Gas Exporting Countries Summit Welcomes Mauritania, Senegal, and Mozambique to GECF
In the final statement of their summit, held on 2 March in Algiers, the Heads of State and Government of the Gas Exporting Countries Forum (GECF) welcomed Mauritania, Senegal, and Mozambique to the Forum.
The ‘Algiers Declaration’ affirmed the absolute and permanent sovereign rights of Member States over their natural gas resources and their relentless pursuit of the effective management and encouragement of the use of natural gas resources of Member States to promote sustainable development that benefits producers and consumers alike.
It stressed the importance of cooperation and coordination among Member States to develop research, innovation, and transfer of knowledge and technologies related to natural gas, as well as the exchange of best practices and capacity building.
The GECF member states reiterated their support for a strong and meaningful dialogue between producers, consumers, and other relevant stakeholders to ensure supply and demand security, promote market stability, and defend natural gas markets to be open, transparent, free of barriers, and without discrimination.
It expressed the intention to promote natural gas as an abundant, available, flexible, and reliable energy source and harness and develop natural gas technologies that are more environmentally friendly, efficient, and sustainable.
The Algiers Declaration stressed the advocacy for broader use of natural gas in local and international markets as a strategic tool to combat energy poverty and achieve the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals, including giving natural gas a leading place as a pivotal source of energy for a just, inclusive, and prosperous future, and contributing to the inclusion of natural gas as an environmentally sustainable natural resource in the fight against climate change, regulations related to investment, collection, the international banking system, and global trade.
The Declaration also stressed the need to strengthen the position of the GECF by promoting its international presence, attracting new members, encouraging partnerships, facilitating dialogue between producers and consumers, expanding cooperation with relevant international organizations and bodies, and supporting the further development of the Forum’s expertise and mechanisms in joint projects to enhance its role as a leading platform for dialogue and cooperation in natural gas affairs.
It highlighted the importance of using the GECF Gas Research Institute to expand cooperation on natural gas technologies, science-oriented research, and innovation-oriented capacity building.