First Energy Transitions Working Group Meeting held in Bengaluru

 The first G20 Energy Transitions Working Group (ETWG) Meeting under India’s Presidency will begin in Bengaluru on 05 February 2023. 

Union Minister for Power and New and Renewable Energy Shri R.K. Singh  will deliver keynote address of the three-day event.  Union Minister for  Parliamentary Affairs, Coal and Mines Shri Pralhad Joshi will give  special address.

The first G20  ETWG Meeting under India’s Presidency being  held in Bengaluru will have over 150 participants including G20 member countries, nine special invitee guest countries – Bangladesh, Egypt, Mauritius, Netherlands, Nigeria, Oman, Singapore, UAE and Spain. India’s G20 Presidency will share, collaborate, and build on the sense of trusteeship amongst the member countries to help build a sustainable future for all.

The priority areas  of ETWG meeting include Energy Transition through Addressing Technology Gaps; Low-cost Financing for Energy Transition;  Energy Security and Diversified Supply Chains; Energy Efficiency, Industrial Low Carbon Transitions and Responsible Consumption;  Fuels for Future (3F) and Universal Access to Clean Energy and Just, Affordable, and Inclusive Energy Transition Pathways. 

The Energy Transitions Working Group while retaining focus on achieving energy transition, will emphasize on addressing technology gaps and financing to ensure that it is delivered across countries in a time-bound and affordable manner without compromising the energy needs of the communities.

The expected outcomes of the deliberations would include agreement to advance cooperation initiatives under  Research and Development-20 roadmap for channelizing adequate low-cost international finance towards deployment of critical technologies, declaration on collective efforts to ensure energy security and diversified supply chains of new energy sources, roadmap for doubling global rate of improvement in energy efficiency by 2030, action plan for enhancing and promoting 
bio-energy cooperation, and recommendations on global best practices for supporting Just, Affordable, and Inclusive energy transitions.     

On the sidelines, a high-level international seminar on ‘Carbon Capture, Utilization and Storage (CCUS)’ has been organized.  The seminar will focus on  highlighting the importance of carbon capture, utilization, and storage, considered vital for achieving net-zero targets. 

As part of the first ETWG Meeting, delegates will also visit Infosys Green Building Campus and Pavagada Solar Park to see first-hand India’s push towards renewable sector and efforts to mitigate climate change. 

SUMMITS & CONFERENCES

(Useful for UPSC Civil Services Mains)

OPEC Meet

The 160th Meeting of the Conference of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) convened in Vienna, Austria, on 14 December 2011, under the Chairmanship of its President, HE Eng Rostam Ghasemi, Minister of Petroleum of the Islamic Republic of Iran. The Conference reviewed recent oil market devel-opments, as presented by the Secretary General, in particular supply/ demand projections, as well as the outlook for 2012. The Conference noted, further, that, although world oil demand is forecast to increase slightly during the year 2012, this rise is expected to be partially offset by a projected increase in non-OPEC supply. The Conference decided that its next Ordinary Meeting will convene in Vienna, Austria, on 14 June 2012.

International Conference on climate change, Sustainable agriculture and Public leaderhsip

A two-day International Conference on Climate Change, Sustainable Agriculture and Public Leadership was held in New Delhi. The main objective of this conference was to bring scientists, teachers, researchers, economists, managers and policy makers from around the w orld on a single platform to discuss various aspects of climate change, sustainable agriculture and public leadership and develop a consensus containing a set of valuable recommendations, as a way forward for addressing the issues related to the future climate scenario, Indian agriculture and food security.

First Interpol Global Programme on Anti-Corruption and Asset Recovery

The first Global Programme on Anti-Corruption and Asset licovery for Investigators and Prosecutors (13-18 February,-2012) hosted by the CBI, was at-tended by 39 police officers, Birvestigators and prosecutors from various INTERPOL member countries from across the world, including Australia, Afghanistan, China, Hongkong, Sri Lanka, United Kingdom, jfcrcenesia, Fiji, Malaysia, Nepal, Singapore, Philippines and facia

The main purpose of the Global Programme was to enhance knowledge and skills of investigators and prosecutors in nc icing assets of mass corruption, and making effective use rf 1 egal assistance in international and trans-border investigations. Of India Dr. Manmohan Singh, UN Secretary General Mr. Ban Ki-Moon, and former Governor of California Mr. Arnold Schwarzenegger.

G20 agrees to refrain from competitive devaluation

Leaders of the world’s 20 major economies on 2010 Novemver 12, refused to call on countries to stop undervaluing their currencies, leaving open a dispute between the U.S. and China that has raised the specter of a global trade war.

At the end of their two-day summit, the Group of 20 leaders including President Barack Obama issued a watered down statement that only said they agreed to refrain from “competitive devaluation” of currencies.

That call is of little consequence as the dispute that soured the G20 Summit is over Washington’s allegations that Beijing artificially keeps its currency, the yuan, weak to boost its exports.

The dispute over currencies is threatening to resurrect destructive protectionist policies like those that worsened the Great Depression in the 1930s.

The biggest fear is that trade barriers will send the global economy back into recession. A law the United States passed in 1930 that raised tariffs on imports is widely thought to have deepened the Great Depression by stifling trade.