Global Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy Fund#European Parliament resolution of  13 March 2008  on the Global Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy Fund (2007/2188(INI))
Date: 2008-03-13
Institutions: Committee on Industry, Research and Energy, European Parliament
Subjects: bioenergy, biomass, climate change, environmental protection, financing, food safety, renewable energy, sustainable development

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Thursday 13 March 2008

Global Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy Fund

P6_TA(2008)0096

European Parliament resolution of 13 March 2008 on the Global Energy Efficiency and Renewable
Energy Fund (2007/2188(INI))

(2009/C 66 E/06)

The European Parliament,

— having regard to the Commission Communication entitled Mobilising public and private finance
towards global access to climate-friendly, affordable and secure energy services: The Global Energy Effi-
ciency and Renewable Energy Fund (COM(2006)0583),

— having regard to the Presidency Conclusions of the Brussels European Council of 8 and 9 March 2007,

— having regard to its resolution of 25 September 2007 on the Road Map for renewable energy in

Europe (1),

— having regard to its resolution of 1 June 2006 on energy efficiency or doing more with less — Green

Paper (2),

— having regard to its resolution of 14 December 2006 on a strategy for biomass and biofuels (3),

— having regard its resolution of 29 September 2005 on the share of renewable energy in the EU and

proposals for concrete actions (4),

— having regard to Rule 45 of its Rules of Procedure,

— having regard to the report of the Committee on Industry, Research and Energy and the opinions of
the Committee on Development and the Committee on the Environment, Public Health and Food
Safety (A6-0006/2008),

A. whereas, in the context of limiting the increase in average world temperatures to a maximum of 2 °C,
renewable energies and energy efficiency must be boosted so that, after peaking in 2015, global emis-
sions will diminish,

B. whereas the Stern Review on the Economics of Climate Change (October 2006) and reports of the
Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change indicate that the poorest countries and people will suffer
earliest and most from the effects of climate change,

C. whereas renewable sources of energy and energy savings are key elements in sustainable access to

energy services, contributing to:

a)

lower CO2 and other greenhouse gas emissions,

b) increased energy supply independence,

c)

the development of new innovative technologies,

d) employment and regional development opportunities,

e) reductions in deficits in the balance of payments,

f) business opportunities for SMEs,

g) cost savings,

(1) Texts adopted, P6_TA(2007)0406.
(2) OJ C 298 E, 8.12.2006, p. 273.
(3) OJ C 317 E, 23.12.2006, p. 890.
(4) OJ C 227 E, 21.9.2006, p. 599.

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D. whereas global leaders agreed at the 2002 World Summit on Sustainable Development to halve the
number of people currently deprived of basic energy services, which currently stands at 1,6 billion;
whereas, if current trends persist, this target will never be reached,

E. whereas sustainable solutions to the energy challenges facing developing countries should be achieved
through increased use of renewable energy sources, greater improvements in energy efficiency and
energy savings,

F.

whereas transparency and accountability towards public and private investors will be of key importance
in assessing and, possibly, further increasing the support offered by the Global Energy Efficiency and
Renewable Energy Fund, and whereas scrutiny will be intense, especially in the first years of implemen-
tation of this fund,

1. Welcomes the Commission's proposal for a Global Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy Fund
(Geeref);

2.
Believes that sustainable development, in particular in developing countries and emerging economies,
with low greenhouse gas emissions, clean air and a sustainable energy supply, can only be achieved through
ensuring the deployment of renewable technologies tapping into local energy resources and improving
access to energy by favouring investment in remote and decentralised supply;

3.
Believes that key objectives of the fund should be the promotion of energy efficiency, energy saving
and renewable energies, the reduction of emissions of greenhouse gases and of other risks, the improvement
of access to energy services in the poorest countries and the diversification of energy sources in the devel-
oping world;

4.
Particularly welcomes the fund's focus on leveraging private investment by providing risk capital, since
this will be critical for the successful development of sustainable energy projects in the developing world in
the long term;

5.
Calls on the Commission to ensure that all support for projects and choice of technology is condi-
tional on the fulfilment of comprehensive sustainability criteria and on a contribution being made to
sustainable development as well as on geographical characteristics and available regional resources;

6.
Urges the Commission to focus, when implementing the fund, on small-scale projects in which it is
the most difficult to attract private sector investment; believes that the Commission should keep under
regular review its upper limit on investments of 10 million euro for individual projects, while earmarking at
least one third of the funds available for small-scale projects requiring less than 1 million euro;

Calls on the Commission to ensure that support for all biomass projects, including projects involving
7.
water and sewerage treatment, in developing countries is subject to the fulfilment of rigorous sustainability
criteria that ensure that only the most sustainable technologies are supported, taking into account the full
lifecycle effects of biomass on greenhouse gas emissions, air quality, rural management, socio-economic
conditions and biodiversity, including the preservation of natural forests and securing food supply to all by
improving best local agricultural practices;

8.
Urges the Commission to ensure that the Geeref supports photovoltaic projects and calls on it to
support the development of intelligent grid technologies; encourages in particular investment suitable to the
rural poor, such as electrification through renewable energy (including hydro, solar and wind power and
biomass), solar heaters, solar pasteurisers, solar cookers, wind pumps and improved cooking stoves, as well
as support to micro-credit schemes to enhance local participation in energy projects;

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9.
Insists that the Geeref must not support large projects requiring more than 1 million euro for conven-
tional energy sources and for the co-firing of biomass in existing or new coal power stations, the small scale
use of fossil fuels (for example in diesel generators) or large agrofuel production; urges the Commission to
ensure that investments from the sub-funds supported by the Geeref do not support these types of tech-
nology; calls, therefore, on the Commission to ensure that relevant management contracts and the criteria
for project selection exclude the selection of these projects;

Thursday 13 March 2008

10.
Believes that, where possible, support should be focussed on projects which combine renewable
energy technologies with improved energy efficiency, for example projects for improving the building stock,
lighting and the refrigeration chain;

Calls for full coordination between the Geeref and future work under the platform for International
11.
Cooperation on Energy Efficiency proposed by the Commission, so as to improve collaboration on research
and development and benchmarking;

12.
Urges the Commission to ensure that the fund supports the development of local markets, manufac-
turing and capacity in the developing world, for example by supporting local SMEs so that they can take on
responsibility for merchandising new technologies in a particular region;

Believes that the fund should also be used to create opportunities,

13.
in particular, for SMEs from
Member States to contribute their technical know-how to the development and use of sustainable energy
technologies in developing countries;

Calls on the Commission to ensure that the fund will be coherent with and supplement other

14.
Member State and EU development policies and energy initiatives targeted at developing countries;

Calls on the Commission to ensure that the fund complements and works effectively alongside the
15.
many other international
initiatives and funds that currently support sustainable energy projects in the
developing world, including those led by the World Bank and regional development banks as well as those
launched at the 2002 World Summit on Sustainable Development;

Calls on the Commission to ensure that the fund contributes to reducing barriers to the use of the
16.
Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) in certain countries,
in particular the least developed countries,
and that it further encourages CDM projects that have real added value, have a positive sustainable develop-
ment impact and fulfil the Gold Standard criteria;

Invites the Commission to explore ways of enlarging the fund in the future context of a post-2012
17.
regime under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, taking into account that
sustainable energy in developing countries will be crucial to achieving the objective of this Convention;

18.
Regrets the fact that the suggested minimum funding target of 100 million euro — with a contribu-
tion of only 15 million euro for each of the years 2007 and 2008 — is woefully inadequate as the Geeref's
contribution when the goal is to ‘boost the share of energy efficiency and renewable energy projects and
substantially contribute to sustainable development’, and that, as yet, only a few countries have chosen to
participate financially in the fund; therefore urges the Commission to increase its contribution while at the
same time encouraging Member States as well as multilateral financial institutions to join forces in order to
significantly increase the size of the fund; calls for many more Members States to offer financial support;

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Thursday 13 March 2008

Considers that a key aim in the first years of the Geeref, which is an open-ended fund, should be the
19.
development of exemplars that can inspire further contributions,
increasing the flow of investments in
renewable energies and energy efficiency to developing countries and transition economies and sparing far
more people than the anticipated 1 to 3 million people from energy poverty;

Stresses that the Geeref must give priority to serving the specific needs of the Least Developed Coun-
20.
tries and to interventions that have demonstrated strong linkages to poverty reduction; notes that the scope
of the Geeref is to support regional subfunds for Sub-Saharan Africa, Caribbean and Pacific Island States, the
countries of the European Neighbourhood (including North Africa and non-EU Eastern Europe), Latin
America and Asia; calls, however, for special emphasis on serving the needs of the ACP countries; calls on
the Commission to ensure that funding is not allocated to only one or two subfunds when appropriations
are distributed; strongly recommends that any subfunds for China and Russia, if included in the portfolio,
do not absorb all the available resources and that they should be of particular interest as pilot-projects;

21.
Recognises however that, as currently envisaged, the Geeref may have difficulty in complying with
the criteria for Official Development Assistance established by the OECD Development Assistance
Committee, as investment will be steered by prospects for financial returns rather than development needs;
recognises the risk that poverty reduction, mentioned as a specific objective of the Geeref, might become
only a secondary priority of the fund; stresses, therefore, that, in addition to developing clear development
criteria to screen projects eligible for Geeref funding, the Commission must also significantly increase grant-
based development aid in order to provide sustainable energy services to the poorest;

Calls on the Commission to report regularly on progress in implementing the fund and on projects

22.
supported, and specifically to provide an annual progress report to Parliament;

Calls on the Commission to propose ways of facilitating intensive communication and the exchange
23.
of experience relating to the various projects, their specific results and their contribution to sustainable
development;

24.

Instructs its President to forward this resolution to the Council and Commission.

The challenge of EU Development Cooperation Policy for the new Member States

P6_TA(2008)0097

European Parliament resolution of 13 March 2008 on the Challenge of EU Development
Cooperation Policy for the New Member States (2007/2140(INI))

(2009/C 66 E/07)

The European Parliament,

Development cooperation legislation

— having regard to Articles 177 to 181 of the EC Treaty,

— having regard to the Partnership Agreement between the members of the African, Caribbean and
Pacific Group of States of the one part, and the European Community and its Member States, of the
other part, signed in Cotonou on 23 June 2000 (1), as amended by the Agreement amending the Part-
nership Agreement signed in Luxembourg on 25 June 2005 (2),

(1) OJ L 317, 15.12.2000, p. 3. Agreement last amended by Decision No 1/2006 of the ACP-EC Council of Ministers

(OJ L 247, 9.9.2006, p. 22).
(2) OJ L 209, 11.8.2005, p. 27.