Grob, Gustav R.

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EDITORIAL SECTIONIntroduction:Background and Objectives of the World Clean Energy ConferenceT he Second World Climate Conference took place here in this same hall just one year ago under theauspices of the United Nations. The conclusions of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change(IPCC), which were presented there, seemed clear to environmentalists and climatologists: The Earth'satmosphere is undergoing dramatic changes due to energy-intensive human activities. The frightening aspectof the measurable, scientifically proven anomalies are the exponentially-rising mean values of atmosphericCO2 and CH4. These pollutants are the main causes of global warming, accompanied by rising sea-levels,regional climate-shifts, accelerated desertification, and widespread deterioration of The Biosphere.Little has been done so far to remedy the causes of these problems in the real world: Emissions areincreasing due to unabated consumption and population growth accompanied by drives for modernization,which together are pushing consumption of polluting energies further upwards. Many responsible citizenssincerely hope that in June 1992, the UNCED 'Earth Summit' in Rio will produce the answers on howHumankind can get to grips with the sources of this Man-made threat, which may ultimately put the survivalof life on this planet at peril. Effective remedial action will be the urgent priority and great imperative.The overdue awareness of the shortcomings of the overexploitation of non-renewable resources by humanshas been constantly growing through the two decades since the alerting MIT report 'Limits to Growth' waspublished. But awareness is not enough. Corrections leading to environmental recovery are urgently neededby internationally-applied rules of behaviour in anew world order, where the wasteful madness of wars mustbelong to the past and a global sense of responsibility and respect will be developed towards The Biosphere ofour planet — our only home and life-support.Accordingly the main objectives of this Conference are:1) to discuss realistic and expeditious implementation measures in terms of better, environmentally compa-tible energy sources and systems;2) to foster a world consensus and due cooperation among the energy players of today to become responsibleand sustainable energy suppliers of tomorrow, without further delay;3) to appeal to all citizens of this world to make more responsible use of energy by improving energyefficiency and by choosing cleaner, renewable energy sources; and4) to encourage financial institutions to consider the longer-term environmental risks ahead of short-termprofits, and to abstain from financing short-sighted non-sustainable energy projects.To achieve these ambitious goals, the Global Energy Charter has been conceived by the World EnergyCoalition for discussion at this Conference, for further elaboration and then widespread dissemination togovernments, private-sector decision-makers, academics, educators, and throughout the United Nations —towards and beyond the Rio Earth Summit, with a clear mandate for timely implementation.The energy-options for a better future will be costly and without easy choices. They must bring TheBiosphere back to balance, to assure survival in good health so far as possible of all living creatures, and theymust be financeable and economically sustainable; but at the same time they should allow the still-growingworld population equitable development opportunities and nourishment in indiscriminate cultural sove-reignty. A truly demanding task for Humankind, collective world intelligence and unparalleled financialefforts will be needed to fulfill it, besides the imperative of limiting human population.Let me appeal to everybody, within and through this Conference, to act and interact seriously towards aConsensus on these goals to help in saving our planet for future generations and cultures.GUSTAV R. GROB, PresidentCercle Mondial du Consensus (CMDC)and International Clean Energy ConsortiumSecretary-General of the World Clean Energy ConferenceCMDC Central SecretariatKellerweg 38CH-8055 Zurich, Switzerland.289Environmental Conservation, Vol. 18, No. 4, Winter 1991 — © 1991 The Foundation for Environmental Conservation — Printed in Switzerlandhttps:/www.cambridge.org/core/terms. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0376892900022499Downloaded from https:/www.ca bridge. rg/core. University of Basel Library, on 11 Jul 2017 at 13:12:09, subject to the Cambridge Core terms of use, available at

Introduction: Background and Objectives of the World Clean Energy Conference

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