Major Group: NGOs
CLOSING STATEMENT BY NGOs at CSD 14, May 12, 2006
NGOs strongly called on developed countries to take the lead and implement their
commitments made in Rio, Monterrey, Joburg and on other occasions 1. It is an outright
shame that 15 years after Rio the same appeal has to be made again and again! The
promised support for development must become available today and barriers to trade
must be removed now!
To make the urgently needed global shift to sustainable energy, we call on you to include
for CSD 15 with clear target and timelines:
1. Redirection of funds of the World Bank and other IFIs from unsustainable energy
projects to sustainable ones,
2. A phase out of all direct and indirect subsidies for large hydro, fossil and nuclear
energy worldwide, and to redirect these resources to ensure access to energy for
the poor,
3. International cooperation on technology transfer, new and ambitious policies for
sustainable energy and energy efficiency throughout the world
NGOs are committed to cooperate with you to make all this happen.
Distinguished delegates, when our children look back twenty years from now, will they
acknowledge CSD 14 and 15 as a pivotal point in history and be grateful for our
decisions? Let this not be the CSD that corporatised the UN and privatised basic services!
The choice is ours.
The road from CSD 14 and CSD 15 is critical for the results of this CSD cycle.
First of all a review is needed that not only presents the many good examples on
sustainable energy use that we heard at CSD14. It is absolutely essential that the review
produces basic information on the issue. This is why NGOs call on the Secretariat to
produce two assessments on the real costs of all forms of energy :
· One assessment should report on cumulative and annual levels of direct and
indirect economic subsidies.
· A second assessment should report on the environmental, social and health costs,
as well as life-cycle greenhouse gas emissions of energy supply technologies.
Only with these data can governments reasonably make policy on energy for sustainable
development. Drafts of these assessments should be distributed well in advance of the
preparatory meeting for CSD 15.
We join the call for a strengthening of the CSD. There is a need for a review mechanism
on energy. It should review the agreements at CSD15 as well as past agreements,
1 Including Renewable 2004 in Bonn and Beijing International Renewable Energy Conference, 2005.
commitments, as well as the development of above.mentioned subsidies and development.
The review should be repeated every 4 year from CSD15.
The redirection of IFI funding for unsustainable energy forms of energy such as large
hydro, fossil fuels and nuclear power to sustainable energy is essential, and was
recommended by the World Bank Extractive Industries Review. CSD should take up the
issue, and propose this redirection. The most succesfull ve hicle of IFIs support to
sustainable energy solutions for the poor has been micro- financing, and such structures
must play a prominent role in future IFI financing.
Phase out of subsidies that inhibit sustainable development is included in the JPOI.
Theses subsidies are primarily the direct and indirect subsidies for fossil and nuclear
energy. They hold back the transition to sustainable energy, as well as the development of
many countries. The phase out of these subsidies must be brought up by CSD, as a
follow-up of JPOI. There is a need for a body to assist the phase out of the subsidies in
socially acceptable ways.
Energy issues are fragmented across the international organisations. The CSD must guide
the development of international activities and institutions necessary for the energy
revolution, also called for by the UN Secretary General. Among other issues, there is a
specific need for international cooperation on :
· Technology transfer to make appropriate technologies available for development
including meeting the Millenium Development Goals,
· Assisting countries in introducing new and ambitious policies for sustainable
energy, and
· Energy efficiency with cooperation on energy efficiency standards and labeling,
building regulation.
NGOs strongly called on developed countries to take the lead and implement their
commitments made in Rio, Monterrey, Joburg and on other occasions 1. It is an outright
shame that 15 years after Rio the same appeal has to be made again and again! The
promised support for development must become available today and barriers to trade
must be removed now!
To make the urgently needed global shift to sustainable energy, we call on you to include
for CSD 15 with clear target and timelines:
1. Redirection of funds of the World Bank and other IFIs from unsustainable energy
projects to sustainable ones,
2. A phase out of all direct and indirect subsidies for large hydro, fossil and nuclear
energy worldwide, and to redirect these resources to ensure access to energy for
the poor,
3. International cooperation on technology transfer, new and ambitious policies for
sustainable energy and energy efficiency throughout the world
NGOs are committed to cooperate with you to make all this happen.
Distinguished delegates, when our children look back twenty years from now, will they
acknowledge CSD 14 and 15 as a pivotal point in history and be grateful for our
decisions? Let this not be the CSD that corporatised the UN and privatised basic services!
The choice is ours.
The road from CSD 14 and CSD 15 is critical for the results of this CSD cycle.
First of all a review is needed that not only presents the many good examples on
sustainable energy use that we heard at CSD14. It is absolutely essential that the review
produces basic information on the issue. This is why NGOs call on the Secretariat to
produce two assessments on the real costs of all forms of energy :
· One assessment should report on cumulative and annual levels of direct and
indirect economic subsidies.
· A second assessment should report on the environmental, social and health costs,
as well as life-cycle greenhouse gas emissions of energy supply technologies.
Only with these data can governments reasonably make policy on energy for sustainable
development. Drafts of these assessments should be distributed well in advance of the
preparatory meeting for CSD 15.
We join the call for a strengthening of the CSD. There is a need for a review mechanism
on energy. It should review the agreements at CSD15 as well as past agreements,
1 Including Renewable 2004 in Bonn and Beijing International Renewable Energy Conference, 2005.
commitments, as well as the development of above.mentioned subsidies and development.
The review should be repeated every 4 year from CSD15.
The redirection of IFI funding for unsustainable energy forms of energy such as large
hydro, fossil fuels and nuclear power to sustainable energy is essential, and was
recommended by the World Bank Extractive Industries Review. CSD should take up the
issue, and propose this redirection. The most succesfull ve hicle of IFIs support to
sustainable energy solutions for the poor has been micro- financing, and such structures
must play a prominent role in future IFI financing.
Phase out of subsidies that inhibit sustainable development is included in the JPOI.
Theses subsidies are primarily the direct and indirect subsidies for fossil and nuclear
energy. They hold back the transition to sustainable energy, as well as the development of
many countries. The phase out of these subsidies must be brought up by CSD, as a
follow-up of JPOI. There is a need for a body to assist the phase out of the subsidies in
socially acceptable ways.
Energy issues are fragmented across the international organisations. The CSD must guide
the development of international activities and institutions necessary for the energy
revolution, also called for by the UN Secretary General. Among other issues, there is a
specific need for international cooperation on :
· Technology transfer to make appropriate technologies available for development
including meeting the Millenium Development Goals,
· Assisting countries in introducing new and ambitious policies for sustainable
energy, and
· Energy efficiency with cooperation on energy efficiency standards and labeling,
building regulation.