Decarbonization Mission:
- The U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of Energy Resources (ENR) works to address climate change by engaging and assisting countries to increase decarbonization efforts and catalyzing market forces that are driving the global shift toward decarbonization and a more diversified energy mix. This includes increasing the deployment of clean energy technologies and services, including renewables and energy storage; promoting energy efficiency; and developing an enabling environment for transparent and sustainable sourcing of critical minerals necessary for the clean energy transition in resource-rich countries.
Clean Energy Resources and Climate:
The Bureau of Energy Resources is engaging with partners around the world, both bilaterally and multilaterally, through the Energy Resource Governance Initiative (ERGI) to ensure that global energy supply chains are clean, safe, and sustainable—with the necessary resources and expertise. Of particular urgency, a World Bank study[1] indicates demand for minerals used in clean energy technologies could rise by more than 450 percent by 2050 if clean energy technologies are deployed at a level consistent with the 1.5-degree Celsius trajectory of the Paris Climate Agreement.
Related ENR Priorities:
Energy Security – ENR seeks to increase energy security and promote regional stability and economic growth through better integrated and well-regulated energy markets, improved market access, and transparent, resilient, clean, and efficient energy resource development.
Energy Access & Trade – ENR facilitates more competitive, secure, and prosperous energy markets that enable U.S. exports and investment, reduce emissions, improve economies, offer market products and opportunities for advanced and innovative energy resources and technologies, and result in greater energy diversification and resiliency.
Energy Sanctions – ENR analyzes how sanctions can be used as a tool to prevent malign state actors, terrorist groups, and transnational criminal organizations from using energy resource development and trade revenues to fund terrorism, crime, and activity that threatens U.S. national interests.
ENR Clean Energy Diplomacy on Climate – Tangible Examples:
Energy Resource Governance Initiative (ERGI) – ERGI is a multinational effort founded by Australia, Botswana, Canada, Peru, and the United States to help build sustainable supply chains and promote sound sector governance for the minerals vital to technologies powering the energy transition, such as solar panels, electric vehicles, and battery storage. The initiative’s focus is now expanding to include greening mining operations, as well as re-use and recycling of key minerals and metals.
ERGI Accomplishments – The Founding Partners of ERGI established an online ERGI Toolkit, a compendium of best practices and case studies on governance, regulatory structures, and elements of a sound investment climate for the critical energy minerals sector, available at www.ergi.tools. ERGI also provides technical assistance in a number of countries to build capacity for managing mineral sectors soundly and transparently, working on things like environmental regulatory frameworks and how to attract responsible investment. To date, ERGI has devoted over $10.5 million to clean energy minerals-related technical assistance, spanning four continents, upholding principles of sound mining sector governance and responsible investment.
ENR Power Sector Assistance – ENR foreign assistance promotes reliable, solvent, and competitive power sectors, and advances renewable energy (RE) solutions in order to support decarbonization, energy security, and energy access and development goals. In the renewable energy sector, support has included national-level reviews of renewable integration plans; the launch of competitive international RE tenders; and power system and ancillary services analysis to support RE integration[2]. ENR power sector assistance has to date delivered significant results across the globe, including:
- In Vietnam, under the Japan-U.S.-Mekong Power Partnership (JUMPP), ENR helps integrate more than 16 GW of new solar generation as well as solutions to address the challenges and opportunities of increasing variable wind and solar generation.
- In Thailand, under JUMPP, ENR supports a new Renewable Energy Forecasting Center to help the electric utility prepare for increasing levels of variable RE generation, as well as support peer-to-peer trading of small scale RE producers.
- In Latin America, ENR support for international auctions contributed to the award of 2.8 gigawatt (GW) of RE projects that have attracted over $2.5 billion in foreign investments since 2017.
- In the Caribbean, ENR partnered with USAID and DFC to launch a $25 million loan portfolio guarantee with National Commercial Bank Jamaica to support non-oil energy sector investment.
- In Southern Africa, to alleviate energy poverty and accelerate GHG reductions, ENR supports development and implementation of an Independent Power Producer Framework to help attract clean investment.
Indo-Pacific focused Energy Diplomacy and Engagement
- The ENR-led U.S.-India Clean Energy Finance Task Force is an inter-agency initiative that draws on the finance expertise of both countries’ governments and private sectors to tailor business and finance models to India’s context in order to strengthen India’s ability to raise private capital to finance its ambitious renewable energy targets.
- The Task Force’s Flexible Resources Initiative (FRI) assesses a least cost, operationally feasible investment pathway in India’s power sector to support Prime Minister Modi’s target of 450 GW of installed renewable energy capacity by 2030, which exceeds India’s nationally determined contribution (NDC) on power sector decarbonization. FRI also makes tailored policy and regulatory recommendations to achieve that investment pathway and will support pilots that seek to increase the adoption of flexible resources.
- Japan-U.S. Clean Energy Partnership (JUCEP) – at the April 16, 2021 Japan–U.S. Summit Meeting, President Biden and Prime Minister Suga noted the newly established Japan-U.S. Clean Energy Partnership (JUCEP) and other collaborative activities undertaken around the world to accelerate decarbonization while achieving energy security and sustainable growth by deploying clean, affordable and secure energy technologies. JUCEP builds on successful bilateral public and private sector cooperation under the Japan-U.S. Strategic Energy Partnership by targeting cooperation in areas such as renewable energy, energy grid optimization, nuclear power and decarbonization technologies.
- Japan-U.S.-Mekong Power Partnership (JUMPP) – with the August 2019 launch of JUMPP, the United States and Japan are working together to advance power sector integration and regional power trade in the Mekong region in partnership with Mekong countries. The United States’ initial contribution to JUMPP is $29.5 million. The Bureau of Energy Resources, the Bureau of East Asian and Pacific Affairs, and USAID, are jointly developing a JUMPP action plan.
ENR’s Low-Carbon Energy Transitions Work
- ENR supports the adoption of clean energy and energy efficiency globally by working closely with stakeholders to advance U.S. clean energy priorities. Multilaterally, ENR leads the United States’ membership in the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA) and supports U.S. involvement in a range of other international entities that work on clean energy.
- ENR global engagement in renewables is aimed at partnering with other countries to build the regulatory and market conditions needed for a successful clean energy transformation, including through reforms, system enhancements, improved policies and standards, as well as creation of sustainable supply chains.
- ENR leads a whole-of-government approach to clean energy diplomacy that encourages a level playing field abroad to support clean energy and international climate goals, drawing on the best that U.S. companies have to offer.
- ENR aims to leverage the fact that the United States has the second largest installed renewable energy capacity among countries worldwide. S. wind and solar capacity has more than quadrupled since 2009, from 36.2 GW to 164.6 GW. In the United States, corporate purchasing of renewable energy surged from 0.1 GW in 2010 to 33.6 GW by year-end 2019, with a record breaking 13.6 GW in 2019 alone.
- ENR also supports U.S. missions abroad in their bilateral engagement to encourage the adoption of clean energy technologies, and in their efforts to ensure a level playing field for U.S. companies working in the renewable energy and energy efficiency sectors abroad.
- ENR’s clean energy diplomacy partners with foreign governments to build the regulatory and market conditions needed for a successful clean energy transformation. This includes not only technical and foreign assistance, but also: power sector reform, interconnecting regional power systems to enhance reliability and diversity of energy resources, improving renewable energy procurement processes, strengthening energy efficiency policy and standards, removing investment barriers, and much more.
