OREANDA-NEWS. European Commissioner for Climate Action and Energy Miguel Arias Cañete participated in the second ever G20 Energy Ministerial meeting in Beijing, China.

At the meeting, energy ministers agreed on a communiqué reaffirming their commitment to ensure access to affordable, reliable, sustainable and modern energy for all.

The communiqué recognises the key role of renewable energy in achieving the goals set at the Paris climate conference held in December last year. In line with this, participants adopted the G20 action plan on renewable energy and agreed to continue implementing the G20 toolkit of voluntary options on renewable energy deployment . G20 Ministers also encouraged cooperation on standards to accelerate smart grid deployment and interoperability.

The communiqué recognises the role of nuclear power in reducing greenhouse gas emissions for countries which opt to use it, and emphasises the need to ensure the highest standards of nuclear safety, security and non-proliferation.

On energy efficiency, G20 members adopted the G20 energy efficiency leading programme and agreed to take the global leadership in promoting energy efficiency. International energy efficiency cooperation currently focuses on vehicles, products, finance, buildings, industrial energy management and electricity generation, and additional work streams were agreed.