Global Energy Forum

U.S. President-elect Barack Obama pledged during the election 2008 campaign to "create a Global Energy Forum of the world's largest emitters to focus exclusively on global energy and environmental issues."

Background
According to Obama for America campaign materials, "Obama will create a Global Energy Forum – based on the G8+5, which included all G8 members plus Brazil, China, India, Mexico and South Africa – of the world’s largest emitters to focus exclusively on global energy and environmental issues.

"Maintaining a standing international body focused on these issues will give a forum for all of the major emitters – past, present and future – to discuss efforts to combat climate change. In addition, it will give the U.S. and its allies regular opportunities to exert maximum pressure on China and India to do their part and make real commitments of their own. Obama believes it is important to make clear that the current Bush voluntary approach allows the biggest emitters to escape all international pressure to be a “responsible stakeholder” in the global environment.

"This Global Energy Forum will complement – and ultimately merge with – the much larger negotiation process underway at the UN to develop a post-Kyoto framework. On a technical level, it will also allow facilitate technology transfer, joint international research, and, importantly, the numerous large scale international demonstration projects that must be embarked upon immediately in order to make these technologies economically appealing alternatives."

Post-Election developments
After his election, Obama announced the formation of the Major Economies Forum on Energy and Climate with the U.S. delegation to be headed by the U.S. Special Envoy for Climate Change, Todd Stern.

See the Major Economies Forum on Energy and Climate article for subsequent developments.

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