Industrialised countries, as the world’s biggest energy users, must lead by example when asking developing nations to combat global warming, UK Energy Minister Brian Wilson told a conference in Paris today (2 April).

“It is simply not credible for us to preach the dangers of climate change and to expect less developed economies to make the necessary adjustments, unless at the same time we are practising what we preach,” Wilson said at an international wind power conference in Paris, France.

He added: “There must be major behavioural changes in our approach to both the production and use of energy. No country is entitled to opt out of that responsibility.”

Wilson also stressed the potential of renewables to provide “new opportunities for speeding up the electrification process” in many of the world’s poorest communities. “That is a challenge we should address on a global basis,” he said.

© SciDev.Net 2002

Photo credit: NREL