ARPEL participated on November 25 in the “Inter-Agency Dialogue” Panel, held within the framework of the V Energy Week.

The objective of the activity was to develop a discussion at the level of Agencies, International Organizations and Multilateral Banking with the purpose of exchanging criteria on the strategies and actions to be followed to build spaces for dialogue, cooperation and coordinated work, which allows to provide effective support to the economic recovery of the countries through the strengthening of the energy sector, with a comprehensive approach to the problem that involves the individual realities of the countries in the context of a diverse and multifaceted region.

The panel was made up of Alfonso Blanco from Olade; Cristina Lobillo from the European Union; Ariel Yépez from the IDB; Sthepanie Gil of the BM; Mechthild Worsdorfer from the IEA; José Torón from IRENA; Jeannette Sánchez from ECLAC; Tulio Alves from CIER, and by Irene Alfaro from ARPEL. The moderation was by Medardo Cadena from Olade.

Alfaro said that in the post-pandemic period due to COVID-19, one of our first priorities as a region should be the recovery of the economy.

“The oil and gas sector plays a leading role in this regard, considering that, for a large part of Latin America and the Caribbean, hydrocarbons are highly relevant in terms of national exports, capital investments, tax revenues, contributions to GDP and employment”, she said. And she added that “the crisis generated by the pandemic should not stop our efforts to face the challenge of transitioning to a low-carbon economy. This is an indisputable need today, representing a great challenge for humanity as a whole, and particularly, for the oil and gas industry in the region”.

Meanwhile, he highlighted that over the last 20 years, from ARPEL we have been dealing with the various challenges that climate change and - more recently - energy transitions represent for our industry in the Region.

“Our strategic objectives today aim to generate a common understanding about energy transitions between our companies; identify the opportunities and associated risks, provide support to our members in their adaptation to the new business scenario, and strengthen our position in the most relevant discussion forums, such as the one that brings us together today”, she said.

Finally, she stated that “maintaining the necessary supply of oil and gas implies ensuring a sustained volume of investments in the sector, which today exceeds the capacities of governments if we seek to achieve cleaner energy systems and meet the expectations of the Sustainable Development Goals”. “Therefore, public-private partnerships are required and ARPEL knows how to reconcile the needs and expectations of state and private companies to work with governments and with their main interest groups, identifying the combination of appropriate technologies and ensuring a coherent and sustained framework of public policies guided by a comprehensive vision of social, economic and environmental goals, with the aim of meeting future energy demand with lower greenhouse gas emissions”.

"Energy efficiency is another fundamental pillar of Energy Transitions, in which the opportunity for coordinated work with other organizations is presented to enhance efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions through efficiencies from the supply side, with the boost to energy efficiency from demand”, she concluded.

Alfaro made mention of the virtual platform Innovarpel www.innovarpel.org, designed for the exchange of experiences and knowledge on technological innovation applied to Energy Transitions.