The G8 on Energy: Too Little

摘要

Energy security was a key issue atthe St. Petersburg summit of G8 leaders last month. Their joint communique included many important commitments, but it omitted one crucial pledge: a significant increase in their governments' investments in R&D for energy technologies. The omission of energy R&D by the G8 reflects a worrisome lack of determination to accelerate the development of new energy technologies. The urgent challenge is to meet global demand [scheduled to rise by more than 50% in the next 25 years, according to the International Energy Agency (TEA)] while reducing the impact of greenhouse gas emissions on climate change.