Ministers from energy-consuming countries pledged Thursday to diversify energy sources and supply routes as part of efforts to strengthen energy security as international sanctions on Russia, a major gas and oil producer, for its invasion of Ukraine have prompted surges in energy prices on fears about supply disruptions.
Energy and climate ministers from member nations of the International Energy Agency, including the United States, Japan, and the other Group of Seven countries, also agreed to speed up their efforts to shift to renewable energy in a communique issued after their two-day meeting in Paris.
"We commit to continue working together to prevent energy and resource supply disruptions and ensure diversification of energy sources, supplies, routes, and means of transport to build system resilience and promote competitive, reliable energy markets based on transparent rules," the communique said.
While pointing out "recent volatility in markets has placed a burden on consumers at a critical moment of economic recovery," the communique did not refer to Moscow's aggression in the neighboring country, which started Feb. 24.
The ministers affirmed "energy reliability and affordability" is vital for successful clean energy transitions and vowed to accelerate such energy shifting "as a lasting solution to prevent energy price spikes, such as the recent ones."
The biennial ministerial gathering of the 31-member IEA came as Western countries aim to reduce their energy reliance on Russia, a non-IEA member.
Russia is the world's third-largest oil producer and the second-biggest natural gas producer, according to the Paris-based agency.
The United States has banned imports of crude oil, certain petroleum products, liquefied natural gas and coal from Russia, while the European Union, which is highly dependent on Russian energy, has also announced a plan to phase out its reliance on fossil fuels from Moscow before 2030.
To ensure the stability of global oil markets, the agency agreed early this month to release a total of 60 million barrels of oil from its emergency reserves, the first such coordinated action since 2011.
Koichi Hagiuda, minister of economy, trade and industry, and Kiyoshi Odawara, senior vice foreign minister, represented Japan at the Paris meeting, according to the government.
Hagiuda will visit Brussels for talks with top European Union officials before wrapping up his five-day European tour through Saturday.
On Wednesday, Hagiuda held separate talks in Paris with IEA Executive Director Fatih Birol and U.S. Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm.
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