Twenty-fifth Commonwealth Parliamentary Conference
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An Australian delegate referred to the contribution that Australia could make in the sphere of conservation and the development of alternative energy sources; and to the istance that the Commonwealth could give to less developed countries by ensuring the ilability and equitable sharing of technical information.
The delegate from Bihar proposed the establishment of an international organisation to consider the means of evolving international norms for determining the exploitation, pricing, and marketing of various forms of non-renewable energy resources; redressing past inequities and protecting countries that had not been responsible for those inequities from the economic costs of consequential adjustments; setting up co-ordinated programmes of research and development into tidal, solar, and wind energy for commercial use; arranging international adjustments to achieve long-term conservation of scarce non-renewable energy without creating serious short-term social and economic disruption; promoting research and development by private individuals and public organisations of new forms of energy, new uses of conventional energy, and structural shifts from non-renewable to renewable forms of available energy; and achieving the solution of the energy crisis in a way that would bring about healthy international economic relations.
A Malaysian delegate said the effects of the energy crisis were well known, particularly by countries that depended on imports for energy and had no alternatives. They had to use badly needed foreign exchange for oil to keep going. For many, that meant worsening balance of payments problems, but did not mean they were helpless. Internationally, continuation of the crisis without dramatic solutions would seriously inhibit trade; economic and even political polarisation could also occur. To prevent that in the Commonwealth, research was needed on cheap energy alternatives that developing countries could afford; oil redistribution systems could be worked out; the more economically resilient countries could give more seriously affected developing ones indirect help on oil-derived problems; and there could be financial concessions for alternative energy. Undeniably, today's was a seller's oil market, but surely consumers could solve the problem together. That would require political will and that, in turn, would depend on whether or not polarisation took place among Commonwealth members.
The Sierra Leone delegate dwelt on the devastating effect of the crisis on the universe- doubly and triply devastating for Africa. The human suffering called "energy crisis" was perpetuated by the oil cartels, which were enemies of their fellow human beings. The world was crippled or retarded, some States had almost lost their sovereignty and others had been held to ransom for oil.
It had to be remembered that about 90 percent of the whole of Africa imported about 95 percent of its essential commodities and that the whole of Africa had fallen into a trough of financial difficulty. It was time for Africa to take part in dictating the new economic order and to dictate the prices of its own primary products.
It was the opinion of the delegate from the United Kingdom that the main factor militating against stable oil prices was the inherent political instability of the Middle East; and the cessation of oil supplies from that quarter was a possibility that could not be ignored. The recycling of oil money, and the need to ensure stability in oil prices, were matters of great concern to rich and poor countries alike.
It was important that every possible effort be made to develop alternative energy sources. Substantial inducements to conserve energy were being offered in the United Kingdom, and the United States Senate had recently agreed to a large part of President Carter's energy programme.
The increased use of nuclear energy was a reality that had to be accepted, and it was incumbent upon those who favoured such a programme to allay the widespread anxieties about the genetic effects of radiation.
A delegate from Trinidad and Tobago maintained that the energy crisis was not one of supply, but one of price. High oil prices were a problem for industrialised nations, inasmuch as such nations had built their economies on the natural resources of underdeveloped countries, for which they had paid little or nothing in the past. In view of that, it was highly immoral to discuss the price of oil as it related to industrialised countries, without also discussing the terms of trade between those countries and the primary producers.