Energy security: NATO Secretary General speaks out on the need for greater partnership
9 December 2008
Until now, energy security has felt like a high-level geopolitical issue best left to governments and strategists, remote from the boardroom. However, Lloyd’s research with global CEOs identifies that the supply chain is becoming an increasingly important consideration - often driven by concerns about energy security. For example, around 30% of business leaders are concerned about their company’s exposure to collateral damage to an indirect attack, or the impact of political violence on energy supply lines. North American and larger companies show even greater concern. In this article, NATO Secretary General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer spells out NATO’s priorities.
In the security business, some crises and challenges pass by fairly quickly; but there are others that are likely to be on our agenda for a long time, and which, therefore, call for a long-term and concerted response. This is the case with energy security.
Although many energy consumers will be relieved that oil prices and other commodities are tumbling on international markets, the factors that have pushed energy security to the top of the agenda are likely to remain with us.
The economies of China and India will continue to grow, and their legitimate quest for reliable sources of supply will no doubt continue. The field of consumers is growing fast; so is demand. For both suppliers and consumers, ensuring reliable supplies is a must.
Also, as energy is produced and transported in ever more remote and hostile environments – whether on land or at sea – the challenges in protecting critical infrastructure become ever more formidable. Recent crises in the Niger Delta or in Georgia, not to speak of the threat to commercial shipping from pirates off the coast of Somalia, are a constant reminder of our vulnerability.
NATO cannot provide all the answers – but energy security is too important a challenge to neglect. What can we, as an international community, do to better protect our energy supplies?
In the first place, we can help to police the oceans. Just a few days ago NATO defence ministers decided to detach parts of a NATO Maritime Task Force to the Gulf of Aden to protect shipping against piracy, alongside the very welcome EU initiative. Our presence in this region, where more than 10% of the world’s shipping passes every day, can only help to reassure the suppliers and transporters of energy and goods that their supplies will reach their destinations safely. Indeed, NATO has been doing a good deal of work in the field of critical infrastructure protection, particularly in the maritime area where our multi-national naval task forces are in increasing demand.
Second, we can promote partnerships. Just this week we are holding a major conference in Doha on energy security with our partners from the Middle East and the Mediterranean. Those partners include Qatar, which is the world’s largest producer of liquified natural gas, but also major energy producers in Central Asia such as Kazakhstan or Turkmenistan, not to speak of important African producers such as Nigeria. Energy security is today very much on the agenda when we meet with these countries in our Euro-Atlantic Partnership Council, our Mediterranean Dialogue or our Istanbul Cooperation Initiative, which involves countries in the Middle East. Through such initiatives we can encourage transparency and dialogue, while at the same time exchanging best practices and developing training to protect critical infrastructure such as refineries, pipelines and LNG terminals – all of which, of course, remain first and foremost national responsibilities.
Finally, NATO can and should also produce solidarity. I am not suggesting that NATO should be the place where decisions should be taken on where pipelines should be constructed, nor take the lead in addressing energy cut-offs. The European Union and the International Energy Agency are obviously key when it comes to developing common approaches to energy policy. But I do believe that in a crisis situation NATO should be ready to provide necessary practical assistance, such as in response to energy blackmail or terrorist threat.
The crucial question for any international organisation dealing with energy security is: does it add real value to our collective efforts to guarantee the security of supply? In the case of NATO, I would argue that the answer is we definitely can and are doing so.
Last updated on 05 Jan 2010
