Brazil, EU cosy up over energy security

05 July 2007 15:13  [Source: ICIS news]

MANCHESTER (ICIS news)--Brazil and the European Union (EU) have agreed to strengthen their cooperation in developing sources of energy to replace fossil fuels, said EU energy commissioner Andris Piebalgs on Thursday.

Brazilian president Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, the Brazilian minister of external relations Celso Amorim, and Piebalgs signed the terms of reference for the EU-Brazil energy policy dialogue during a visit to Brussels.

"This document lays the foundations for a fruitful and constructive energy partnership, based on a permanent dialogue with Brazil", said Piebalgs. 

He said the agreement recognised “the leading role played by Brazil as a stable and reliable partner in Latin America and its importance in the area of biofuels, security of energy supply and climate change”.

The main objective of the dialogue is to improve energy security and sustainability, and to develop bilateral cooperation over biofuels, renewable energy sources, low carbon energy technologies and energy efficiency.

The first meeting between Brazil and the EU will take place in the autumn of 2007.

Lula told delegates at a biofuels conference in Brussels this morning that the development of these fuels was a way of combating poverty and stopping energy supply being controlled by a few countries.

"Biofuels can contribute to combating hunger and misery and help create the conditions for sustainable growth," said Lula.

He denied that land used for the production of biofuels meant less land was available for food cultivation, adding that greater sugar cane production in Brazil had helped slash poverty levels. 

The development of biofuels would also end the control of energy production by about 20 oil-producing nations, "more than 100 countries" will become energy producers, he said.

By: Philippa Jones
+44 20 8652 3214

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