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COMMISSION OFTHEEUROPEAN COMMUNITIES
--COM(81)381 finalf*-/sBrussels,9July1981
r*.-TLJ
W.:z:ir..r .■.
COMMUNITY POSITION FORTHEUNITEDNATIONS CONFERENCE
ONNEWANDRENEWABLE SOURCESOFENERGY(NAIROBI-AUGUST1981)
(PresentedbytheCommissiontotheCouncil)
COM(81)381final

Cu^n i
COMMUNITY POSITION FOR THE UNITED NATIONS CONFERENCE ' .
ONNEWANDRENEWABLE SOURCES OFENERGY (NAIROBI ,AUGUST 1981 ) '■
I.INTRODUCTION . .- . ^
* •, .'s
On20December 1978 theUnited Nations General Assembly decided in ,
Resolution 33/148 toconvene inAugust 1981 aConference onNew and
1Renewable Sources of .Energy (NRSE ),which istobeheld inNairobi next
month . .
This initiative 'simportant forthefollowing reasons :
-itisthefirst United Nations Conference dealing specifically with energy
and will launch aninternational debate onwhat has come tobecalled the
"energy transition "; _ - ..
-the sources ofenergy considered account for alarge share ofthedeveloping
countries * .supplies 'and will have tomeet agrowing proportion ofthe ;
industrialized countries' requirements too;according ly,the Conference ,
should lead toincreased cooperation between the twogroups ofcountries .
Generally speaking ,the -overall objective ofthe Conference canbedefined as
-increasing ,thedevelopment anduseofNRSE ,particularly inthedeveloping
countries ,bymeans ofnational /regional andinternational projects;'
consequently ,theConference should lead to:
-greater diversification intheuseofenergy resources worldwide ;
-abetter global balance between energy supply anddemand ; *
-improved transfers ofknow-how andtechnology . . ,
1– . .. . «• il I I I_Bythese aremeant thefollowing sources ofenergy :solar ,geothermal ,hydro ,
wind ,tidal andmarine temperature gradient ,biomass ,peat ,oilshale andtar
sands ,-fuelwood and charcoal ,draught animal power .

.2.
.II.THECOMMUNITY 'SINTEREST INALTERNATIVE SOURCES OFENERGY-
NRSEwillnotsolveallenergyproblems;theyarebound,however,toaccount
forabiggerproportionoftheCommunity'ssupplies,inkeepingwiththe
targetssetbytheCommunityfor1990.AccordingtotheCommission'scurrent
estimates NRSEcouldcover6to10%oftheCommunity'sgrossenergyconsumption
intheyear2000.'Theresolution passedbytheCouncilinMay1980,
accordingtowhichenergypricesmustinparticularreflectworldmarketforces
^andbedeterminedinthelight,interalia,ofthecostofreplacement andof
developing norl-conventional energysources,islikelytoencouragethisprocess
ofchange. : ■'v- ■
NRSEalreadyoccupyanimportantplaceinvariousfieldsofCommunityactivity,
suchasresearch,energy,cooperation andtrainingandinformation .Here,a
numberofpointsshouldbeborneinmind:
(i)'financiaIresources .earmarkedfor.research..prpgrammes
46millionECU(1979-83)fortheindirectactionprogramme onsolar
1
energy;
26millionECU(1980-83)forthedirectactionprogramme (JRC)',alsoon
solarenergy; '*■'
18millionECU(1980-83)fortheindirectactionprogrammeinthefield
v
ofgeothermal energy.
(ii)f|nanc2aj._resources_earrnarked_for_demonstrat2on_gro2ect s
/undertheenergypolicy,aimedatdisseminating commercially and
industrially viabletechniques : '
22.5millionECU,forfiveyears,inthesolarsector;
\_
22.5millionECU,forfiveyears,inthegeothermal sector.
* '
(iii)coopération wjth_the_developinç3_çountries
th-roughcooperation withdeveloping countries,theCommunity andits'
MemberStatestaketheworld'sfirstplaceingrantaidtoenergy:280
millionEUAin1980,whichhasenabledtheimplementation ofprojects
1contracted research

totallingalmost1milliardEUAi.Approximately one-fifthofthis
figureisattributedtoNRSE.,AlthoughtheWorldBank'isinthe
¥ . • ».
leadingpositionintheareaofloans<about3billionSdollarsin
1980),loansgivenbytheEIBhaverisento24^2miIlioriEUAin1980, .
someofwhichareeligibleforinterestrebates.-
- -- *
Civ)train2ng_and_informat jon,
1' . ."\
v 1 .•
theamountspentbytheCommunityduringtheperiod1975^-80ongeneral
andspecificenergy-related trainingisestimatedat30millionECU.'
TheCommunityalsoorganizestrainingcourses(attheIspraestablishment )
andhasarranged manymeetings(conferences,seminars)onNRSE,at
severalofwhichtheproblemsspecifictothedeveloping countries have
beenconsidered ._
III.COMMUNITY POSITION ATTHECURRENTSTAGEOFTHENEGOTIATIONS PRIORTOTHE;
OPENING OFTHECONFERENCE ;
TheCommunity hasparticipated activelyinpreparingtheConference,being
involvedbothinitstechnical phaseandinthe.Conference'spreparatory *
committeesproper.InaccordancewithaPreparatory Committeerecommendation
toallparticipating states;andorganizations theCommunity hascontributed a­
_.,1paperpresentingitsactivitiesintheNRSEfield.
Duringt+iepreparatory phasetheConferenceSecretariat presented adraft
-ProgrammeofActiononwhichthevariousgroupsconcernedfailedtoreacha
consensusatthe'recentPreparatory CommitteemeetinginNewYork(8-26June.
NegotiationswillthereforehavetocontinueattheConferenceitself.The
*'purposeofthispointistoidentify,intheProgrammeofAction,those
chapterswhichmaybesensitivefortheCommunityandto'comeupwithguidelines
?DocumentC0M(81)3finalof11.2.1981UnitedNations,A/CONF.100/PC/51Add.1and2of5and6June1981

.4.
for aCommunity position inthe Light ofthe coordination that hasoperated
satisfactorily sofarwithin both anadhocCouncil working party and at
meetings ofthePreparatory Committee .The >main points atissue here are the
"chapters ofthe Programme ofAction dealing with institutional and financial
measures and the analysis oftheenergy transition process . Inthis
connection theCommission proposes thefollowing guidelines :
A*Institutional and financial measures
^ stT_tut_iona_L _a_spe_c ts(Chapter VoftheProgramme ofAction )
The Community candeclare itself infavour ofanintergovernmental
-committee onNRSE .Such acommittee ,membership ofwhich will beopen
toall states ^ndorganizations ,must beanexisting agency already
operating inrelated fields . The committee 'stasks would include :
-evaluating energy potential andrequirements with aview toincreasing
the contribution made byNRSE totheenergy balance-sheet at
subregional ,regional orglobal level ; *
-promoting thedevelopment and use ofNRSE worldwide ;
-taking all themeasures required toimplement theProgramme ofAction .
The Community recommends that aunit existing within the United
Nations Secretariat beused toact asthe intergovernmental committee 's
secretariat . ^
The Community considers that effective machinery must beset upwithin
the United Nations Secretariat for coordination between all the
agencies ,institutions "andbodies potentially involved inthe NRSE
field and feels that itisfor the relevant United Nations authorities
totake the appropriate steps inthis respect . '

.5.
,The Community feels that the idea ofsetting upadhoc tarsk forces
fortheimplementation ,where necessary ,ofspecific programmes must
beconsidered .careful lybutadvises against a>proliferation ofsuch
task forces asthis would reduce their effectiveness and lead toan
undesirable duplication ofeffort . Itcites asanexample the
programmes implemented bythe regional commissions orexisting bodies ".
inconnection with science andtechnology and,here too,stresses the
importance ofproper coordination andharmonization .^"
ι '■' ' Χ - ..>
-(b)Finançjaj .aspects
The Community considers that the "implementation of .the Nairobi
Programme ofAction will require financial support from the
international financial institutions ,allindustrialized countries ,
andthose developing countries which areable to .contribute tosuch
support . 'Itadvocates thesetting up'ofmachinery forconsulations
between thedifferent contributing states . V'N
it ' *This would make unnecessary tocreate anew financial agency
responsible foractivities connected with NRSE ,which would not be
justified from thetechnical point ofview either ,astheimplementation
ofprojects inthis field covers many aspects other than NRSE proper
(agriculture ,,industrial ,etc.). Inthis connection ,theuseand
coordination ofthe financial mechanisms existing within -ItheUnited
Nations system -andtherecourse ,where necessary ,toadditional
• i
resources forfinancing NRSE -projects should becarefully examined .
Lastly ,financing ofexploitation investment forNRSE cannot be
completely dissociated from that forother forms dfenergy . 'Inthis
light andwithout excluding other procedures forintervention ,the ,
establishment ofaWorld Bank energy affiliate ,part ofwhose
'resources would beearmarked for NRSE ,could help meet thetwo
essential criteria for the financing ofenergy resources :
-asignificant increase inthefinancial resources currently
■. i
available atthemultilateral level forthedeveloping countries ,
entailing anincrease inprivate investment flows ;~ ■
• *
V , ]
•Ί
ι

involvement of
industrial !zed
inasystemoftheoil-producing
countries sothat
co-responsibi litycountriesinjointoperationswiththe
theybecomeprogressively integrated
vis-a-visotherdevelopingcountries.
Analysisoftheprocessofenergytransition (ChapterIoftheProgramme
ofAction)
ThefirstchapteroftheProgrammeofAction/entitled"Challengeand
opportunity :tlieenergytransition"/placesthedevelopment ofnewand
renewablesourcesofenergyinthemoregeneralcontextofthetransition
towardsalessoil-dependent worldeconomy.ThefactthataUnitedNations
conferencehasadoptedsuchatextatatimewhenthereisdeadlockin
theinternational debateonenergyisofgreaterpolitical -importancethan
theactualsubjectoftheConference.Therecentdiscussions ofthe
Preparatory CommitteeinNewYorkhaveclearlydemonstrated theextentto
whichthisconcernwasfeltbyalltheparticipants without/however/
eruptingintoconflict.
Despiteanumberofcontroversial passagestfredraftoriginallyproposed
bytheConferenceSecretariat presented arelativelybalancedviewofthe
globalenergysituationandreiterated manyideasacceptedbytheCommunity
andoftendefendedbyitininternational forums:
-theneedtoreduceexcessivedependence onoilandtomeetthe
growingdemandforenergyintheindustrialized ,countries/butalso
andaboveallinthedevelopingcountries;
-thecrucialimportanceofusingexistingresourcesinamorerational
mannerandofadjustingeconomicstructurestothenewenergyparameters;
-theimportanceofanorderlytransitionasakeyfactorofworld
stabilityandsustainedeconomicgrowth.
However/themanyamendmentsproposedbytheGroupof77wouldsignificantly
alterthewholetenorofthetext.Inadditiontothetraditional referen­
cestothenewinternational economicorderandnecessarychangesin
international economicstructures,whichtheGroupof77wouldliketo

-?•
figuremoreprominently/theseamendments tendtoimposeresponsibility
fortheenergycrisis,andconsequently theobligations arisingtherefrom,
ontheIndustrialized countriesalone.Puttingthefinaltouchestothe
textinNairobimaythereforeproveadifficultmatterbecauseofthe
highlycontroversial natureofthesubjectdealtwithandtherealrisk
ofdissensionwithintheGroupof77itselfoncertainaspectsofthe
text(guaranteed accessforthedeveloping countriestoadequateenergy
resources,financingoftheirenergyimports,etc.)
TheCommunitymustthereforeaimtoachieveatextwhich: ^
-presentsasbalancedaspossibleananalyisoftheenergysituation
andofthenecessarytransitioninlinewiththedraftinitially
presentedbytheConference'sSecretary-General ;
i - r
-situatesnewandrenewablesourcesofenergyascorrectly aspossible
inthatprocess.
Thisaimmustbepursuedbyendeavouring toavoidneedlesscontroversy .
Itwouldbetotally -inappropriate forustorespondtotheGroupof77's
attitudebycriticizing theoil-producing countries.Theenergyobjectives
\
pursuedbytheCommunityintheglobalNorth-South dialogue(energyforum,
jointeffortbytheindustrialized andoil-producing countriestodevelop
■ I
thedevelopingcountries' energyresources)couldb<3jeopardizedifthe
discussions inNairobiweretoleadtoseriousronfrontation andthe
arraignment oftheOPECcountriesbytheindustrialized countries.The
Communityriust,onthecontrary,:»ttempttoprovethataconrtvuetive
international debateispossible,-evenonstiv-hatfiffi ....csubject,provided
thattheproblemsofcoiiintoncor.vernandcollectivesolutionsLO.those'
problemscanbeObjectivelyidentified.Thepromotionofnewafiurenewable
sourcesoienergy1sundeniably onethe.planksof'joir-ona',ionhere.

FOLLOW-UP TOTHECONFERENCE
Thenotableparticipation ofmostcountriesintheConference andthe
« V\
accompanying exhibition,aswellastheadoptionofthePlanofAction
willmakemanydevelopingcountries muchmoreawareoftheuseofNRSE
I.
andwillthusbringaboutasignificant requestfor.increasedcooperation
onthepartoftheCommunityinthedetermination ofprojectsordevelop­
mentprogrammesforthesesources.Besidesthisrequestwillnotbe
I
confinedtoNRSEbutwillalsoaffectothersectorsofthedevelopment of
energyresourcesofdeveloping countries.Withthisinmind,thelast
. * /Development CouncilinvitedtheCOREPER -toexaminethequestionofthe
energyprovisionsofthesecountries basedonacommunication fromthe
Commission .Inthisarea,theCommission considersimportanttoincrease
theefficiencyofcooperation withdeveloping countries,bystrengthening
thecoordination betweencommunity andnationalaids,andevenbyincreasing
themeans.
1 •' » /
Withparticular referencetotheNRSE,theCommunitywillmakeefforts
toguaranteeallthedeveloping countrieslinkedtoitbyassociation or
cooperation agreements maximumassistance withthedevelopment oftechniques
andthepracticaluseofrenewablesourcesof*energy,inkeepingwith
theirobjectives.Itwilldeveloptrainingandeducationalactivities and
publicizeaswidelyaspossibleinthedevelopingcountriesinterested by
theresultsofitsresearch,development anddemonstration programmes.
Consideringitsknow-howandspecialrelationswithmostdeveloping
countries,theCommission proposesthattheCommunityshouldannouncein
Nairobiitsintentiontotakeanactivepart,intheareaswhereit
possessesrecognised competence.Intheimplementation ofthemeasures
decidedbytheConference .
TheCommunity'sactionshouldconsistofencouraging transfersofknow-how
byproposingspecificprojectstobeexecutedasconcertedoperations bet­
weenthecountriesandthenationalandinternational organizations involved
inpromotingthiskindoftechnology.
*
CONCLUSION 1
InthelightoftheforegoingtheCommission askstheCounciltoapprove
thispaper,whichcouldserveasabasisforthepositionstobeadopted
S
bytheCommunityat.theConference .