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.