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Greenpeace urges poor nations to use clean energy
AFP
BANGKOK
Petroleumworld.com 04 26 07Environmental group Greenpeace on Thursday urged developing Asian nations to power their growing economies with renewable energy rather than polluting fossil fuels.
The group released its proposal, which it says can avert disastrous climate change without affecting Asia's economic growth, ahead of a meeting of the UN's top climate change scientists in Bangkok next week.
Greenpeace called on governments in the region to phase out fossil fuel subsidies, establish legally-binding targets for renewable energy and set energy efficiency standards for consumer appliances and the transport sector.
"We have to ensure that the developing countries protect their economic development interests without exacerbating the problems of climate change," said Sven Taske, Greenpeace International's energy expert.
"It is the populations of these developing countries that are most vulnerable to the impacts of climate change," he added.
A report by Greenpeace and the European Renewable Energy Council said that Asia can be weaned from dirty energy without sparking an economic downturn.
"We have not reached our lower CO2 (carbon dioxide) targets by cutting economic growth, we have achieved them from energy efficiency," said Taske.
If the guidelines in the report are followed, emissions of carbon dioxide would be cut by 50 percent by 2050, and renewable sources would deliver half the world's energy by the same date, he said.
Carbon dioxide, released when fossil fuels are burned, is one of the greenhouse gases blamed for global warming.
Southeast Asia was one of the few regions that would see immediate cost benefits by turning away from fossil fuels, as most were imported, Taske said.
Amnuay Thongsathit, an alternative energy expert from Thailand's Ministry of Energy, admitted the kingdom had not pursued renewable energy with enough commitment.
"In the past, we tended to look at economic development and the benefits too much," he said. "But we have to achieve a better balance."
Greenpeace's plan was presented in the lead up to a session of the UN's Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, which opens Monday in Bangkok with the aim of putting together a report on reducing greenhouse gas emissions.
AFP 26 0907 GMT 04 07
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