Annex E
Joint Declaration by Bulgaria, Cyprus,
Czech Republic, Estonia, The European Union, Hungary, Iceland,
Latvia, Lithuania, Malta, New Zealand, Norway, Poland, Romania,
Slovakia, Slovenia, The Alliance of Small Island States, Switzerland
and Turkey
"THE WAY FORWARD ON RENEWABLE ENERGY"
1. We express our strong commitment to the
promotion of renewable energy and to the increase of the share
of renewable energy sources in the global total primary energy
supply. We fully endorse the outcome of the World Summit on Sustainable
Development, considering it a good basis for further international
cooperation, and intend to go beyond the agreement reached in
the area of renewable energy.
2. Increasing the use of renewable energy
is an essential element to achieve sustainable development at
national and global level. Renewable energy can provide important
new ways to reduce pollution, diversify and secure energy supply
and help provide access to energy in support of poverty eradication.
Furthermore, the burning of fossil fuels is the biggest source
of greenhouse gas emissions and these emissions need to be reduced
to mitigate the adverse effects of climate change in order to
achieve the ultimate objective of the United Nations Framework
Convention on Climate Change to prevent dangerous climate change.
3. We commit ourselves to cooperate in the
further development and promotion of renewable energy technologies.
Recognising the sense of urgency as expressed in paragraph 19(e)
of the Johannesburg Plan of Implementation, we will work together
to substantially increase the global share of renewable energy
sources, with regular review of progress, on the basis of clear
and ambitious time bound targets set at the national, regional
and hopefully at the global level.
4. We have adopted, or will adopt, such
targets for the increase of renewable energy and we encourage
others to do likewise. We are convinced that this will help to
implement the necessary policies to deliver a substantial increase
in the global share of renewable energy sources. Such targets
are important tools to guide investment and develop the market
for renewable energy technologies.
5. We commit ourselves to working with others
to achieve this goal, especially through the partnership initiatives
being taken which could contribute to expanding the use of renewable
energy, as well as forthcoming international conferences on renewable
energy.
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