07 April 2004 10:02
PARLIAMENT CALLS FOR AMBITIOUS TARGETS FOR RENEWABLE ENERGY.
The European Parliament is pressing the other European institutions to set ambitious targets and timetables for
increasing the share of renewable energy sources in final energy consumption and to define a medium- and long-term
framework before the international conference in Bonn in June. A German initiative aims to build on the creation of a
coalition of countries (including EU Member States) in favour of renewable energy launched at the Johannesburg World
Summit on Sustainable Development on 2002. The Resolution adopted by Parliament on April 1 sets a target of 20% - the
Greens had been calling for 25% - for the contribution by renewable energy to total domestic energy consumption in the
EU by 2020. Parliament urges all governments to ratify and implement the Kyoto Protocol on reducing greenhouse gas
emissions, which can only enter into force once ratified by Russia and the United States. MEPs insist access to
sustainable energy supply must be identified as a priority in poverty reduction strategies. They urge the Commission and
the Council to ask major financing institutions, such as the EIB, EBRD, World Bank and national Export Credit Agencies,
to give priority to investment in renewables and energy efficiency. Parliament has again called on the Commission to
urgently undertake a review of subsidies in the energy sector.
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