opening of the World Trade Fair for Renewable Energies in Berlin
At the opening of the 8th World Trade Fair for Renewable Energies in Berlin, Federal Environment Minister Jürgen Trittin advocated a global change in energy policy in favour of renewable energies. "It is not only the industrialised countries, the ones responsible for most greenhouse gas emissions, which have to make this change," said the Minister, "we also need a new energy policy in countries which up to now have had low energy consumption. Development needs sustainable, decentralised renewable energies. A country which is forced to spend 80 per cent of its foreign currency on energy imports has, de facto, no opportunity to develop," stressed the Minister.
Trittin drew attention to the German Government's invitation to a World Conference for Renewable Energies in June 2004, noting that the Conference would aim to have as many participating countries as possible make concrete commitments to developing sustainable energies. Trittin said that the switch to sustainable energies is the goal of German and European policy. In September 2001 the Member States of the EU agreed national objectives for the share of electricity from renewable energy sources. The EU will increase this share from the 1997 level of 14% to around 22 per cent in the year 2010.
The German Government, said Trittin, aims to double the share of renewable energies to 12.5 %, by 2010, and 20% of Germany's electricity will be obtained from renewable sources in the year 2020. "These objectives make renewable energies a reliable 'new market'", said Trittin, adding that the German Government supports this process at a national level with instruments such as the Renewable Energy Sources Act, the 100,000 Roofs Programme and the market incentive programme for the use of renewable energies, which is funded by the revenues from the Eco-Tax.
"Precisely in view of the situation on the employment market and the competence of German companies in the field of renewable energies, we will continue to do all we can to strengthen their competitiveness on an international level, stressed Trittin.