Earth Summit 2002 - Greenpeace

Amsterdam, The Netherlands, 22 March 2002: European countries will promote wind power from the North sea to battle climate change, according to agreements made during the recent 5th North Sea Conference in Bergen, Norway.

At the conference, ministers from Belgium, Denmark, France, Germany, the Netherlands, Norway, Sweden, Switzerland, United Kingdom and the European Commission recognised that climate change, caused by fossil fuel use, threatened North sea coastal regions and ecosystems, and emphasised the need to develop safe renewable energy solutions.

UK Environment Minister Michael Meacher said: "The 20th century was the century of oil, the 21st century must be the century of renewable energy."

The North Sea provides a huge potential for renewable wind power - just 1 percent of this resource could power over 6 million homes.

In contrast to the billions of Euros of state support for the nuclear industry, renewables still receive insufficient funding.

"The Bergen declaration should be the catalyst for a change in energy use across the world. Only with a massive take-up of renewable energy can countries meet their commitments to protect the climate and the wider environment," said Greenpeace representative Simon Reddy. "Renewable technologies have been crippled up until now because of the corrupting influence of the nuclear and fossil fuel industries. Only concrete action by governments will change that and bring about the eventual phase out of dirty energy."

European ministers have committed to supporting development of renewable energy in the North sea. A number of ministers referred to the Johannesburg Earth Summit later this year, saying that they wanted the decisions taken at the North Sea Conference to set their agenda in the run up to the summit.

Greenpeace welcomes this commitment. However, it will only be worthwhile if it creates the conditions for massive investment in the offshore wind industry.

Greenpeace says that only through a commitment to renewable energy technologies will governments be able to make a substantial and sustainable contribution to their Kyoto Protocol commitments.

The conference comes five months before the Johannesburg Earth Summit. Access to clean energy is a key driver of sustainable development and a necessary tool for poverty alleviation. Greenpeace believes that governments could help by kick-starting a global renewables revolution, saving the climate and alleviating poverty in the process. This would be the first real sign of the Rio Earth Summit spirit shown 10 years ago when governments promised to prioritise sustainable development.

Greenpeace hopes that by the Earth Summit this August, other world leaders will pledge to stop supporting businesses that contribute to environmental problems and poverty. The international community should follow the North sea ministers' lead on renewables.