New inputs to the UN Commission on Sustainable Development (CSD) are bearing fruit at the ninth session (CSD9) after the United Nations Conference on Environment & Development (UNCED) at Rio de Janeiro in 1992, taking place from 16 to 27 April in New York, dealing for the first time since the historic Rio conference with Energy, Transport & Atmosphere problems.
Most delegates of Governments, UN agencies and Non-Governmental Organizations (NGO) agree now that depleting, polluting fossil fuels must be replaced by clean, sustainable energy resources as fast a possible. The World Energy Assessment, prepared by experts from the UN and NGOs, clearly comes to this conclusion. The report from the CLEAN ENERGY 2000 conference shows practical ways and means how to avoid or correct causes of environmental degradation and health perils by energy efficiency measures, renewable energy technologies, clean vehicles and sustainable buildings and how to get the needed financing to reach the goal of energy sustainability – see footnote where these publications can be ordered.
The revised version of the Global Energy Charter for Sustainable Energy Development went to all governments, UN agencies, NGOs and representatives from industry and academia to implement its eight basic principles in line with the Climate Convention and the CSD objectives.
International ISO and IEC Standards for energy systems, SI units and environmental management are recommended for global use, wider expert participation for their development and consistent application by the public and private sectors. They provide not only international terminologies to facilitate their use in all countries, but give also competent guidance as regards the methods to measure and analyze all inputs and outputs of energy systems, design safe energy devices and certify them to protect the users by enforcing national and international regulations. Examples are the ISO14000 series on environmental management, the ISO13600 series on Technical Energy Systems, the standards for solar and hydrogen energy, the ISO 9000 series on Quality Management and Certification, the ISO handbooks “international units” “statistics”, water and air quality etc.. See the complete list of relevant ISO and IEC standards with a description of the standard for energy systems analyses in ISO Bulletin of April 1997.
There are more and more companies developing, manufacturing and marketing efficient, truly sustainable energy systems for the clean generation and use, such as the International Clean Energy Consortium – see below - as well as an increasing number of sustainable development funds, besides the increasingly ecological World Bank Group with financing mechanisms like the Global Environmental Facility (GEF) cooperating with UNDP, the International Finance Corporation (IFC) for the private sector and World Bank loans for the public sector, particularly in developing nations with their rapidly growing energy demand and for the substitution of environmentally damaging installations like the coal or oil fired power plants.
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How to order:
CLEAN ENERGY 2000 - Blueprint for the Clean, Sustainable Energy Age, 600 pages
CMDC, POB 200, CH1211 Geneva 20, Fax +41-22-910-3014, e-mail: info@cmdc.net
World Energy Assessment - Energy and the Challenge of Sustainability, 508 pages
CMDC-WSEC Central Secretariat, POB 200, CH-1211 Geneva 20 e-mail: info@cmdc.net
Global Energy Charter for Sustainable Energy Development - see http:/www.cmdc.net
Conclusions of CLEAN ENERGY 2000 & Geneva Proclamation for Sustainable, Clean Energy
http:/www.cmdc.net e-mail: info@cmdc.net
ISO Standards and ISO Bulletin - contact the ISO Central Secretariat for national contact addresses and the informative ISO Memento at International Organization for Standardization,
1 rue de Varembé, CH1211 Geneva 20; ISO Online: http://www.iso.ch e-mail: info@iso.ch
Clean Energy Systems and Clean Vehicles: International Clean Energy Consortium ICEC,
POB 928, CH-8055 Zurich Fax +411-463-0252 http://www.icec.ch e-mail: info@icec.ch