G-20 MEMBERS107Below: Naoto KanAt the UN Summit on Climate Change last year, Japanannounced the target of reducing its emissions by 25 percent by 2020, compared to the 1990 level, premised onthe establishment of a fair and effective internationalframework in which all major economies participate aswell as their agreement on ambitious targets. Small island developing States are in peril ofsubmerging under water in the future because of theglobal warming. Saving these countries from theirpredicament is among the reasons why we shouldaddress the issue of climate change with greater senseof urgency. Aiming at adopting a new and comprehensive legallybinding document, Japan will continue to co-ordinatewith other States and the United Nations to leadinternational negotiations for the success of COP 16 atthe end of this year. We will also steadily supportdeveloping countries that are vulnerable to thenegative impacts of climate change and those that aretaking mitigation measures such as reducingemissions, through partnership between the publicand private sectors. In October, the COP10 of the Convention on BiologicalDiversity, with the theme, "Living in Harmony withNature", will be convened in Nagoya, Japan. At thismeeting, we must come to agreement on commencingnew actions in order to halt the rapidly progressing lossof biodiversity. The biggest challenges in this field aresetting a common global action target and establishinga new international regime in the area of Access andBenefit Sharing (ABS) as related to genetic resources.As chair of the meeting, Japan is determined to play animportant role in these efforts. nThis article is excerpted from an address by H.E.Naoto Kan, the Prime Minister of Japan, at the 65thSession of the United Nations General Assembly inNew York on 24 September 2010. The full text of thisspeech may be found at www.kantei.go.jp.

" "GOVERNMENT-FUNDED ORGANISATIONSSHOULD BE ALLOWED TO ATTRACT PRIVATEINVESTMENTS,THEREFORE WEMUST REMOVEBARRIERS FORSERVICING CONTRACTS IN ENERGYnergy efficiency is crucial for modernisingour economy and the social sphere. Insolving these problems we are shaping a new economy and improving thecompetitiveness of our goods and services. We arecreating essentially new companies, new industries,and undoubtedly improving our environmental situationand quality of life.This issue is a difficult one and we must admit that wehave yet to make a lot of progress, but we have at leaststarted working properly. Of course, we really shouldhave started addressing this problem long ago.Authorities here have been working on this for tenyears, in other places they have been working on iteven less while perhaps we should have been workingon this for the past 15 years, even when our countrywas going through hard times, and then the currentresults would be different.A year ago, we passed a law on energy saving andenergy efficiency improving. All the Commissionmembers present here contributed to the adoption ofthe law. I am sure you remember our discussions of thelaw at a Commission meeting when we argued aboutspecific wording. It is good that it is finally done. Thelaw defined our priorities and in fact the prioritymeasures in this area. Now we can take stock of thesituation and address the obvious problems ourpeople, private enterprises, and public sector face.First, the law sets the timeframe for mandatoryinstallation of energy accounting meters. But we still have no clear requirements concerning their function and quality. We need to urgentlyformulate and adopt these requirements. Also, in March I gave the instructions to launch pilot projects involving smart meters. I would like to hear how this work is progressing.Second, the law stipulates that the savings generatedin government funded organisations by more rationalenergy consumption will remain at the disposal of suchorganisations and may be allocated where needed, forexample for wage increases. I would like to hear areport detailing the mechanisms already launched forthe purposes of implementing the said provisions.There is evidence that managers of public institutions,school principals, directors of clinics and daycarecentres simply do not even know about thesepossibilities or, if they are aware of them, do notbelieve the law may be enforced.Third, public sector energy consumption analysis isprogressing very slowly. There are various reasons forthis, including objective ones, as autonomousassociations of energy auditors are still in the processof establishment and founding. Energy auditors mustcommence their operations as soon as practicable aswe need reliable information on the energy savingpotential. Such energy audit must be performed byprofessionals and cover entire public sector. We werejust shown some monitoring capabilities and it iscertainly great that in Naberezhnye Chelny there is asystem supplying data on energy consumption by everyhousehold including, for example, the temperature ofhot water pumped to apartments. Such a system is aclear sign of the progress.Finally, government funded organisations should beallowed to attract private investments, therefore wemust remove barriers for servicing contracts in energy.Lastly, and perhaps most importantly for organising ouroverall efforts, regional programmes of improvingenergy efficiency should be launched. As of now 54THE ISSUE OF ENERGY EFFICIENCY IN RUSSIA108G-20 MEMBERSDMITRY MEDVEDEV, PRESIDENT, THE RUSSIAN FEDERATIONEPhoto: The Presidential Press and Information Office