World Summit on Sustainable Development [Image] Department of Public Information - News and Media Services Division - New York [Live Coverage] [UN Page] Johannesburg, South Africa 26 August-4 September 2 September 2002 2002 -------------------------------------------------------------------- PRESS CONFERENCE ON RENEWABLE ENERGY IN DOMINICA, SAINT LUCIA, GRENADA Three Caribbean Island countries -- Dominica, Saint Lucia and Grenada -- told the World Summit today that their economic future lay in switching from costly fossil fuels to renewable energy. Dominica was aiming for 50 per cent renewable energy by 2005 and 65 per cent by 2010, said Dominican Prime Minister Pierre Charles, speaking at a press conference. "My country ... has long embraced the principles of sustainable development, and sees clean energy as a fundamental requirement for economic and social progress," Mr. Charles said. Dominica had realized that dependence on expensive foreign energy, which had done nothing to help development or deliver affordable energy to the poor, was not in its long-term interest, he said. The country had abundant natural resources for its energy needs, including hydroelectric power, wind, biomass, geothermal and solar power. Mr. Charles added that the small island States needed support from developed nations to succeed in their energy plans. That would include technical assistance, new technologies and soft financing, such as joint venture partners. Julian Hunt, Foreign Minister of Saint Lucia, noted that a second planet would be needed by 2051 to support current consumption patterns, if man continued to exploit resources unabated. The solution lay not in accelerated space exploration, but in national, regional and global efforts towards sustainable development. St. Lucia was already committed to cutting its greenhouse gas emissions 35 per cent and using a minimum of 20 per cent renewable energy by 2010. Financial incentives were already being provided to support investment in renewable energy technology. "Among practical steps being taken are the development of a Canadian privately financed 13.5 megawatt wind farm and a geothermal investigation by a French company," he said. Grenada was setting up targets to transform its diesel energy system to a renewable energy base, said the country's Minister for Environment and Health, Clarice Modeste-Curwen. Economic reasons for choosing that path included opportunities for new investment and escape from the fluctuating prices of fossil fuels, which consumed almost half of Grenada's export earnings. Some of the measures in Grenada's energy plan were policy and legislative reform, renewable energy projects, energy efficiency and a solar water heaters programme, she said. Tom Roper of the Climate Institute noted that the three Caribbean countries were setting targets for sustainable energy that made discussion at the Summit look like amateur hour. And each Government was prepared to meet those the hard way over the next decade. -------------------------------------------------------------------- Press Conferences Summit News