Peak oil to hinder world development -UK Lawmakers via Reuters India

LONDON, July 21 (Reuters) - The looming peak in world oil production will set back international development and threatens to hinder efforts to make poverty history, a report by a group of UK lawmakers said.

While oil's rally to a record high is causing economic pain in developed countries, its impact on international development is being overlooked, the report by the All Party Parliamentary Group on Peak Oil and development groups RESET and Practical Action said.

"The deepening energy crisis has the potential to make poverty a permanent state for a growing number of people, undoing the development efforts of a generation," the report released on Monday said.

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"It is clear that the current level of global energy consumption is unsustainable, from both environmental and geological points of view." http://www.appgopo.org.uk/events/06_110808/Impact%20of%20Peak%20Oil%20on%20International%20Development_final_20080708.pdf">Referenced Report - 21 Page PDF Document

The world is on the brink of an energy crisis that has drastic implications for people in the developing world. As almost every aspect of modern life is sustained by cheap energy, the
impacts of rising oil prices will be profound.

Energy security has become a political priority for governments world-wide, a priority which needs to be reflected in the field of international development. Principal donors of overseas aid and senior policy advisors are encouraged to consider that:

• Vulnerability to energy and commodity price rises must be addressed at all levels – from humanitarian aid to bilateral development;

• Business as usual is not an option: future project funding should include criteria for reducing energy vulnerability - especially in post-disaster recovery and reconstruction settings;

• Food production should be de-linked from petro-chemicals; proven alternatives should be promoted. Transport, diesel-generated electricity, refrigeration, plastics and medicines are all
susceptible to increasing energy costs. Availability of all these items is not in question – the question is whether people will be able to afford them as energy becomes scarcer.

This paper urges the British Government and its DFID to invest in research and disaster mitigation strategies in light of the Peak Oil scenarios. Specifically, it recommends that:

• An inter-agency working group on energy security and international development is set up

• Contingency planning for energy vulnerability become an immediate priority

• Training and research aiming to build capacity in local food and energy security is funded and disseminated across the humanitarian and development sector.

Many cities1, and some nations2, realise that global Peak Oil is not only inevitable, but imminent. This paper argues that contingency planning now – and subsequent mobilisation of training and adaptation of programme design – must be seen as a high priority.

This paper looks initially at Peak Oil and the likely political and economic impacts. Next it presents a series of proposals for practical strategies to build resilience in a time of sharply rising energy prices. Viable alternatives are offered in food production, human settlement design and local energy security.

Global oil production is reaching its peak, critical decisions are needed to prepare communities everywhere for the dramatic and irreversible changes ahead. Carrying on with ‘business as usual’ is no longer an option.

We are capable of predicting the outcomes of irreversible energy depletion. Proven and effective strategies that build resilience and reduce energy vulnerability exist. Donors and agencies of international development need to learn and adopt these strategies.

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