cop15
UNFCCC (United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change), 7-18 December 2009, Copenhagen, Denmark
As you may know, the summit did not match the expectations raised within the previous months. The Copenhagen Accord recognises that Climate Change is one of the greatest challenges of our time, as well as the need to keep global temperatures below 2°C . It encourages short term emission targets, fast track funding and mechanisms to accelerate technological developments, but fails on the essential point of establishing specific binding commitments, resulting in a weak deal.
But in spite of the modest results of the summit, COP 15 has been an important milestone for EPIA and the solar sector.
Together with SEIA we launched the solarCOP15 initiative, endorsed by more than 40 solar associations from across the globe, as one unified voice to present a global solar scenario to showcase the immediate capability of solar power to deliver clean energy and reduce CO2 emissions.
A dedicated website was created as a communication platform for solar COP15 activities, hitting over 2000 visitors in less than two weeks.
An official letter to the Secretary General of the United Nations, Mr. Ban Ki-Moon was sent on the eve of COP 15, as well as to the Members of the European Parliament travelling to Denmark.
The well-known organisational barriers of COP 15 did not prevent EPIA from keeping a presence at the Bella Center, with our own stand, where we met official delegates from all over the world interested in photovoltaic technology, electric utilities federation’s representatives and even the Solar Impulse plane team.
We participated in several solar events organised within the framework of the Conference; we organised a press briefing and co-organised an official side event with more than 100 participants, where we presented our targets and figures and the crucial role of PV in reducing CO2 emissions, not only in Europe but also worldwide.
The solar initiative was echoed by general and specialised media (over 40 articles and several interviews), including Climate Action, the UN magazine that was distributed to all delegates at the Conference of the Parties.
EPIA-SEIA-ARE side-event
Seizing Solar Power: Key to Reducing CO2 Emissions Now
16 December 2009, 16:30–18:00, Bella Center, Copenhagen, Denmark
Solar industry organisations (ARE, EPIA, SEIA) from around the globe presented new global figures, analyses and business scenarios on the role that this booming renewable technology can, and will, play in combating Climate Change.
Please find below all presentations:
- Solar Electricity: An Effective Tool to fight Global Climate Change - Murray Cameron, EPIA
- The role and the potential of PV in developing countries - Simon Rolland, ARE
- PV in Sunbelt Countries: Combating Climate Change in Developing Economies - Adel El Gammal, EPIA
- Seizing the Solar Solutions: Combating Climate Change through Accelerated Deployment - Rhone Resch, SEIA
This side event was also webcasted live on www.unfccc.int. The webcast is available here.
More information is available at www.solarcop15.org.
epia press conference
Photovoltaics: potential to become a mainstream energy provider in Europe, developing countries and beyond
15 December 2009, 10:00-10:30 - (COP15 accredited media only), Bella Center, Copenhagen, Denmark
Photovoltaics can become a mainstream electricity source in Europe by 2020, representing up to 12% of electricity demand by 2020 if certain conditions are met. This way, Europe would save more than 200 million tons of CO2/year. The impact could be even bigger with a global commitment to this target.
Senior representatives of the European photovoltaics industry presenedt new figures, analysis and business scenarios on the role that this booming renewable technology can, and will, play in the future of combating climate change, not only in Europe but also within developing countries and beyond.
This press conference was also webcasted live on www.unfccc.int. The webcast is available here.
EPIA-SEIA Press Conference
Solar Energy and COP15
On the 14 December 2009 during COP15, global solar industry leaders highlighted the significant impact solar energy technologies can have on combating climate change, review the policies that drive accelerated deployment of solar, and took questions from the media. This press conference took place at the International Press Center in Copenhagen, Denmark.
Background information on COP 15
Photovoltaics can provide up to 12% of the European electricity demand by 2020. This way, Europe would save 196 million tonnes of CO2/year. This number will increase if we add developing countries, the US, Japan, etc.
In order to promote Photovoltaics as a major driving force within the energy landscape to fight Climate Change, EPIA attended and organised a number of activities during the United Nations Framework Conference on Climate Change that took place in December 2009 in Copenhagen (COP 15).
The United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC or FCCC) is an international environmental treaty which was produced at the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development (UNCED), informally known as the Earth Summit, held in Rio de Janeiro from 3 to 14 June 1992. The treaty is aimed at stabilising greenhouse gas concentrations in the atmosphere at a level that would prevent dangerous anthropogenic interference with the climate system.
The treaty as originally framed set no mandatory limits on greenhouse gas emissions for individual nations and contained no enforcement provisions; it is therefore considered legally non-binding. Rather, the treaty included provisions for updates (called "protocols") that would set mandatory emission limits. The principal update is the Kyoto Protocol, which has become much better known than the UNFCCC itself.
Since the UNFCCC entered into force, the parties have been meeting annually in Conferences of the Parties (COP) to assess progress in dealing with Climate Change, and beginning in the mid-1990s, to negotiate the Kyoto Protocol to establish legally binding obligations for developed countries to reduce their greenhouse gas emissions.
- COP 3 - The Kyoto Protocol on Climate Change. The Kyoto Protocol to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change was adopted by COP 3, in December 1997 in Kyoto, Japan, after intensive negotiations. Most industrialised nations and some central European economies in transition (all defined as Annex B countries) agreed to legally binding reductions in greenhouse gas emissions of an average of 6 to 8% below 1990 levels between the years 2008 and 2012, defined as the first emissions budget period. The United States would be required to reduce its total emissions by an average of 7% below 1990 levels, however neither the Clinton administration nor the Bush administration sent the protocol to Congress for ratification. The Bush administration explicitly rejected the protocol in 2001.
COP 15 was held in Copenhagen, Denmark, from 7 December to 18 December 2009. The overall goal for the COP 15 United Nations Climate Change Conference hosted was to establish an ambitious global climate agreement for the period from 2012 when the first commitment period under the Kyoto Protocol expires. Ministers and officials from 192 countries took part.
A thematic Working Group was created for this purpose within the association to maximise the visibility of Photovoltaics during COP 15 and to raise awareness on PV.
More information on this Working Group is available for EPIA Members once logged-in on the restricted area.
