GREENPEACE ACTIVISTS CONVERT DUTCH HOUSES OF PARLIAMENT TO SOLAR ENERGY

18 September 2000

The Hague: Greenpeace activists scaled the 16th century Dutch Houses of Parliament to replace roof tiles on the Prime Minister's Tower with solar powered tiles. Greenpeace is demanding that the Dutch government, chair at the next round of ministerial climate negotiations in November, take the lead to prevent widespread cheating in the Kyoto Protocol. The new roof will supply sufficient energy for all of the Prime Minister's office needs.

Energy campaigner for Greenpeace in the Netherlands Sander Van Egmond said that solar power could supply power at the same price as fossil fuels. "A recent report from KPMG, commissioned by Greenpeace, shows that large scale implementation of roof tops using standard photovoltaic solar technology creates economies of scale which makes it competitive with conventional household electricity if real commitment to renewable energy is demonstrated," Van Egmond said. "This action shows there is no need to cheat on saving the climate, the solutions are ready to be used and if we can do it here, then it can be done anywhere."

Greenpeace's action highlights tactics by the US, Japan, Canada and Australia to push other governments to agree to rules that would allow them to substantially increase their emissions of carbon dioxide, the major greenhouse gas created by burning fossil fuels, rather than decrease emissions as required by the Kyoto Protocol.

Bill Hare, Climate Policy Director of Greenpeace International, said that such demands amount to cheating on the commitments made in the Kyoto Protocol on climate change in Japan 1997. "The worst thing that the US, Japan, Canada and Australia are pushing for is the inclusion of huge amounts of emissions credits from the storage of carbon in forests," he said. "This storage of carbon in forests would happen anyway and if it is counted in the protocol it would permit vast increases in fossil fuel use." Greenpeace is demanding that the Netherlands Environment Minister Mr Jan Pronk, chair of the Hague negotiations, take the lead to protect the environmental integrity of the protocol.

Independent scientific assessments presented at the Lyon negotiations have confirmed Greenpeace's own calculations that if these countries get their way, emissions would be allowed to increase by 20 percent or more, rather than the 5 percent reduction from 1990 levels that the protocol required by 2010.

Greenpeace said it was concerned also that negotiations on the Clean Development Mechanism were becoming a "Cheating Development Mechanism" which licenses dirty technologies such as nuclear power, coal and other fossil fuels, as well as a temporary storage of carbon in forests. For example, the US is also promoting rules for the Clean Development Mechanism to provide more credit for fossil fuel projects in developing countries than for clean renewable energy in some cases.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION PLEASE CONTACT:
Sander Van Egmond: + 31 621 296 895, Bill Hare +31 621 29 68 99