Energy and Climate Change

The 64th UN General Assembly meeting is under way in New York, with its centerpiece event, the ministerial session, due to begin on Wednesday, September 23. African leaders are filing into Washington, D.C., and New York City over the coming days in preparation for the annual flurry of diplomatic activity and their chance to address world leaders at UN headquarters.

Over the coming decades, two of India’s greatest challenges will be (1) how to grow while concurrently joining a worldwide push toward mitigating climate change and (2) how to secure diversified sources of energy. The discourse on India’s energy security has centered on the country’s thirst for imported oil.

The global energy system is changing. New demand centers are emerging, and there are numerous challenges to expanding the transportation fuels infrastructure. It has become clear that without significant changes in policy or the introduction of new technologies, the world will continue on an unsustainable path with respect to how it produces, delivers, and uses its energy resources.

Q1: Will energy and climate change be on the agenda for the upcoming North American Leaders Summit?

Russia is a major player in both oil and gas exports, and much of the country's current and likely future economic growth is based on the income these exports will generate, particularly when high market prices prevail. When prices and demand decline drastically as they have recently, dependence on export income becomes a burden.

Q1: Were there any significant outcomes or agreements on energy and climate that emerged from the G-8 summit and Major Economies Forum on Energy and Climate (MEF) meetings?

Q1: Will energy and climate change be on the agenda for discussion at the G-8 Summit in L’Aquila, Italy, on July 8?

While natural gas can play a critical role during the transition to a secure, low-carbon economy, there are both climate and energy security risks associated with a dramatic shift to natural gas.