Agreement With IEA | 28 Jan 2021

Why in News

India has inked a Strategic Partnership Agreement with the International Energy Agency (IEA) to strengthen cooperation in global energy security, stability and sustainability.

Key Points

  • Objective: To encourage and promote strategic and technical cooperation in the energy sector.
  • Benefits:
    • It will lead to a wider exchange of knowledge and will be a step towards making India a full member of the IEA.
    • Strengthen mutual trust and cooperation & enhance global energy security, stability and sustainability.
    • A phased increase in benefits and responsibilities for India as an IEA strategic partner.
    • Building on existing areas of work and the Clean Energy Transitions Programme (CETP), such as energy security, clean and sustainable energy, energy efficiency, enhancing petroleum storage capacity, expansion of gas-based economy in India etc.
  • Implementation of the Agreement: IEA Secretariat

International Energy Agency

  • Established: In 1974 as per framework of the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD). IEA is an autonomous intergovernmental organisation.
  • Need: Established in the wake of the oil crisis of 1973-1974, to help its members respond to major disruptions in oil supply.
  • Mandate: Over time, the mandate of the IEA has expanded to include tracking and analyzing key global energy trends, promoting sound energy policy and encouraging multinational energy technology cooperation.
  • Mission: Its mission is to ensure reliable, affordable and clean energy for its member countries and beyond.
  • Areas of Focus: Its mission is guided by four main areas (4E’s):
    • Energy Security,
    • Economic Development,
    • Environmental Awareness and
    • Engagement Worldwide.
  • Headquarter (Secretariat): Paris (France).
  • The Governing Board is the main decision-making body of the IEA.
    • It is composed of energy ministers or their senior representatives from each Member country.
  • Members: It has 30 members at present.
    • A candidate country must be a member country of the OECD. But all OECD members are not IEA members.
  • Eligibility for Membership:
    • Crude oil and/or product reserves equivalent to 90 days of the previous year’s net imports.
      • India falls short on the criteria of Crude oil reserve: India stores 10 days of the country’s crude oil requirements currently, with domestic refiners also maintaining 65 days of crude storage. The government is also building strategic crude oil reserves to support another 12 days of crude oil needs.
    • Reduce national oil consumption by up to 10%.
    • Legislation and organisation to operate the Coordinated Emergency Response Measures (CERM) on a national basis.
    • Measures in place to ensure the capability of contributing its share of an IEA collective action.
  • Reports:

Clean Energy Transitions Programme (CETP)

  • Launched in November 2017, the IEA Clean Energy Transitions Programme (CETP) is an effort to accelerate global clean energy transitions.
  • The programme provides independent, cutting-edge support to governments in order to catalyze the global transition towards more sustainable energy production and use.
  • Priority countries include Brazil, China, India, Indonesia, Mexico and South Africa, as well as other IEA Association countries and key regions such as Southeast Asia, Latin America and Africa.
  • CETP activities include collaborative analytical work, technical cooperation, training and capacity building and strategic dialogues.

Source: TH