Letter to Dr Brian Count from Lord Whitty,
Minister for Food, Farming and Sustainable Energy, Department
for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
SUSTAINABLE ENERGY PRIORITIES AT WSSD
Thank you for your letter of 15 August, which
was transferred from the Department for International Development
to me from the Rt Hon Tony Blair MP. I warmly welcome your efforts
in representing and co-ordinating the interests of sustainable
energy business in the outcomes of WSSD and I apologise for the
excessive length of time it has taken to reply to your letter.
As you know from your time in Johannesburg,
the Summit agreed to take action to provide access to reliable,
affordable and environmentally sound energy for the poor, in support
of the Millennium Development Goals. This along with the below,
we believe, are good outcomes for sustainable energy, both internationally
and domestically.
You also know that it was not possible to gain
sufficient support to achieve a concrete, time bound target on
renewables, although the commitments in the Plan of Implementation
provide a sound platform for the future. The UK will be insisting
on the need for all countries, including those who impeded progress,
to act on what has been agreed.
The UK supported the Brazilian renewables initiative,
including their proposed global target for new renewable energy
excluding biomass. At Johannesburg, some countries including the
UK agreed ambitious national targets to increase market share
of renewable energy. Answering this call the UK has committed
itself to quantitative targets on renewable energy: 10% of the
UK's electricity to be supplied from renewable energy by 2010,
subject to the cost to consumers being acceptable and at least
double the capacity of combined heat and power (CHP) by 2010.
The Plan of Implementation contained a commitment
to take action, where appropriate, to phase out energy subsidies
which inhibit sustainable development. Although we would ideally
have liked this to be an unqualified commitment, it does represent
a step forward since only OECD countries, not the global community,
have made previously such a commitment. We intend to keep up the
pressure for implementation, including within the EU.
It is also my pleasure to report that the Export
Credit Guarantee Department (ECGD) is now using export credits
to support renewable energy. This now establishes ECGD as the
leader among G8 countries in using export credits to support global
sustainable development, we will now be encouraging other G8 ECA's
to follow suit.
Numerous partnerships on renewable energy, energy
efficiency and increased access to clean energy for the poor,
including the UK-led Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency Partnership
(REEEP), were launched at Johannesburg as a vehicle to help deliver
the aforementioned Summit agreements on renewable energy and energy
efficiency. I thank the UKBCSE for its current involvement in
this partnership. I believe it will play a large part in implementing
the outcomes for sustainable energy from WSSD.
As you can see, my officials and I are continuing
to work with colleagues both at home and internationally to ensure
that the commitments in the Plan of Implementation are achieved
and lay firm foundations for a sustainable future.
7 November 2002
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