Conference resolution

On the occasion of the World Wind Energy Conference & Renewable Energy Exhibition (Cape Town, South Africa), 400 delegates from 51 countries have gathered to jointly discuss concrete implementation strategies for the broad wind energy utilisation in a future energy system completely driven by renewable energies. Wind energy offers very good opportunities for the poor to obtain a reliable, affordable and secure energy supply.

1. The biggest barrier for renewable energies on the existing energy market is still the cost gap caused by enormous subsidies and non-internalised external cost of fossil and nuclear energies. The world community is called on to create a level-playing field and fair conditions for renewable energies. To compensate these market distortions, guaranteed feed-in tariffs have proven to be very effective and efficient.
2. Due to the specific cost structure of wind energy technology, innovative financing schemes have to be developed and donor funds have to be raised especially for the poorer countries in order to foster the wind industry in these countries.
3. Local communities should become active and should benefit directly from wind energy installations. To retain all economic benefits of renewable energies, after all job creation, the share of local production has to be sufficiently high. The OECD consensus on public export credits currently limits the local share. This should be increased for renewable energy technologies up to 50 %.
4. The Kyoto framework should be amended in order to foster long-term investment in clean renewable energies instead of setting up incentives just for short-term efficiency improvements and without regarding the energy source itself. The “additionality” criterion must not punish those governments of developing countries that have created a favourable framework for renewable energies. It should be considered to introduce a fourth Kyoto mechanism focussing on Renewable Energy Implementation.
5. WTO law must be amended so that the national governments have the explicit right to prioritise renewable energies and to internalise external costs of fossil and nuclear sources. Within the GATS framework, energy services must not be liberalised without a clear priority for renewable energy services. National governments should define the creation of a domestic renewable energy supply as part of their national security strategy.
6. The industrialised nations must put a stronger emphasis on renewable energy supply through their development policies. Development programmes must focus on the establishment of domestic renewable energy industries.
7. Transfer of know-how is essential to enable local communities to build up their own production facilities, in cooperation with experienced entrepreneurs and scientists from the countries where wind energy is already contributing to the energy supply.
8. An International Renewable Energy Agency has to be created which serves as a global information pool for renewable energies, cooperates with further international and national organisations that are dealing with renewable energies, and coordinates their activities. Besides, such agency should launch ambitious international implementation programmes for renewable energies, including financing programmes, and it should enhance the role of independent power producers.

The upcoming International Conference on Renewable Energies Renewables 2004 (Bonn, June 2004) should embrace these demands. The governments of the leading countries in the field of renewable energy – like those that have formed the Johannesburg Renewable Energy Coalition – are called on to continue extending their successful policies and to create new national and international implementation programmes including new and ambitious targets. Not the broadest possible consensus, but only the strongest possible alliance of the like-minded governments, international organisations, companies and of civil society should be the main target of the Renewables 2004 conference. All relevant social groups, associations, public bodies, universities, companies etc. are called on to participate in the Renewables 2004 conference and to introduce their specific expertise and perspectives in the preparatory process in order to foster a broad alliance for renewable energies.