NEWSLETTER

Spring 2002

What has been achieved in the ten years since the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development in Rio ? What did Agenda 21 achieve as regards the main ecological worry: Sustainable Energy Implementation ? Is there any hope that polluting and risky energy sources will soon be replaced by more efficient, clean, renewable energy systems? Can the growing depletion of natural resources and destruction of the natural habitat be halted ?

This Newsletter gives guidance about how the Johannesburg Summit could make a big difference in moving away from the "business as usual" scenario.

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The Fundamental Problem: Common sense should direct all of us on this planet towards sustainable energy sources, that are abundantly available, affordable and critical for the climate and health protection, as well as for the economic development of poor countries and new job creation. But instead certain energy multinationals and governments continue to oppose the Kyoto Protocol and promote continued dependence on an obsolescent energy policy, resulting in unbalanced biospheres and in unabated global warming rather than driving the world towards clean, decentralized energy generation and more efficient energy use at the consumer end.

Political and Practical Solutions: With the growing awareness of politicians and the private sector that the man-made destructions of the last century cannot go on for any longer, much more money must be dedicated towards the shift towards clean energy systems, such as hydropower, wind power, solar, biomass, geothermal and advanced clean, efficient vehicles and building comfort systems. Research institutes and industry proved a thousand times even in developing countries that the technology is available to replace all the problematic fuels, make high-density batteries, hydrogen systems and generate electricity with renewable sources.

The Role of the United Nations and Governments: The 190 governments constituting the UN system can win the battle against unsustainable energy concepts as soon as the citizens who are electing these governments become fully aware of their responsibility to save our planet from destruction. A prerequisite is, of course, that democratic election systems function and cannot be manipulated by energy lobbies. It is high time that governments respect the will of the world population and scientists, rather than pressure groups, who have managed so far to keep a forceful ecological energy policy out of the UN agenda.

The Important Role of NGOs and the Media: The real power in our age lies with increasing of freedom of people, limitless communication and information exchange via Internet. Hundreds of Non-Governmental Organizations are becoming very active in the UN System, even though particular interest pressure groups are still trying to keep knowledgeable NGOs out of the UN decision process. Government delegates need to work out the right energy strategies with NGO experts, or invite qualified energy specialists to the UN meetings as advisors.

Tools for a Sound Energy Economy are the Global Energy Charter for Sustainable Development formulated by UN agents, governments, industry and academia representatives, and the ISO & IEC standards, which deal with total energy cost analyses, rational implementation, and quality control of advanced energy systems with complete statistics and forecasting. These tools will be presented to the Johannesburg Summit with the Blueprint for the Clean, Sustainable Energy Age compiled by leading energy, health and environment experts.