The 2002 World Summit forSustainable Development celebrat-ed the tenth anniversary of the Rio

de Janeiro summit of 1992. Rio '92 wasthe basis of nearly all sustainable devel-opment agreements to date. During thecelebration in Johannesburg govern-ments agreed to urgently and substan-tially increase the share of renewableenergy in the global energy mix, formu-lated as part of the Johannesburg Planof Implementation. Although theJohannesburg meeting was fiercely criti-cized because of the lack of concrete tar-get setting, many governments presentdecided to commit themselves to thischallenge. Together they formed theJohannesburg Renewable EnergyCoalition (JREC). After three years JREC isa coalition of 90 countries that envisagea significant increase of renewable ener-gy in the global energy mix by 2050 tobe essential to achieve global sustainabledevelopment, prosperity and peace.

Like many others, JREC considers that apolicy framework targeted at the promo-tion of renewable energy is indispensa-ble. According to the latest figures, cur-rently at least 48 countries - 34 devel-oped and transition countries and 14developing countries - have introducedpolicies to promote renewable energytechnologies. The coalition now focuseson the potential to reach further politicalcommitments on renewable energy.

First targets in this political process arethe next sessions of the UN Commissionfor Sustainable Development (CSD). ThisCSD runs a two year cycle within the UNDepartment of Economic and SocialAffairs, in which the commission reviewsthe progress on the issues agreed in 2002,as expressed in the Johannesburg Plan ofImplementation. The first session of thecycle, the so-called review session, will beheld in May 2006 (CSD-14). It will reviewthe progress in the areas of energy for sus-tainable development, industrial develop-ment, air pollution/atmosphere and cli-mate change. The following session (CSD-15) is the 'policy session': it aims at formu-lating measures to accelerate implementa-tion in these fields. This meeting will beorganized in May 2007. It is the mission ofJREC to reach international political com-mitments at CSD-15, which aim at anurgent and significant increase of theshare of RE in the global energy mix.

International exchange andreview of progressIn order to pave the road towards themeetings of the CSD, JREC ministers reg-ularly meet to discuss the strategy of get-ting renewable energy high on the agen-da of the CSD. During the last meetingof JREC in Dubai in February, the minis-ters of JREC adopted the 'Dubai state-ment'. In this document they repeat theimportance of further actions on renew-able energy to be taken by the global

community. More specifically, in theDubai statement JREC ministers ask theCSD to establish a mechanism to reviewand assess progress towards the globalincrease of renewable energy. Periodicalreviews of progress support cross-bordertransfer of experiences and best practicesof policy making, stimulating countries atthe same time to turn ideas into actions.

Building the policy frameworkOf course, one of the main goals of JRECis increasing the political and public sup-port for renewables. Meanwhile, JREC alsoworks on the installation of sound renew-able energy policies. One of the mainactivities of JREC regarding this is exchang-ing experiences. The successes of develop-ing countries like Brazil, world leader inthe production of biofuels, China andIndia, both very successfully developingseveral renewable energy sources as solarwater heating, hydro power, wind powerand biogas, show that the implementationof a solid long-term policy framework canhelp developing countries in building theirown clean reliable energy supply.Obviously, the definition of long-termnational targets strongly contributes to thestability developers and investors wouldlike to see. In the end, this will lead tomore investments and a larger share ofrenewables. National targets for renew-able energy supply presently have beenadopted by more than 45 countries,

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Towards a globalcoalition for RE

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At high political levels, coalitions are working on an increasing shareof renewables in the global energy mix. According to Rolf de Vos(GreenPrices) and Rogier Coenraads (consultant at Ecofys, workingfor the JREC secretariat) these coalitions have three important goals:the exchange of experiences, broadening the (political) basis forrenewables and monitoring the global progress in this field.

including 9 developing countries (Brazil,China, Egypt, India, Korea, Malaysia, Mali,South Africa and Thailand).

One comprehensive overview of all poli-cies and measures in place can be obtainedon-line via http://renewables.iea.org.This Global Renewable Energy Policies andMeasures database is currently beingdeveloped by the International EnergyAgency and JREC in order to enhanceavailability of international renewableenergy policies, measures and marketdata, thus facilitating sharing of experi-ences among countries. This database alsocan be used to assess progress in the glob-al use of renewables. The database cur-rently covers 45 countries, containingrenewable energy data such as produc-tion, adopted targets, policies and meas-ures related to the promotion of nationalor regional shares of renewable energy.

The JREC initiative is not just a matter ofmeetings, negotiations and a lot of talking,but it already has led to concrete actions.During the first large follow-up confer-ence in Bonn, in 2004, a comprehensive

action list of almost 200 initiatives wasdrawn. In this Bonn International ActionProgram governments, internationalorganisations, financial institutions, com-panies, associations and other stakehold-ers have confirmed their willingness topromote renewable energies in the com-ing years. The programme comprisesalmost 200 actions -more than 100actions submitted by individual govern-ments- ranging from concrete expansioncommitments and changes in policyframeworks to the intensification ofresearch and development. See alsowww.renewables2004.de.

Another result of the 2004 Renewablesconference was the establishing of theRenewable Energy Policy Network for the21st Century (www.Ren21.net), a natu-ral partner for JREC. REN21 connectsgovernments with international institu-tions and organisations, partnerships andinitiatives and other stakeholders at apolitical level. Of course in the endorganisations like JREC and REN21 arejustified by the actual progress in interna-

tional cooperation and - moreover - by agrowing share of renewables. We will beable to check this progress in a few years.But the actual interest in these organisa-tions are more than a sign that there isan urgent need for sharing experiences.Of course policies cannot be copied andpasted. But applying experiences in othercountries to local circumstances willundoubtedly lead to better, more effec-tive policies and measures.

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Johannesburg Renewable EnergyCoalition The Johannesburg Renewable EnergyCoalition was launched at the 2002World Summit for SustainableDevelopment in Johannesburg.Membership is voluntary and open togovernments only. To date, 90 govern-ments have joined JREC. The JREC co-chair is held by the EuropeanCommission and Morocco, the JRECsecretariat is hosted by the EuropeanCommission and supported by Ecofys.More information on JREC can befound at:http://europa.eu.int/comm/environment/jrec/