INTERVIEW-World Bank says polluters seek new technology
11 Oct 2006 22:53:02 GMT Source: Reuters
By Gilbert Le Gras WASHINGTON, Oct 11 (Reuters) - The world's top polluting nations agreed new energy-generating technologies are needed to curb global warming and developing countries asked rich states for training and know-how, a World Bank official said on Wednesday. "All participants agreed on the urgency and the issue of technology," World Bank energy director Jamal Saghir said. Energy and environment ministers from the 20 biggest polluting countries met behind closed doors for two days last week and vowed to work faster to control greenhouse gases as scientists told them each year wasted would cost them dearly. Time is running out to avoid a more than 2 degrees Celsius average global temperature rise over pre-industrial revolution levels and technology agreements should urgently be explored, said a copy of the meeting's findings obtained by Reuters. "There is a whole issue that needs to be debated around property rights, not just the transfer of equipment, but developing capacity and asking for know-how and that's what developing countries are now asking for," Saghir said. For instance, he noted a Danish company built a windmill that integrated with a hydro dam in Tasmania and trained local Australian workers to run and maintain the generator. "What you don't want, and I've seen it in Benin, is people giving a PV (solar photo-voltaic power generator) and then when it breaks down no one know how to fix it so it's not used," Saghir said. Two-thirds of the growth in energy demand in the next 25 years will be from developing countries -- mainly for transport -- as renewable energy ramps up but oil, gas and coal are still likely to fuel 83 percent of energy use in 2030, he said. Renewable energy sources, from solar generators in Sri Lanka to windmills in China and geothermal generators in Kenya, have grown to supply about 4 percent of world demand. He said the World Bank's Global Environment Facility, the biggest environment financing fund with more than $3 billion for the next four years, is the best means to spur renewables further. "But, if you want the GEF to tackle carbon mitigation you need to increase the GEF by a factor of 10," Saghir said, "if you want to move in an aggressive way to a low-carbon economy" He said tax breaks and regulatory incentives are not the way to push governments and business to fund new technologies. "Renewable energy cannot be forced. It should be considered as an important source," he added. "You have to link it to affordability." Saghir said governments around the world have not done enough to improve energy efficiency since the first oil shock in 1973 and significant reductions in greenhouse gases could be realized that way. The next meeting of energy and environment ministers to coordinate a global action plan to combat global warming is set for mid-2007 in Germany with the plan due to be set in 2008.
