on activities to ensure global energy security

Global needs in energy resources are gigantic and they continue to grow steadily with increase of fuel and power consumption in developed countries, growth of economies and population of the developing countries. Within the present world availability and accessibility of fuel and energy resources, ensuring of their uninterrupted supply to consumers and efficient use by the consumers has become the basic factors of the global progress, diminishing of poverty, increase of well-being, cultural and intellectual development of the population.

At the same time, present state and tendencies, which have been recently formed in development of the global energy, relying on extraction, transportation and burning of fossil hydrocarbon fuel – oil and gas, are not exactly in line with the current challenges and tasks faced by the mankind, and therefore may not but raise justifiable concerns about future of the present and next generations. Foreseeable exhausting of available hydrocarbon materials stock, vulnerability of sources and routes of their transportation for attacks of the global terrorism, increasing monopolisation of the industry and sharp jump of energy prices invite danger for energy security in the global scale. Non-controlled growth of production, transportation and burning of fossil fuels has negative, oppressive impact to the environment, and results in negative anthropogenic climate change, growth of the related negative phenomena – hurricanes, droughts, floods, avalanching, ablation of permafrost, etc., and thereby raises danger to stability of the global economics, life and health of humans.

Nuclear energy, which is frequently considered as an alternative source and next stage of energy development, also causes considerable concern of European Greens and civil society on the whole. First of all, from the point of view of safety and reliability of nuclear objects, possibility of early warning and protection of the population inhabiting the areas in proximity to nuclear facilities in case of radiation hazards, resolution of transportation, storage and processing of nuclear wastes problems, including spent nuclear fuel, reactor dismantling and other equipment with the expired life cycle. Besides, possible interrelation of nuclear energy and distribution of nuclear weapons cannot be left out of account, especially in the countries of the Third World, which under aggravation of international strives and strengthening of the global terrorism may result in catastrophic after effects for the mankind.

To achieve the global energy security and sustainable development of the mankind the leading industrial countries of the world and, first of all, the G8 countries have to undertake coordinated efforts in order to achieve the following long-term goals:

Goal 1. Reduction (as compared to the present) of damages, decrease in risks of damages to the environment and human living conditions, which occurring during production, transportation, procession and use of conventional energy resources of the XX century, storage and disposal of waste produced at all stages of their live cycle;

Goal 2. By the middle (optional end) of the XXI century transition to the prevailing use of new and renewable energy sources located as close as possible to the final consumers and available for most inhabitants of the planet.

European Greens expect that the heads of G8 countries and energy companies of the world would produce clear and responsible energy policy and view their mission in providing assistance to the governments and businesses in selection of the most expedient, socially and ecologically significant steps. First of all, by joint efforts it is required to achieve implementation of all the positive resolutions, which have been priory made during meetings of the G8 leaders, especially in the sphere of renewable energy sources development.

Among the results of the summit 2006 shall also be commissions to the G8 governments, as well as preparation for consideration and endorsement at the summit 2007 in Germany the projects of international documents on the following issues:

1. Ensuring of non-exhausting use of energy resources, creation of guarantees of energy availability for future generations inhabiting the Earth. For this purpose it will be required to:

• set exact terms for transition to new technologies for production and saving of energy linked with development of renewable energy;

• ensure efficient work of the G8’s Renewable Energy Task Force;

• renewable energy sources should account for at least 30% of total energy production in all G8 and EU countries by 2020;

• ensure involvement of the largest developing countries – China and India – in the activity on development, production and introduction of energy saving technologies, transfer to renewable energy sources and by this reduction of greenhouse gases emission;

• provide assistance in sharing of advanced clean technologies, especially with the developing countries.

1. At the year of the 20th anniversary of Chernobyl catastrophe we suggest to once and for all stop the state subsidies of any type into nuclear energy in G8 countries. The nuclear energy is not a stable way of the energy development, and we insist on abandoning nuclear energy use and suggest introduction of prohibition of trans-border circulation of radioactive wastes, including spent nuclear fuel. The disussion on International storage of spent nuclear fuel in Russia can start only after national referendum on this issue.

2. Reduction (as compared to the present) of damages, decrease in risks of damages to the environment and human living conditions, which occurring during production, transportation, procession and use of energy resources, storage and disposal of waste produced at all stages of their live cycle. In addition, it seems practicable to accept within the G8 mutual obligations of the countries on safeguard of ecological safety of big lake ecosystems (Great American Lakes, Baikal Lake, Issyk-Kul Lake, etc.), and especially valuable and vulnerable objects of nature in Arctic when producing and transporting hydrocarbon fuels.

3. The G8 countries must define their quantitative obligations on reduction of greenhouse gas emission; promote, including by demonstration of their own examples and by other available ways, gradual involvement of all countries (both developed and developing) in activities on mitigation of anthropogenic climate change. European Greens appeal for the G8 leaders to support proposal of the European Union on limitation of anthropogenic emissions of greenhouse gases on the basis of ultimate possible average annual temperature growth by 2 Celsius degrees by 2050.

4. Within the Millennium Development Goals undertake actions on energy supply to the poor and the poorest population in order to ensure their decent existence in the environment of transfer to the renewable energy sources. Rural and poor population should have priority in access to the energy generated by renewable sources.