With the theme "Smart use of electricity", the e8, a group of the largest electric power companies in the world, met last week (24-28 May) in Tokyo, Japan, to address, among other things, the future of an international treaty on the climate change. For the first time, Eletrobras attended the event as an effective member - last year, the company had attended the meeting as a guest. Eletrobras became the first company from an emerging country and the only South American company to join the e8, whose members are energy companies of countries that form the G-8. To view the company profile of Eletrobras at the e8’s website click here. Other companies such as SGCC of China, and CFE of Mexico, also attended the event, but as guests.
On the 26th of May, the president of Eletrobras, José Antonio Muniz, attended the meeting, at which a document was signed - the "Tokyo Summit Declaration" - which contains a list of recommendations to expand the benefits of smart use of electricity. In the statement, the companies commit to encourage the generation of energy from sources with low emission of greenhouse gases, energy efficiency, the rapid development of clean and renewable technologies such as biomass, nuclear power and hydropower, and invest in the infrastructure of interconnected transmission of electric power, among other items.
Having a vision of increasingly clean global energy matrix, business leaders also signed the "Statement of Collaboration" in which they reaffirmed their role in building a more sustainable society and the commitment to cooperate with public and private partners in developing innovative solutions to reduce environmental impacts, and encourage governments of their countries to create policies to support and encourage the wise use of electricity.
‘We have just released our strategic plan, which has, as a vision, this exact Eletrobras’ role in the world. Taking part in the annual meetings of the e8, as effective member with decision-making power, is a victory for Eletrobras and the country. We’re on top of the decision chain on the future of electric power on the planet,’ says Luiz Augusto Figueira, Presidency General Coordination Superintendent of Eletrobras who accompanied the president as main technician of the company. For him these meetings are Eletrobras’ chance to study new technologies and learn from experiences developed by major world powers and become a pioneer of them in Brazil.
Created during the conference Rio-92 (United Nations Conference on Environment and Development, also known as the Rio Summit, Rio Conference, Earth Summit ), the e8 is an international nonprofit organization formed by business leaders for energy in the world. Its mission is to lead the international debate on the issues involving the generation of electricity and promote its development in a sustainable manner. The group consists of American Electric Power (USA), Duke Energy (USA), EDF (France), Enel (Italy), RWE (Germany), Hydro Quebec (Canada), RusHydro (Russia), KEPCO (Japan), TEPCO (Japan) and now Eletrobras (Brazil).
