By Bevan Springer

AEROE, Denmark (September 14, 1999) - The world's island nations will take center stage for two days on the Danish island of Aeroe when the Global conference on renewable energy islands opens on Wednesday.

The conference serves as an unofficial prelude to the September 27-28 United Nations Special Session on Islands (UNGASS) which will assess progress made by island nations in implementing the 1994 Barbados Programme of Action, adopted by more than 100 countries at the Global Conference on the Sustainable Development of Small Island Developing States. In Barbados, the international community pledged its support to assist island nations address issues such as rising seas caused by climate-changing emissions, natural disaster management, biodiversity, waste management and energy. Trade and the environment will dominate the New York-UN meeting that will be attended by island presidents and prime ministers.

The global energy talks in Denmark comes at a time when heavy dependence on imported petroleum is causing severe trade imbalances. "Energy efficiency must be encouraged," says Pacific island delegate Lelei LeLaulu, who will address the conference on sustainable financing for energy initiatives. The Vice President of the Washington DC-based Counterpart International, a private development agency, told SIDSNET that given the huge amounts of foreign exchange that island nations surrender on the importation of fossil fuels each year, "it is imperative we accelerate and maximise the development of environmentally sound renewable energy resources."

The conference, to be staged by Danish NGO Forum for Energy and Development (FED), and co-sponsored by Counterpart, will showcase the success stories of Barbados and Fiji, two islands that have been leaders in promoting sustainable renewable energy in the Caribbean and the Pacific, respectively. According to conference organisers, one third of Barbadian households have installed solar water heaters, while Fiji has achieved 90 percent self-sufficiency in electricity by using hydropower.

"Not only must we encourage more of this activity in island nations, but we must also translate these low cost technologies to some of our development partners," opines Tuiloma Neroni Slade, Samoa's Ambassador to the United Nations and chair of the Alliance of Small Island States. "Development is a two-way street and what we need more than ever is communication and cooperation from all of our partners," he said.

Danish Minister of Energy and the Environment, Svend Auken will open the conference of over 100 delegates from the Pacific, Caribbean, Atlantic and  Indian Oceans. Presentations on how islands can cut the costly and damaging dependency on oil imports will be delivered by an impressive gathering of policy and decision-makers representing government, non-governmental, inter-regional, private sector and donor institutions.

By the time the conference ends on Thursday, islands may well be on their way to sustainable energy generation.

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