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Published by the
International Institute for Sustainable Development (iisd)
Vol. 95 No. 01
Tuesday, 1 June 2004
INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE FOR RENEWABLE ENERGIES:
1-4 JUNE 2004
The International Conference for Renewable
Energies (renewables 2004) opens today at the International Congress
Center in Bonn, Germany. An estimated 2,000 delegates representing
governments, intergovernmental organizations (IGOs), the private sector,
civil society, research institutions and non-governmental organizations
(NGOs) are expected to attend the four-day meeting. Convened by the
Government of the Federal Republic of Germany, renewables 2004 aims to
prepare the ground for a global expansion of renewable energy,
integrated within a broader strategy designed to create a highly
efficient and sustainable energy future.
The Conference will identify key obstacles to
the wider use of renewable energy and will focus on practical solutions
to overcome these barriers. The Conference is expected to conclude with
the adoption of: a Political Declaration containing shared political
goals for an increased role of renewable energy; an International Action
Programme, including actions and commitments by governments, IGOs and
stakeholders; and a set of Policy Recommendations. The Conference
outcomes will also include arrangements for a follow-up process and a
mechanism to share information on progress in implementing the
International Action Programme.
Throughout the four-day meeting, delegates will participate in Plenary
sessions, a Multi-Stakeholder Dialogue (MSD), and a Ministerial Segment.
The Plenary sessions and Ministerial Roundtables will discuss policies
for renewable energy market development, financing options for renewable
energy, and the need to strengthen capacities, research and technology
development. A Ministerial Panel will address energy services and the
Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), as well as the contribution made by
renewable energy in meeting the climate change challenge. Over 60 side
events will be held during the meeting.
A BRIEF HISTORY OF MULTILATERAL PROCESSES
ON RENEWABLE ENERGY
During the fuel crisis of the 1970s, many countries began exploring
alternative sources of energy. The international community's first major
attempt to develop a strategy for the use of alternative fuels was the
1981 UN General Assembly Resolution A/RES/36/193 on the outcomes of the
UN Conference on New and Renewable Sources of Energy. In this
Resolution, the UN adopted the “Nairobi Programme of Action for the
Development and Utilization of New and Renewable Sources of Energy,”
which addresses the need for an intergovernmental body, secretariat
support, coordination within the UN system, regional and subregional
action, cooperation among developing countries, and the mobilization of
financial resources for new and renewable sources of energy. However, it
was only following the 1992 UN Conference on Environment and Development
(UNCED) that renewable energy issues began to feature more prominently
on the international environment and development agenda.
UNCED: At UNCED, delegates adopted Agenda 21, an action plan for
implementing sustainable development. Agenda 21 contains many elements
of a sustainable energy strategy. Chapter 9 of Agenda 21, on protecting
the atmosphere, notes that much of the world's energy is currently
produced and consumed in an unsustainable manner. It recognizes that the
need to control atmospheric emissions of greenhouse gases and other
substances will increasingly need to be based on efficiency in energy
production, transmission, distribution and consumption, and a growing
reliance on environmentally sound energy systems, particularly new and
renewable sources of energy. The chapter also calls on governments and
other stakeholders to, inter alia: promote the research, development,
transfer and use of technologies and practices for environmentally sound
energy systems, with particular attention to developing countries;
review current energy supply mixes to determine how the contribution of
environmentally sound energy systems could be increased in an
economically efficient manner; examine and implement measures to
overcome barriers; and coordinate energy plans regionally and
subregionally.
UN CONFERENCES AND SUMMITS: In the years following UNCED, several
UN Conferences and Summits addressed renewable energy and sustainable
development issues in their outcome documents. These included the Global
Conference on Sustainable Development in Small Island Developing States
(1994), International Conference on Population and Development (1995),
World Summit on Social Development (1995), fourth World Conference on
Women (1995), UN Conference on Human Settlements HABITAT II (1996), and
World Food Summit (1996).
THE WORLD SOLAR SUMMIT: As a follow-up to UNCED, the UN
Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) organized a
High-level Expert Meeting in Paris in 1993, which launched the
preparatory process for a world summit on the wider use of renewable
energy. The World Solar Summit Process (WSSP) extended over a period of
three years and included a series of expert and ministerial-level
regional meetings. In 1994, the Executive Board of UNESCO approved the
creation of a World Solar Commission with the mandate to provide advice
on measures to reinforce global and regional cooperation for the
promotion of renewable energy. The WSSP, which convened in Harare,
Zimbabwe in September 1996, adopted the “Harare Declaration on Solar
Energy and Sustainable Development” and launched the World Solar
Programme 1996-2005, a ten-year programme for the promotion of renewable
energy.
UNGASS-19: The 19th Special Session of the UN General Assembly
(UNGASS-19), held at UN Headquarters in New York in June 1997, adopted
Resolution A/RES/S-19/2 on the Programme for the Further Implementation
of Agenda 21. The Resolution states that energy is essential for
economic and social development and for improved quality of life, and
that sustainable patterns of production, distribution and use of energy
are crucial. UNGASS-19 also decided that energy issues would be further
discussed at the ninth session of the Commission on Sustainable
Development (CSD-9) and established an open-ended intergovernmental
group of experts on energy and sustainable development to begin
preparations for CSD-9.
CSD-9: CSD-9, which took place at UN Headquarters in New York in
April 2001, adopted Decision 9/1 (E/CN.17/2001/19) on “Energy for
sustainable development.” The Decision identifies challenges and
recommendations regarding energy accessibility, efficiency, renewable
energy, advanced fossil fuel technologies, nuclear energy technologies,
rural energy, and energy and transport. The Decision states that energy
is central to achieving sustainable development goals, notes wide
disparities in the levels of energy consumption within and between
developed and developing countries, and concludes that current patterns
of energy production, distribution and utilization are unsustainable.
CSD-9 identified the major challenge for both developed and developing
countries as the development, utilization and dissemination of renewable
energy technologies on a scale wide enough to contribute significantly
to energy for sustainable development. The Commission also recommended,
inter alia:
-
developing and implementing appropriate
national, regional and international policies and measures to create
an enabling environment for the development, utilization and
distribution of renewable energy sources;
-
developing domestic programmes to increase
the contribution of renewable energy to total energy consumption;
-
encouraging the role of the private sector
in the development and utilization of renewable energy technologies;
-
strengthening research, development,
demonstration and institutional capacities in the field of renewable
energy utilization;
-
promoting the utilization of renewable
resources, such as solar, wind, biomass, geothermal, hydro
(including mini-hydro), and ocean (wave, tidal, and thermal energy
conversion) to meet part of the energy needs for sustainable
development;
-
developing and using indigenous sources of
renewable energy, where appropriate; and
-
strengthening financial support to
developing countries for the promotion of renewable energy.
Regarding energy accessibility, the Commission made various
recommendations, including: improving access to modern biomass
technologies and fuel wood sources and supplies; commercializing biomass
operations; developing locally available energy resources for greater
energy diversification; and promoting renewable energy, especially in
rural areas, through community-based development methods.
On rural energy, the Commission noted that access to affordable energy
services is a prerequisite for implementation of the goal accepted by
the international community to halve the proportion of people living on
less than US$1 per day by 2015.
G-8 RENEWABLE ENERGY TASK FORCE: In July 2000, the leaders of the
eight major industrialized democracies (G-8) and the President of the
European Commission (EC) met in Okinawa, Japan for the G-8's 26th
Summit. At the Summit, the G-8 established the G-8 Renewable Energy Task
Force to identify actions to promote a change in the supply,
distribution and use of renewable energy in developing countries.
The Task Force submitted its report to the G-8's 27th Summit in Genoa,
Italy in 2001, concluding that renewable energy resources can sharply
reduce local, regional and global environmental impacts as well as
energy security risks. It can also, in some circumstances, reduce energy
costs for consumers. The Task Force suggested that concerted action by
the G-8, other countries, the private sector,
and international financial institutions to implement the Task Force's
recommendations over the next decade could result in various positive
outcomes, including electricity access from renewable sources for up to
300 million people in rural areas of developing countries, and service
for up to 500 million people connected to electricity grids worldwide.
WSSD: The World Summit on Sustainable Development (WSSD) convened
from 26 August to 4 September 2002, in Johannesburg, South Africa. One
of the major outcomes of the WSSD was the adoption of the Johannesburg
Plan of Implementation (JPOI), which addresses renewable energy in
several of its chapters.
Regarding poverty eradication (JPOI Chapter II), governments agreed to
improve access to reliable and affordable energy services for
sustainable development, so as to facilitate the achievement of the MDGs.
These included actions to:
-
improve access to reliable, affordable,
economically viable, socially acceptable and environmentally sound
energy services and resources through various means, such as
enhanced rural electrification and decentralized energy systems, and
increased use of renewables;
-
improve access to modern biomass
technologies and fuelwood sources and supplies, and commercialize
biomass operations; and
-
promote the sustainable use of biomass and
other forms of renewable energy through improved patterns of use.
Regarding sustainable consumption and
production patterns (JPOI Chapter III), governments agreed to increase
substantially the global share of renewable energy sources, with the
objective of increasing the contribution of renewable energy to total
energy supply with a sense of urgency. They recognized the role of
national and voluntary regional targets and initiatives, and the need to
ensure that energy policies support developing countries' efforts to
eradicate poverty. They also agreed to, inter alia: develop and
disseminate alternative energy technologies with the aim of giving a
greater share of the energy mix to renewable energy; combine the
increased use of renewable energy resources, more efficient use of
energy, and greater reliance on advanced energy technologies; and
develop and utilize indigenous energy sources and infrastructures for
local use and promote rural community participation in the development
and utilization of renewable energy technologies.
In relation to the sustainable development of small island developing
States (SIDS) (JPOI Chapter VII), the WSSD identified, inter alia, the
need to support the availability of adequate, affordable and
environmentally sound energy services for SIDS by strengthening and
supporting ongoing and new efforts to improve energy supply and services
by 2004. Regarding sustainable development in Africa (JPOI Chapter
VIII), governments agreed to provide support for the implementation of
energy initiatives, including increasing the use of renewable energy.
In addition to the JPOI, over 200 non-negotiated
partnerships/initiatives aimed at implementing Agenda 21 were launched
at the WSSD. Of these partnerships, 37 specifically address energy for
sustainable development.
JREC: During the final WSSD Plenary, Denmark, on behalf of the EU,
announced the formation of a like-minded group of countries on renewable
energy, now known as the Johannesburg Renewable Energy Coalition (JREC).
The EU, with Bulgaria, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary,
Iceland, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta, New Zealand, Norway, Poland, Romania,
Slovakia, Slovenia, the Alliance of Small Island States, Switzerland and
Turkey issued a statement titled “The Way Forward on Renewable Energy.”
The statement contains a commitment by JREC governments to increase the
share of renewable energy in the global total primary energy supply mix.
It states that increasing renewable energy use is essential for
achieving sustainable development at national and global levels, and
that renewable energy can provide important new ways to reduce
pollution, diversify and secure energy supply, and improve access to
energy in support of poverty eradication. In the statement, JREC
governments also commit to work toward substantially increasing the
global share of renewable energy sources, with regular review of
progress, on the basis of clear and ambitious time-bound targets set at
all levels. The statement indicates that JREC countries have adopted, or
will adopt, targets for the increase of renewable energy, and will
encourage others to do likewise. The first international JREC conference
was held in June 2003, in Brussels, Belgium and focused on the regional
status and potential for renewable energy use. To date, JREC has 87
members and is serviced by a Secretariat hosted by the EC. A finance
expert group was also created to discuss innovative financing models for
renewable energy.
PREPARATORY MEETINGS FOR THE INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON RENEWABLE
ENERGY
At the WSSD, German Chancellor Gerhard
Schröder invited the international community to Germany for an
international conference on renewable energy. Germany's Federal
Government then initiated a preparatory process that included the
establishment of an International Steering Committee, several regional
preparatory meetings, a National Advisory Committee, and an Organizing
Committee and Conference Secretariat.
REGIONAL PREPARATORY MEETINGS
Latin America and Caribbean: The regional preparatory meeting for
the Latin America and Caribbean (LAC) region was held in October 2003,
in Brasilia, Brazil. The meeting adopted the “Brasilia Platform on
Renewable Energies.” The Platform reaffirms the goal set out in the
“Latin American and Caribbean Initiative for Sustainable Development” to
ensure that, by 2010, the use of renewable energy in the region as a
whole will amount to at least 10% of the region's total energy
consumption. This will be achieved through voluntary efforts and take
into account national situations. The Brasilia Platform also calls on
renewables 2004 to support the creation of a technical and financial
cooperation fund to facilitate cooperation between industrialized
countries and the LAC region with the aim of reducing costs and
increasing investment in renewable energy in LAC countries.
Africa: An initial preparatory meeting for the African region was
held in November 2003, in Nairobi, Kenya. Participants adopted a “Draft
Statement on Renewables in Africa,” that includes support for moving
forward with the process launched at the WSSD to develop renewable
energy globally, and to secure worldwide consensus on the JREC.
In May 2004, the African Ministerial Meeting on Sustainable Energy
Development took place in Nairobi. Ministers adopted the “Statement on
Renewables in Africa.” The statement calls for the promotion of
sustainable production and utilization of biomass in all sectors, as
well as research to assess and analyze renewable energy resources,
appropriate benchmarks to evaluate progress on renewable energy
development, and the incorporation of renewable energy in existing and
planned energy programmes and associated investment programmes.
Europe: The European Conference for Renewable Energy -
Intelligent Policy Options, was held in January 2004, in Berlin,
Germany. The meeting adopted the “Berlin Conclusions,” urging, inter alia, EU institutions to start a political process of setting ambitious,
time-bound targets for increasing the share of renewable energy in final
energy consumption for the medium (2020) and long term. The Berlin
Conclusions note that a 20% renewable energy target for gross inland
energy consumption is achievable in the EU by 2020. The meeting also
called for concerted global action to remove market barriers to
renewable energy development and expand the work of the JREC.
Asia-Pacific: The Asia-Pacific regional preparatory meeting was
held in March 2004, in Bangkok, Thailand. Delegates adopted the “Bangkok
Statement on Renewable Energy.” The Statement includes a call for
government leadership to foster the creation of markets for renewable
energy. These markets should provide long-term regulatory and price
stability, reduce transaction costs associated with project preparation,
and encourage cost reduction, reparability and sustainability through
increased local manufacturing and local management. They should also
allow non-discriminatory grid access for renewable energy, ensure its
preferred use in appropriate off-grid applications, and address issues
of fuel security for biomass projects. Delegates also called on
renewables 2004 to promote global cooperation in the field of
technological development and increased investment in renewable energy
in the Asia-Pacific region.
Middle East and North Africa: The Middle East and North Africa
Regional Conference on Renewable Energies and Sustainable Development
was held in April 2004, in Sana'a, the Republic of Yemen. The meeting
adopted the “Sana'a Statement on Renewable Energy and Sustainable
Development,” which, inter alia, calls on developed countries to
establish a regional center for renewable energy and sustainable
development in Yemen that would specialize in renewable energy
technology research.
Other meetings: Several other meetings have also discussed
renewables 2004. These included: the International Renewable Energy
Conference-Renewable Energy on the Market in Sonderborg, Denmark
(September 2003), the fourth Global Forum on Sustainable Energy in
Vienna, Austria (February 2004); the Delhi Sustainable Development
Summit in Delhi, India (February 2004); and a preparatory conference of
the JREC in Copenhagen, Denmark (September 2003).
At a preparatory NGO meeting held in Bad Honnef, Germany in October
2003, NGOs formed the Citizens United for Renewable Energies and
Sustainability (CURES) network to coordinate the international NGO
community's contributions to renewables 2004. The meeting adopted a
declaration, “The Future is Renewable,” which calls on all governments
to agree to ambitious renewable energy targets in order to achieve the MDGs and to mitigate dangerous climate change.
THINGS TO LOOK FOR TODAY
OPENING SESSION: The opening session will convene from 9:00-10:00
am in the Plenary Hall to hear statements from Jürgen Trittin, Germany's
Federal Minister for the Environment, Nature Conservation and Nuclear
Safety; Heidemarie Wieczorek-Zeul Germany's Federal Minister for
Economic Cooperation and Development; and Bärbel Dieckmann, Mayor of
Bonn. A welcome address will be delivered by Peer Steinbrück, President
of the Federal State of North Rhine-Westphalia, and introductory remarks
will be given by Rajendra Pachauri, Director General of The Energy and
Resources Institute and Chair of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate
Change, and Chakib Khelil, Algerian Minister of Energy and Mining.
MULTI-STAKEHOLDER DIALOGUE: The first MSD will take place in the
Plenary Hall from 11:30 am-1:30 pm to discuss “The Value and
Opportunities of Renewable Energy - Policy Frameworks and Regulatory
Certainty.” This will be followed by a second dialogue from 3:00-6:30 pm
on “Promoting Renewable Energy - Delivering Finance and Capacity for the
Future.”
SIDE EVENTS: Numerous side events, organized by governments,
international agencies, and civil society will take place from 1:30-3:00
pm and 6:30-8:00 pm. A Science Forum will take place from 10:15 am-6:00
pm. See the daily conference journal for more information.
RENEWABLES 2004 BULLETIN: This publication, renewables 2004
Bulletin, will be produced daily by the International Institute for
Sustainable Development (IISD), and is available in hardcopy throughout
the conference center or on the internet at
http://www.iisd.ca/sd/ren2004/.
A final summary of the renewables 2004 conference will be available
online on 7 June 2004 at
http://www.iisd.ca/sd/ren2004/
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