Lithuania, 2012

In the past few years, the

number of conflicts in the world has again been on the

increase. That causes the deaths and injuries of, and

a loss of shelter for, thousands of people. It leads to

a delay in the development of our countries and the

stagnation of regional and global economies.

Our common goal is to find ways to reduce tension,

disagreement and conflict worldwide. The most

important challenge in that respect is understanding

the root causes of conflicts and concentrating efforts

on prevention, not only on doing away with the

consequences.

I want to draw the attention of Member States

to one specific area that is very narrow but very

important — energy. Since ancient times, the

competition for natural resources has been the reason for very many conflicts. Energy resources are not equally

distributed, so there is inequality in accessibility to

energy. The existing dependency on energy remains a

reason for abuse, not cooperation. A lack of clear and

globally accepted rules and norms in the energy sector

contributes to continuing tensions.

Recurring gas and oil supply crises every year

remind us that, in a global environment, friction and

disagreements over energy still lead to conflicts and

tensions of all sorts. Being a small country, without its

own resources, especially sources of energy, Lithuania

is well aware of the negative consequences of energy

dependency in an environment that has no universal

agreement on or compliance with clear rules of the

game. What can we do?

First, we need to increase global energy

sustainability. I would like to congratulate Secretary-

General Ban Ki-moon for his Sustainable Energy for

All initiative, which is really relevant and timely. The

improvement of energy efficiency, the diversification

of the energy supply and global accessibility to energy

are certainly the goals for which we should strive.

Secondly, we need to make existing inequalities in

access to energy a source of cooperation, not tension.

The use of energy dependency as an instrument for

political or economic blackmail must be eliminated,

not only to ensure equality but also to increase global

competiveness and effectiveness. With the ongoing

practices of price-fixing and abuse of monopolistic

positions, which both distort competition, there can be

no development, security or effectiveness.

Thirdly, our answer to energy-related conflict

prevention should be international agreements that

make clear that the use of energy to gain political goals is

unacceptable. Responsibility for violations should also

be clear and unavoidable. We must grant international

institutions greater discretion to launch investigations

and to impose sanctions on activities that hinder the

free f low of energy resources, impede diversification

or set unfair prices for customers.

I have one final point. There is no energy-

related issue as dangerous as unsafe nuclear energy

development. It is obvious that each country can decide

on its own energy mix. However, each national decision

to develop nuclear energy can have a devastating and

transboundary impact, and should be extremely well

grounded and researched. There can be no sustainability,

development or peaceful cooperation without nuclear safety. Mistakes in nuclear energy are too costly to be

allowed.

In that respect, we welcome the actions taken by

the International Atomic Energy Agency to improve

the existing system of international nuclear safety

regulations. Lithuania supports the position that nuclear

safety standards should be strengthened and, if needed,

legal international imperatives should be adopted. The

2012 Seoul Nuclear Security Summit clearly indicated

that nuclear security and nuclear safety measures

should be drawn up, implemented and managed in a

coherent manner, as they both have a common aim to

protect the people and their environment. Keeping the

commitment that it assumed at the Summit, my country

has contributed to international efforts to increase

global awareness of existing energy insecurities and

ways to prevent them by establishing the Nuclear

Security Centre of Excellence in Lithuania.

In order to tackle the causes of conflicts, not just

the consequences, we have to be honest players. We

must honestly define the problems; speak openly about

their reasons; be clear and precise in naming the rules

of the game; and, last but not least, find in ourselves

the political will to play according to the rules globally,

especially once agreed upon.