Helping to mobilize 100 nations.

• Author: Flavin, Christopher
• Position: Letter From The President ... Worldwatch furthers the cause of renewable energy around the world

A few months I received a call from Stephan Contius, a top assistant to Germany's Environment Minister, Jurgen Trittin, who had a proposal to make. Stephan wanted to know if Worldwatch would be interested in co hosting the launch of a major initiative on renewable energy at the United Nations in New York.

The German proposal had its genesis in a debate that had received a lot of attention at last year's World Summit on Sustainable Development in Johannesburg. A sizable group of European, Latin American, and small island nations had pushed hard for the summit's final plan to include specific, quantitative targets for the development of renewable energy around the world.

The group had hoped to build on Europe's success in developing a robust renewable energy industry during the 1990s. Its proposal had been thwarted, however, when a coalition of fossil fuel-dependent governments, ranging from the United States to China and most of OPEC, formed to block it. Two weeks of diplomatic infighting had resulted in a weak compromise--a document making only vague reference to a need for "increased reliance" on renewables, coupled with a similar nod to nuclear power.

Rather than give up on one of the most hopeful proposals to emerge in Johannesburg, renewable energy supporters decided to attempt a kind of end-run around the formal UN process. German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder took the lead, using his speech at the Summit to announce plans for a ministerial conference on renewable energy to be held in the former German capital, Bonn, in June 2004. The aim, he said, would be to provide international policy advice, financial support, and whatever else it takes to accelerate development of renewable energy.

It was the preparation for the Bonn conference that Stephan Contius wanted to discuss when he called last winter. We agreed to work together to assemble a group of environmental ministers in New York to begin preparations for the Bonn conference next year. The event took place on April 29 at UN headquarters, before an audience that included diplomats, non-government representatives, and ministers. As chair, I had the honor of introducing the four environment ministers who spoke: Jurgen Trittin from Germany, Marina Silva from Brazil, Altero Matteoli from Italy, and Valli Moosa from South Africa.

Each minister outlined his or her view of what must be done to shift the direction of the global energy economy. What struck me about all four was how clearly...