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A new campaign aims to secure a commitment at the World Summit on Sustainable Development — which will be held in Johannesburg in August — to provide two billion of the world’s poorest people with renewable energy over the next decade.

The ‘Choose Positive Energy’ campaign — a joint initiative of Greenpeace International and The Body Shop — was launched last week. The organisers say that the campaign will challenge Northern governments to increase their renewable energy targets in the run-up to the summit.
renewable energy
The campaign highlights the need for developed countries to take responsibility for their contribution to global climate change. Sir Mark Moody Stuart, co-chairman of the G8 Task Force on Renewable Energy said at the London launch that “climate change and global poverty demands that we massively expand renewable energy worldwide”.

Steven Tindale, executive director of Greenpeace UK added, “burning fossil fuels in Africa or Asia is just as dangerous to us as burning them in Britain — exporting dirty technology won’t protect us from the consequences of climate change”.

The Intermediate Technology Development Group (ITDG) — an international non-governmental organisation specialising in the use of technology to address poverty — is lending its support to the campaign. ITDG stresses the importance of ensuring that technical solutions are accessible, affordable and appropriate.

© SciDev.Net 2002

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