Center for Energy, Marine Transportation and Public Policy (CEMTPP) at Columbia University

The Global Energy Governance Program

The center of gravity in international governance debates is undergoing a dramatic shift. Whereas economics and security issues dominated the discussion in the recent past, energy issues have rapidly come to occupy a prominent place on the global governance agenda. In the face of evolving policy objectives and constraints on the demand side as well as on the supply side, and as climate change leads policymakers to contemplate massive changes in the energy supply mix, energy has indeed become a more important part of the international governance agenda than ever before.

In light of Columbia’s tradition of intellectual engagement on governance issues, and in response to the aforementioned critical developments in the global energy governance agenda, CEMTPP has combined new initiatives with research activities already underway to launch its Global Energy Governance (GEG) program. This program forms an important element in SIPA and Columbia’s effort to promote discussion of – and meaningful contributions to – international governance issues in general, while recognizing the centrality of energy to the debate.

The objectives of the GEG program are:

to research producer, consumer and stakeholder perspectives, as well as the perspective of energy transit countries, on energy governance issues;
to identify key obstacles to enhancing mutually beneficial long-term energy and investment relations, as well as the development of potential trust-building mechanisms among stakeholders;
to bring these issues and perspectives together in a discussion among the various stakeholders of long-term trends and plausible, challenging scenarios for future developments in energy relations;
to use the outcomes of the scenarios towards the development of policy recommendations, and a dialogue aimed at generating improved global energy governance mechanisms.

Research activities and cooperations under the GEG program

The Eurasia Energy Initiative. The GEG program has commenced with a regional focus on Eurasia, which is home to several major and sometimes conflicting jurisdictions: the EU, Russia, Turkey, and key Central Asian and Caucasus states, notably the Republic of Azerbaijan. GEG research activities concerning Eurasia are conducted within a cooperative framework labeled the Eurasia Energy Initiative (EEI). In line with the objectives of the GEG program, the central focus of the work on energy governance issues under the EEI involves identifying and analyzing the various sovereign perspectives in the Eurasian region, and unearthing bridging points from which to develop trust-building, dialogue-fostering measures in energy investment and relations.

An essential objective of the Eurasia Energy Initiative is establish strong links in the Eurasian region with strategic, and particularly government, think tanks and policy makers. To this end, CEMTPP Research Associate Jeanene Mitchell spent the month of July 2009 as an Exchange Scholar at the Center for Strategic Studies (SAM) under the President of Azerbaijan in Baku, where she conducted preliminary interviews with policymakers and stakeholders on the subject of the future of energy relations among Caspian countries. In light of the evolving cooperation between Columbia and the Center for Strategic Studies under the President of Azerbaijan, CEMTPP will host a visiting scholar from SAM in Spring 2010.

Under the aegis of the Eurasia Energy Initiative, the CEMTPP Working Group on Transit Countries is also conducting work on the various regulatory regimes applied to oil and gas pipelines in Eurasia and the ensuing tensions. The initial results of this work were presented in the form of a panel organized and chaired by Professors Albert Bressand and David Nissen during the June 2008 Annual Meeting of the International Association of Energy Economists (IAEE) in Istanbul. Further development on this front were presented at the panel on natural Gs Pricing and Contracts chaired by Dr. Andrei Konoplyanik, former Deputy Secretary General of the Energy Charter Treaty Organization and now adviser to the Board of Gazprombank at the Economic Forum in Krynica, Poland on September 11, 2009.

The SIPA - Columbia Law School Annual Symposium on international investment, sustainability and energy security. CEMTPP and the Vale Columbia Center for Sustainable International Investment (a Center that is part of both the Columbia Law School and Earth Institute), headed by Karl Sauvant, convened an Annual Symposium at Columbia University on May 12-13, 2009. The theme of the Symposium was preventing and managing conflict in energy and natural resource investment relations. The symposium marked the launch of the annual edition of the Yearbook on International Investment Law and Policy (Oxford University Press; Karl Sauvant, editor), featuring a chapter of detailed analysis of relations between international investors and major oil and gas resource-holding countries by CEMTPP Executive Director, Professor Albert Bressand.

The Global Energy Governance Lecture Series. The GEG Lecture Series brings key players to Columbia to present their perspectives and/or initiatives on different facets of energy governance. In 2007-2008, the series focused on governance challenges associated with Eurasian oil and gas. Vladimir Milov, former Deputy Minister of Energy of the Russian Federation and President of the Moscow-based Energy Policy Institute, shared his views on Russian energy policy. Thane Gustafson, Senior Director for Russia and Central Asia at CERA and Professor at Georgetown University, shared insights from his many first-hand contacts in Russia and from his forthcoming book on Yukos. Former German Chancellor Gerhardt Schroeder delivered Columbia’s 2007 Silver Award lecture in a high-profile event, co-sponsored by CEMTPP.

Transatlantic Cooperation. Cooperation is also being developed with the Global Public Policy Institute (GPPI) in Berlin around workshops on the transatlantic dimension of energy governance. CEMTPP is in charge of preparing the introductory papers on European Integration and European Energy Policy for the December 2-4, 2009 GPPI meeting in Hamburg, Germany. Professor Bressand has written the concluding chapter on the energy producer and consumer countries dialogue for the GPPI edited by Andreas Goldthau and Jan Martin Witte and to be published by Brookings Pres in late 2009.

Sovereign Wealth Fund. Professor Bressand has been invited to join the governing board of the Sovereign Wealth Fund study initiated by Chaire du Développement Durable at Université Paris Dauphine in Paris. The study will consider the potential use of various carbon market instruments by SWFs in support of technological change towards a low-carbon economy in ways providing oil and gas producer countries with a stake in what is sometimes labeled the “post-oil” economy. At the invitation of UNDP, CEMTPP also played a role in the 2nd South-South High Level Meeting on Oil & Gas Management that took place in Nairobi, Kenya, in October 2009 and notably in its Petroleum Fund Working Group.

;