World Sustainable Energy CoalitionCercle Mondial du Consensus International NGO in Consultative Status with the Economic and Social Council of the United Nations

NEWS

United Nations, New York 2002-03-25

The Geneva based World Sustainable Energy Coalition CMDC-WSEC presented today The Blueprint for the Clean, Sustainable Energy Age which contains all necessary tools to accelerate the transition to non-polluting, sustainable, energy systems. The Blueprint was formulated by 140 top experts from all continents at the CLEAN ENERGY 2000 Conference in Geneva. It is being distributed to all UN agencies, governments, cities, NGOs, private sector decision makers, insurers, financial institutions, academia and libraries as a future energy guide.

According to Gustav R. Grob, President of the World Sustainable Energy Coalition (WSEC), the key implementation tools are the Global Energy Charter for Sustainable Development and standards by the International Standards Organization (ISO) and the International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC) for quality and environmental management, energy systems analyses and statistics, solar thermal and photovoltaic systems, hydrogen fuels, thermal insulation, air, water and soil quality, ship safety, gas cylinders, cryogenic vessels, fuel cells, hydro turbines and wind generators, electric vehicles, batteries, safety and environmental protection.

At the meeting Gail Karlsson emphasized the importance of looking at energy issues from a gender perspective. Over 2 billion people in developing countries have no access to commercial energy, and it is women in rural areas who are most impacted by this situation due to their traditional roles in connection with fuel gathering, cooking and household responsibilities. Sustainable energy solutions need to focus more on providing options to meet the needs of women in those areas.

Energy is an important issue on the agenda of the World Summit for Sustainable Development WSSD in Johannesburg especially because it was not adequately addressed at the UNCED Conference on Environment and Development in 1992 in Rio, where no significant recommendation was made in Agenda 21 for the urgently required clean, sustainable energies.

WSEC Board Member Pincas Jawetz, who presented the Blueprint for the Clean, Sustainable Energy Age, the Global Energy Charter for Sustainable Development and relevant international standards, expressed concern that the warnings by thousands of climate, health and biosphere experts, and by UN agencies, are still ignored by business-as-usual pressure groups. He appealed to decision makers to transform currently unsustainable energy systems within the lifetimes of living generations. Sustainable Energy must become one of the highest priorities of WSSD in Johannesburg, according to Grob, Karlsson and Jawetz.