The headlines say it allSTEVE SAWYER CONTINUES HIS TOUR OF HIGH

LEVEL MEETINGS AROUND THE WORLD IN HIS ROLE AS

AMBASSADOR FOR GWEC, AND REMAINS FRUSTRATED BY

THE INTRANSIGENCE OF MANY WHO SHOULD BY NOW

KNOW BETTER.

You only need to read the newspapers to vividly see the extent to which renew-

able energy has fast-tracked its way into the investment psyche. And reports

such as the landmark off ering from the United Nations Programme Sustainable

Energy Finance Initiative – The Global Sustainable Energy Investment Report 2007

– paint a picture of a booming industry, which attracted over US$100 billion in

investment in 2006, in both the industrialised and developing countries.

Produced in collaboration with New Energy Finance, it also points out that the

fi nance sector is far ahead of Governments in recognising that the solutions to

energy security and the threat of global climate change are already to hand; and

they’re putting their money where their mouths are. As the authors say, when

Governments talk about climate change, they spend a lot of time discussing

“technologies of tomorrow”; but the fi nance sector is putting its money on the

technologies of today, more than doubling investments in the last two years.

It seems that they’re on to something. The WilderHill New Energy Global

Innovation Index (NEX) – a global index of 88 leading companies in renewa-

bles, conservation and effi ciency, listed on 25 stock exchanges in 21 coun-

tries – has risen by more than 90% since January 2006, and is now tracked

by a fund available to individual investors. The projections for invest-

ment growth in the sector parallel the double digit growth of the leading

renewable technologies. Meanwhile…

...The climate juggernaut rolls on. Earlier this year, the UN General Assembly

61st session closed out with an Informal Thematic Debate – Climate Change

as a Global Challenge. Governments listened to experts lay out the science

of climate change (which even the OPEC countries and George Bush himself

no longer fi nd any mileage in disputing) as well as another session on the

mitigation options.

I must confess I didn’t listen to all the speeches which followed – offi cials

reading words they don’t really understand from prepared texts is one of

the most eff ective sleep aids available – but the ratio of the appearance of

the words “renewable energy” to “carbon capture and storage” was almost 1

to 1, which is an improvement, believe it or not. But far too many Govern-

ments are still arguing for “the technologies of tomorrow” (or the day after)

with not enough emphasis on what they need to do today.

The UNFCCC reconvened in Vienna at the end of August for a special session

of the Ad Hoc Working Group on Future Commitments, and for the fi rst

time reluctantly set a “range” of emissions reductions required by indus-

trialised countries of minus 25%-40% on 1990 levels, by 2020. While the

result was not bad, the meeting itself was awful. While political leaders are

increasingly sounding the climate alarm from various pulpits, their negotia-

tors are still stuck in the same old arguments; with too many rich country

Governments hiding behind US inaction, and too many developing coun-

tries refusing to accept the slightest responsibility for dealing with this

global problem.

Sitting next to a veteran negotiator listening to a particularly ideology-

bound speech from a certain well-known official from a large devel-

oping country, we both swore that we’d heard the same speech out of

his mouth before – in 1986!

At the latest meeting of the so-called Gleneagles Dialogue, ministers and

offi cials from G-8 countries met in Berlin in early September, and adopted

conclusions based on a report by the Club of Madrid, a collection of ex-

Presidents and Prime Ministers who have tried to come up with a global

framework for the future climate regime. Their plan can be found here –

http://www.unfoundation.org/fi les/pdf/2007/GLCA_Framework2007.pdf –

and it calls for global emissions reductions of at least 60% below 1990

levels by mid-century, as well as 30% reductions by industrialised coun-

tries by 2020.

It has many positive elements, and the section on technology is useful

food for thought for our industry. Our new mantra should be – “if we’re

serious about 30% reductions by 2020, then we only have three options

in the power sector: efficiency; fuel-switching; and renewables (lead at

this point in time by windpower). And yes, we need all three of these.’

Next it was on to Husumwind, the grand-daddy of all windpower exhi-

bitions, for its biennial meet from 18-21 September. Having reached an

agreement to join forces with Hamburg, there will now be one major

international windpower conference and exhibition in Germany – in

Husum – every other year, starting in 2008. Having attracted 640 exhib-

itors from 30 countries, and around 18,000 visitors from 40 nations, I

thought it was a good opportunity to try out the new mantra:

If we accept the science, then regardless of what happens by 2030, 2050 or

the end of the century, the fi rst thing we have to do is to get global emis-

sions to peak and start to decline before 2020;

The power sector is still the largest single sector in terms of greenhouse gas

emissions;

Our options for massive emissions reductions in the power sector before

2020 are – effi ciency; fuel switching from coal to gas; and renewables, with

windpower playing a vital role.

■

■

■

the ratio of the appearance

of the words “renewable

energy” to “carbon capture

and storage” was almost 1 to

1, which is an improvement,

believe it or not

Steve Sawyer/GWEC

32 renewable energy focus November/December 2007

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New York, September 24 – The Future in Our Hands was the title of the UN high-

level event hosted by Secretary General Ban ki-Moon, attended by more than

80 Heads of State and Government. It elicited all manner of populist, pious and

sometimes pompous protestations on the urgency of the climate crisis; the

need to work together as a global community; the need to address the fact

that climate impacts aff ect the worlds poorest fi rst etc., ad infi nitum, and, some

would say, ad nauseam.

The assembled masses were even blessed by the presence of the Governator

himself, Arnold Schwarzenegger of California, who called for, “Action, Action,

Action!” And by former US Vice President Al Gore exhorting the assembled

worthies to embrace the moral dimension of the fi ght against climate change.

One only hopes that these messages get passed down the food chain to the

Government negotiators at some point.

Moving from the sublime to the ridiculous, the climate policy world’s centre

of gravity shifted south to Washington in recent weeks for US President Bush’s

Major Emitter’s Meeting or the MEM as it is now known. Despite desperate

attempts by the White House spin-doctors to paint this as the Bush Adminis-

tration’s new off ensive on climate change, delegates from the 16 major econo-

mies in attendance were universal in voicing their disappointment that despite

all the hullabaloo, Bush delivered the same old empty words about voluntary

targets, “aspirational” goals for mid-century emission reductions, and how we

were going to save the world with “technology”.

German Environment Minister Sigmar Gabriel dubbed the meeting “a giant leap

for the US, but a small step for mankind”. US Congressman Ed Markey suggested

that the Bush Administration’s “aspirational” goals could be more accurately

described as “procrastinational” goals, and that Bush’s prescription for the plan-

et’s growing fever was the equivalent of “take two aspirin, and call me when I’m

out of offi ce”.

On to beautiful, historic Quebec City for the 23rd Annual Canadian Wind

Energy Association Conference, with more than 1500 delegates and 160

companies participating in the largest ever such event in Canada. With many

new companies and lots of interest, wind energy looks set to take off in a big

way across Canada in the next few years.

On to Auswind 2007, which is noteworthy for two reasons: one, because this

will be the last conference hosted by the Australian Wind Energy Associa-

tion, as it is merging with the Australian Business Council for Sustainable

Energy and the Renewable Energy Generators Association to become

the Clean Energy Council – to provide a single, strengthened voice for the

renewables industry as Australia faces up to some inconvenient truths in

its climate-change-ravaged land; and two, the soon-to-be-announced elec-

tions will probably be the end for John Howard’s Government, signalling the

end of Australia’s rejection of the Kyoto Protocol, and their rejoining with the

rest of the world in the fi ght against global climate change.

That will be good news as the UNFCCC climate summit opens in Bali on 3

December, good news for renewables, but bad news as that will leave the Bush

Administration completely isolated. Stay tuned…

About the author:Steve Sawyer joined GWEC as the fi rst secretary general on 2 April 2007. He has worked in the energy and environment fi eld since 1978, with a particular focus on climate change and RE since 1988.

He spent 30 years working for Greenpeace, primarily on a wide range of energy issues. He was the ceo of both Greenpeace USA (1986 – 1988) and Greenpeace International (1988 –1993), and he served as Head of Delegation to many Kyoto Protocol negotiations on climate change. He also lead delegations to the Johannesburg Earth Summit in 2002 and numerous sessions of the Commission on Sustainable Development. He is also a founding member of the REN21 Renewable Energy Policy Network and was a member of the Steering Committee of the Renewables 2004 ministerial conference in Bonn. He has also been an expert reviewer for the IPCC’s Working Group III.

Steve Sawyer/GWEC

renewable energy focus November/December 2007 33

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