognised. We believe that the international community will be better able to tackle global energy challenges, and China will have a more satisfactory role, as a result of these efforts. 

The G20 has adopted its “G20 Principles of Energy Collaboration” and has called for international energy institutions to become more representative and inclusive. The role of the G20 energy working group has been enhanced, and G20 Energy Ministers now meet regularly.

China and the International Energy Agency (IEA) have activated their Association, and have developed a close relationship. China’s National Energy Administration and IEA have agreed to set up an IEA-China Centre in Beijing and a senior Chinese energy official from National Energy Administration (NEA) is now working at the IEA in Paris. The IEA has set itself on course towards building a truly global energy organisation. 

The Secretariat of the International Energy Forum will be headed by a Chinese national very soon, and China has signed the declaration of the International Energy Charter.

A fit for purpose global energy architecture is beginning to emerge. But there is more to do. The next steps that we recommend include:

• A programme of work at the G20 to deliver on the G20 Principles, initially under China’s Presidency in 2016.
• Successful implementation of the IEA’s Association with China and the potential IEA-China Centre.
• Taking forward the IEA’s evolution so that the IEA can eventually become a genuinely global body.
• Continuing enhancement of the roles of the International Energy Forum and the Energy Charter.
• Continuing enhancement of China’s capability to engage in global energy governance.
• Continuing progress of the different international energy organizations (G20, APEC, IEA, IEF, EC, OPEC, IRENA, WEC, IAEA, etc.) towards closer cooperation and a more united approach to maintaining world energy security.
• Making use of existing financial organizations, like World Bank (WB), Asia Development Bank (ADB), International Monetary Fund (IMF), Asia Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB), New Development Bank (NDB), etc., as the powerful support in the programme or projects of global energy governance.
• Paying more attention to the industry as the implementing entity for achieving the goals of global energy governance, including the energy unions or associations like  World Energy Council (WEC), World Petroleum Council (WPC), International Gas Union (IGU), International Green Energy Association (IGEA), World Coal Association (WCA), International Hydropower Association (IHA), World Wind Energy Association (WWEA), World Nuclear Association (WNA), World Association of Nuclear Operators (WANO), International Association for Energy Economics (IAEE), Global Energy Interconnection Development & Cooperation Organization (GEIDCO), etc.

Although this report signals the end of this particular project, the ERI and the Grantham Institute plan to continue to collaborate on energy governance issues and also intend to publish a book on the subject later in 2016.     

Download: Global energy governance reform and China's participation - Final report

“China and Global Energy Governance" is a joint project led by the Grantham Institute and China’s Energy Research Institute and the NDRC. Read more