Directorate of Energy, Minerals & Environment
Introducing
Three of the objectives that the Treaty of Izmir has set for the Organization directly relate to the Directorate of Energy, Minerals and Environment. These are:
These ECO's objectives are pursued with the help of several ECO Expert and Working Groups, involving Member States and the Directorate of Energy, Minerals and Environment. Energy The ECO region with a rich resource potential of oil and gas as well as hydroelectric power, going to play a prominent role in the energy markets of the world. At the same time, member states face challenges ensuring sustainable energy development. The 1st ECO Ministerial meeting on Energy/Petroleum (Islamabad, November 2000) adopted a Plan of Action for Energy/Petroleum cooperation (see the Ministerial meetings section). The objectives of that Plan of Action (2001-05) were: to implement the existing strategic energy cooperation programmes; promote ways and means to expand sustainable development and efficient use of the energy resources; strengthen existing regional institutions related to energy activities; establish training, research and development network; establish an ECO policy framework; to encourage regular exchange of information on the formulation and implementation of energy policies and to promote sustainable self-supporting cooperation activities covering issues of common interest. Recent ECO activities in the Energy sector included the following: Development of regional Power Trading; Production, refining and consumption of Oil and Gas in ECO Member States; Development of the New and Renewable Sources of Energy; Energy Efficiency and Conservation; Energy data collection and updating; Exchange of information on technical experts, technology transfer, operational experience, research and technical publications as well as energy strategies, programmes, policy and implementation experience; Energy Training; Energy Resources development and their Environmental Impact Assessments The latest developments in the Energy field are as follows: Power Trading. The development of ECO Power Trade Strategy will be important for the implementation of the project of Interconnection of ECO Countries Power Systems. A wworkshop on Regional Energy Trade in the ECO region was conducted in cooperation with the World Bank (WB) in June 2005 in Tehran. It made a number of recommendations on practical steps towards regional energy trade, including analytical studies. The Secretariat is pursuing with the World Bank a study titled “South Asia: Policy Paper for Regional Energy Trade: Trading Arrangements and Risk Management in International Electricity Trade". Consideration of study was shared with the member states in July 2007 and related issues were a part of the 2nd ECO/WB Workshop held in Almaty on 10 – 11 November 2008. The October 2008 report of the study prepared under Energy Sector Management Assistance Programme (ESMAP) of World Bank for ECO member countries was circulated to all ECO member states in January 2009. Interregional Working Group on power trade. To facilitate regional power trade and interconnection for enhanced energy security and sustainable development, the Secretariat is in the process of establishing an interregional Working Group on Power Trade and Interconnection lead by ESCAP and ECO, with the participation of ASEAN, South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC), PIF. The 11th Consultative meeting among Executive Heads of Sub-regional organizations and ESCAP (Almaty, May 2007) approved the Terms of Reference (TOR) of the above Working Group. According to the TOR, the aforementioned Sub-regional organizations will designate appropriate representatives to that Working Group. The Secretariat is pursuing, in collaboration with UN The Secretariat is pursuing,in collaboration with UN ESCAP and other members of that Working Group, convening its 1st meeting in 2009. Energy Efficiency & Conservation. Turkey has hosted seven Training Courses on Energy Efficiency and Conservation since 2002. Held under the auspices of the Turkish National Energy Conservation Center (NECC), these were attended by 51 engineers from the ECO countries. The last of these was conducted in June 2008 in Ankara. The courses covered a broad range of fields like energy management, energy audit, and economic analysis, energy efficiency on steam systems, electricity and lighting. The training was found very useful by the Member States. The 8th International Training Course for Energy Managers is scheduled for 25th May-8th June 2009 in Ankara. New and Renewable Sources of Energy. Taking into account the importance of development of renewable sources of energy, which are friendly to Environment, the Secretariat formulated formal proposals. While considering them, the 15th RPC meeting (Tehran, 2005) recommended establishing an ECO Working Group on New and Renewable Sources of Energy (NRSE). The 18th RPC meeting welcomed the readiness of the Iranian authorities to host the 1st meeting of ECO Working Group on NRSE. The 1st Meeting of ECO Working Group on New and Renewable Sources of Energy will be convened in 2009 Energy Information. On the recommendation of the 4th HLETG meeting (iCeihan, May 2005) the Secretariat has collected relevant data about the Oil, Gas and Electricity sectors of the member states and placed it at the ECO Website. It is available under the energy information section of this Website. Coordination. The Member States, as the Action Plan envisages, were requested to designate their National Focal Points (NFP's) to coordinate and oversee the implementation of its country component. Regular contacts are maintained with the NFP's to facilitate the implementation of planned actions in this field. Minerals Plan of Action for co-operation among the ECO countries in the field of Minerals. The First ECO Mineral Experts Meeting (Tehran, October 29-31, 2001) considered and endorsed the Plan of Action for co-operation among the ECO countries. It laid emphasis on facilitation of intra-region trade and investment in the mineral sector, enhanced exchange of the sector-related resource and technological information and experience, as well as promotion of necessary conditions for enhancing inflow of capital and advanced technology from within and outside the region. ECO Mineral Data Booklet. In the field of Minerals, a useful development has been the publication of the first version of ECO Mineral Data Booklet (MDB). It was published and distributed by the Project Manager (Turkey) during the 3rd ECO Mineral Experts Group meeting (Islamabad, December 2006.). Now the Project Manager is working in coordination with the national focal points of member states for the publication of the revised edition of MDB. Establishing an ECO Geosciences Database and compilation of Mineral Distribution Map of ECO region. During the meeting of the ECO heads of Geological Surveys (Tehran, May 2007), Iran was designated as the Project Manager for establishing a Web-based system of unified and valid ECO Geosciences Database, as well as the compilation of Mineral Distribution Map of ECO region. Member States were requested to designate their national focal points to coordinate implementation of both projects. In order to facilitate the above projects, Iran has since allocated USD 250, 000/- for the feasibility study on ECO Geosciences Database. ECO is providing USD 50,000/- in partial funding of the project. Training Course. The Geosciences Organization of Iran (Project Manager) hosted a Training Course for experts from the member states involved in the preparation of ECO Geosciences Database. This Training Course was conducted for three weeks from 16 February 2008, in Karaj, Iran. Twelve experts from Afghanistan, Azerbaijan, Pakistan, Tajikistan, Turkey and Turkmenistan participated in it. Environment With the increasing urbanization and industrialization and attendant degradation of environment, particularly in developing countries, protection of environment has become a most challenging task for the international community, particularly for regional organizations. It is a priority of the ECO member countries and the ECO as an organization. Plan of Action for Cooperation among ECO Member States on Environment: The first ECO Ministerial Meeting on Environment held in Tehran, December 2002 (see the Ministerial Meetings section) adopted the Plan of Action for Cooperation on Environment (2003-2007). It is a comprehensive plan of activities, covering all the main aspects of protection of environment in the region. The Second ECO Ministerial Meeting on Environment (Istanbul, 6 October 2004) adopted modifications to the Plan of Action. The 3rd ECO Ministerial Meeting on Environment (Almaty, 30 June 2006) followed the Declaration of the 9th ECO Summit (Baku 5 May 2006) which had expressed deep concern on the continued degradation of the environment. It underscored early implementation of the Plan of Action for Cooperation among ECO Member States on Environment (2003-2007). The meeting extended the term of the Plan of Action up to the year 2010. ECO Working Group on Environment (WGE) was established to prepare implementation plans for cooperation in different fields of Environment according to the Plan of Action. It has held five meetings during the years 2004-2008 in Ankara, Islamabad, Tehran (twice) and Baku. These meetings focused on the issues of implementation of the Plan of Action, consideration and endorsement of modifications to the Plan of Action. The 6th WGE meeting will be held in Tehran in 2009. National Focal Points on Environment: As envisaged in the Plan of Action on Environment, National Focal Points (NFPs) were appointed by all member states to facilitate coordination of the implementation of the Plan of Action. The ECO Secretariat has been in direct e-mail communication with NFPs to enhance working contacts. National Progress Report: The Member States were required, under the Plan of Action on Environment, to submit to the Secretariat their National Progress Report (NPRs) on the implementation of the Plan of Action. The 3rd ECO Ministerial Meeting on Environment, taking into account the past experience, agreed that the NPRs would be submitted once, in the beginning of the year, on an agreed format. The ECO Secretariat would prepare and submit an integrate regional report to CPR/RPC, and the concerned authorities of Member States in the first quarter of each year. This would be considered by the Working Group Meetings as well as the ECO Ministerial Meetings on Environment. Work Plan on Biodiversity: As directed by the 3rd Ministerial Meeting on Environment, the Biodiversity Meeting was held on 24-25 April 2007 in Islamabad. It reached consensus on a Work Plan on Biodiversity in the ECO Region for the years 2007-2015 as well as the Calendar of Events. The Meeting agreed that national focal points be designated for the above Work Plan. The 126th Meeting of CPR (28 August 2007) welcomed and approved the offer of Kazakhstan to be designated as a coordinating country for the follow-up and implementation of the ECO Work Plan on Biodiversity (2007-2015). Within this framework, Iran, Pakistan, Turkey and Turkmenistan have so far conveyed their willingness to host the events in 2009/2010. It is expected that the 2nd Experts Group Meeting (EGM) on Biodiversity will be held in Kazakhstan in 2009. Plan of Action on Ecotourism (2009-2013): The 1st Experts Group Meeting on Ecotourism was held in Ankara from 1 – 3 December 2008. The participants were briefed on the 1st Task Force Meeting on Ecotourism (Tehran, December 16-17, 2007). The most important outcome of this Meeting was the finalization and adoption of the Plan of Action on Cooperation of ECO Countries in the field of Ecotourism for the period 2009-2013 which had been prepared by the Republic of Turkey, as per decision of the First Task Force Meeting. The meeting agreed that a Coordinating Country would be designated to make necessary arrangements and coordination among the Member States for the implementation of the Action Plan. The member states should offer their willingness to the Secretariat, within two months, to act as a Coordinating Country. The meeting welcomed and approved the outline proposed by the Islamic Republic of Iran for the provision of information to establish a data-base of ECO Countries in the field of Ecotourism. The Meeting also agreed with the Iranian proposal that the database might be established by seeking funds from international resources. It was agreed that further discussions be made at the 2nd Expert Group meeting on Ecotourism which would be hosted by one of the member states. The ECO Bulletin on Environment: The Plan of Action had called for a Bulletin dedicated to news, subjects and recent environment developments, mainly relevant to the ECO region. It would be published by the ECO Secretariat and circulated to the ECO member states and concerned international circles. The first 6 issues of the Bulletin were published by the ECO Secretariat and circulated to the member states during the years 2004-2008. These are also available on the ECO Web site. The 7th issue of the bulletin was published in February 2009. The 5th WGM on Environment (Baku, May 2008) decided that the bulletin be published twice a year in order to achieve the quality of the contents. The 4th ECO Ministerial Meeting on Environment: The Islamic Republic of Pakistan has offered to host the 4th ECO Ministerial Meeting on Environment in April 2009. This Meeting would consider the implementation of the Plan of Action for cooperation on Environment as well as other relevant issues and proposals by the member states. |
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