International Conference on Renewable Energies

The Bundestag has adopted the following decision:

The German Bundestag welcomes the initiatives of the Federal Government
- concerning the implementation of an International Conference on Renewable Energies in early June 2004, to which Federal Chancellor Gerhard Schröder already invited the governments of the international community in his speech before the UN Summit on Sustainable Development in Johannesburg. This speech met with a great response there and gave rise to positive expectations regarding this German initiative;
- concerning the signing of the declaration of like-minded states entitled "The Way Forward on Renewable Energy" at the UN World Summit on Sustainable Development in Johannesburg, which makes provision for progress by ambitious governments and their collaboration on the worldwide expansion of renewable energies.
The International Conference will establish the political communication level that is indispensable for increased promotion of renewable energies and energy efficiency. However, it will boost the broad-based, international impact of this Conference among the worldwide players if an NGO forum, a science forum, an industry forum and a forum for development cooperation and energy are integrated in this intergovernmental conference.

The German Bundestag sees the initiatives of the Federal Government as being the logical continuation of the national promotion measures for renewable energies, which have brought the Federal Republic of Germany to the fore in recent years and which were rated as being a global example at the World Summit in Johannesburg. In this way, the Federal Republic of Germany is underlining its willingness to actively share the responsibility for global climate protection, environmental protection and resource conservation, to avoid international conflicts over exhaustible energy resources, and to satisfy elementary energy needs, especially those of developing countries, which is indispensable in fighting poverty.

Renewable energies and increasing energy efficiency play a key role in this context. This must be constantly advanced in the spirit of a global partnership. After all, the improvement of energy efficiency is also an indispensable prerequisite for sustainable energy policy at both the national and international level. The substantial improvement of energy efficiency in the field of final and usable energy must lead to economic growth becoming far more independent of energy consumption.
For preparing and implementing the International Conference on Renewable Energies, the German Bundestag calls upon the Federal Government
- to set up an international Preparatory Committee which, based on the model of the Freshwater Conference in Bonn in December 2001, defines the topics of the Conference, focusing on renewable energies and energy efficiency. This Committee should include representatives not only of other governments, but also the EU Commission, the World Council for Renewable Energies, international representatives of renewable energy organisations and environmental, development and industrial organisations;
- to form a national Support Committee comprising not only representatives of the Federal Government, but also members of the Bundestag from all parliamentary groups, the German Energy Agency, German organisations and enterprises from the field of renewable energies, environmental protection associations, and organisations from the field of development cooperation;
- to promote the initiative of like-minded states in Johannesburg for intensified expansion of renewable energies and increased energy efficiency by defining demanding, quantified objectives and time frames.
- Since the mobilisation of renewable energies, including the approaches for increasing energy efficiency, represents not only a technological and industrial challenge, but also a challenge for politics and the civil society, the German Bundestag recommends the staging of an NGO forum, a science forum, a forum on cooperation development and energy, and an industry forum in the framework of this International Conference.
International Parliamentarians' Forum on Renewable Energies

The German Bundestag will hold an international Parliamentarians' Forum at this Conference and invite the members of the parliaments of all countries to take part. In order to prepare this Forum, the German Bundestag will contact other parliaments, international parliamentarians' organisations and the worldwide unions of democratic parties.

By holding a Parliamentarians' Forum in the framework of this Conference, the German Bundestag will underline the unrenouncable legislative responsibility of parliaments for establishing appropriate statutory framework conditions. This is also in keeping with the role of the Bundestag, from whose midst the internationally recognised German framework conditions for the promotion of renewable energies were initiated.

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