Reports from the Regional Coordinators In this issue we return to IGU’s Regional
China has made a commitment to
Coordinators for Asia and Asia-Pacific and for
the international society that its carbon
Europe, following on from the last issue’s
dioxide emissions will peak by around 2030
reports from the Regional Coordinators for
and that it will work hard to achieve the
Africa and the Middle East, Latin America and
target at an earlier date. To this end, the
the Caribbean, and North America.
share of natural gas in primary energy consumption will be increased to 10% in
Li Yalan x From left to right: H.E. Mohammad Hamid Ansari, Vice President of India, H.E. Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedow, President of Turkmenistan, H.E. Mohammad Ashraf Ghani, President of Afghanistan, and H.E. Nawaz Sharif, Prime Minister of Pakistan, pressing the button to begin the welding process of the TAPI pipeline, in Mary, Turkmenistan on December 13, 2015.
Update on natural gas developments
the next five years. “Expanding natural gas
in the Asia and Asia Pacific Region
consumption and accelerating pipeline
By Li Yalan
construction” is identified as a key task in
In the endeavour to tackle climate change,
the 13th Five Year Plan for the energy sector.
countries in the Asia and Asia Pacific region
The decreasing natural gas price and
have submitted Intended Nationally Determined
the return of Iran have brought more
Contributions (INDCs) and supported the adop
opportunities to the South Asia region,
tion of the Paris Agreement on climate change.
where natural gas resources are relatively
Developing countries such as China, India and
insufficient. As the world’s fourth largest
Indonesia are facing greater challenges than
emitter of CO2 and third largest consumer
developed countries including Japan, Korea
of coal, India is striving to develop renew-
and Australia. Natural gas plays a major role
able energy while actively expanding and
in their effort to fulfil their commitment to
enhancing its natural gas supply. Negoti
emissions reduction.
ations are being held between India and Iran to build an undersea gas pipeline; the two countries are also discussing the joint development of the Farzad B field in the Persian Gulf. At the end of December 2015 the Turkmenistan-Afghanistan-PakistanIndia (TAPI) pipeline project was formally inaugurated. The proposed approximately 1,800-kilometre pipeline is expected to be operational by 2019, enhancing supply security for all countries involved. Pakistan and Qatar have finalized a 15-year LNG supply deal. Following the contract, Qatar will supply 1.5 million tonnes of LNG to Pakistan per year. South-East Asian countries seek develop ment while cutting emissions by increasing natural gas in power generation. Currently
46 R e p o r t s f r o m t h e R e g i o n a l C o o r d i n a t o r s
