PRESS CONFERENCE ON EARTH DAY 2000 CELEBRATION

Press Briefing

PRESS CONFERENCE ON EARTH DAY 2000 CELEBRATION

The celebration of Earth Day 2000 would take place in April, a year from now, and start a process which would culminate in the observance of World Environment Day (5 June), Dennis Hayes, Chairman of Earth Day Network, told correspondents at a Headquarters press conference this morning.

Also addressing the press were the following: United States Energy Secretary, Bill Richardson; Executive Director of the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), Klaus Toepfer; Vice-President of Women's Environment and Development Organization, Chief Bisimuola G. Ogunleye; and Chairman and CEO of Interface Corporation, Ray C. Anderson.

Mr. Hayes said that activities in connection with Earth Day 2000 celebration would take various forms. At the end of the twentieth and the dawn of the twenty-first century, the human species had entered a new era where the nature of the entire planet was being fundamentally changed. Humankind was facing epidemics, massive holes in the ozone layer and the change in global climate. In that context, it was necessary to have an informed citizenry, which would take a leadership role in pulling the political and economic forces in the right direction. It was time for a formidable shift, both at high and low levels. In the year 2000, a decision had been made to focus on energy and climate change.

"As we look at the vast array of energy problems that are facing the world, most of them have to do with environmental constraints, and as we look at the environmental problems around the world, virtually all of them have to do with energy considerations", he said. The theme of Earth Day 2000 was "New Energy for a New Era". It was time to move beyond the scope of the technologies developed in the nineteenth century towards new energy resources powered by the sun, the wind and biological sources. The technology was available to begin that transition swiftly. The aim of Earth Day was to build the public constituency for that purpose.

Bill Richardson, United States Energy Secretary, quoted a Native Americans' saying that the real owners of the land had not yet been born and said that it was the truth at the heart of the Earth Day. He supported the year-long efforts to increase awareness of the environment and energy issues in the United States and around the world. The Earth Day 2000 celebration was going to be monumental, and the Department of Energy was going to play a very important role.

"All of us play a role in making the Earth Day's ideals a reality. The way that we heat and cool our homes and workplaces, power our industries and fuel our vehicles produces 85 per cent of the greenhouse gases the United States pumps into the environment", he said. Those gases, in turn, contributed to climate changes. It was the policy of the United States to

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make a transition to clean, renewable energy sources and more energy efficient goods and services. It was necessary to make responsible energy choices and tell the world about the many alternatives available today to revolutionize the future.

The Department of Energy was working towards that goal, he continued. Research on converting sunlight into electricity would cut production costs by 90 per cent over the last 20 years. Such clean energy technologies were now used around the world. This month the world would reach the wind energy capacity of 10,000 megawatts, which was a five-fold increase in 10 years and enough to meet the energy needs of 3 million households. Later this year, the United States would launch a five-year initiative to use more wind energy. His colleagues in Germany, Denmark, Spain and India were also capturing the energy potential of wind. Today, representatives of over 15 countries were meeting in Spain to advance the use of the clean renewable energy technology worldwide.

Progress had also been made in harnessing the rays of the sun, he went on. More than 35 public private partnerships had pledged to install up to 1 million solar rooftop systems in the United States by the year 2010. The United States initiative on joint implementation had led to a half billion dollars of private investment in clean energy projects in 13 countries. Work had been conducted for five years with the Russian Federation to create business opportunities to save energy and protect the environment. Among them was the installation of 40 wind-diesel hybrid power stations in Russia's northern territories. The Department was working to provide electricity to remote areas elsewhere, for 2 billion people had no access to electricity, including 100 million in China alone.

Regarding future activities, he said that the Department of Energy was awarding $1.5 million in grants for 10 international projects in public outreach, technical assistance and international market development. Next summer, the Department would host conferences for energy ministers from Latin America and Africa to discuss energy efficiency and climate change.

Klaus Toepfer, Executive Director of the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), said that there could not be a better topic for Earth Day than "New Energy for a New Era". Next October the world population would surpass 6 billion people. In 1950, the population of Africa constituted one third of the population of Europe, while in the year 2050 that proportion would be reversed, and the population of Europe would only amount to one third of the population of Africa. In that context, development was needed, for the world needed to urgently fight poverty. Economic growth was necessary to create new jobs. As a consequence, energy was needed to support the growing population.

The world was being forced to turn to new energy sources, he said. He was glad that successful businessmen were now involved in the Earth Day celebration. By changing its attitude towards renewable technologies,

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humankind would acquire more renewable energy and higher energy efficiency. Much higher production with lower emissions was possible, and it was a real challenge for the young people. Those responsible for the development of new energy technologies were involved in a very important process. "If we can do this without negative repercussions for the environment and stimulate economic growth, then we have a good future, then we have the chance not to externalize the costs", he said. He was sure that there could not be a better place to deliver that message than the United Nations, which was responsible for peaceful development of the globe.

Chief Bisimuola G. Ogunleye, Vice-President of Women's Environment and Development Organization, said it was impossible to talk about environmental issues without talking about the injustice, inequality and lack of linkages between the new and the old. At the grass-roots level, people could wonder why they should get involved in the Earth Day celebration. Local women, and rural women in particular, were custodians of natural resources and all the things that made the Earth beautiful.

In the name of energy and modernization, poverty was brought to many areas, she continued. Few people became rich, and millions of people were left very poor. For that reason, poverty eradication had become the centre of the work that women were doing to make the world a better place to live in. Women should speak out. She wanted the whole world to know that the women would definitely work in the area of energy -- new energy for the new era. It was necessary to create wealth, share the wealth equally in order to reduce poverty.

Ray C. Anderson, Chairman and CEO of Interface Corporation, said that he was a "late comer" to the environmental cause. He wanted to report on his company's progress towards sustainability and to challenge other companies to step up and join the efforts. His company made carpets, textiles, chemicals and architectural flooring. It was a petrochemically intensive enterprise. He himself was "a self-confessed recovering plunderer of the Earth".

At present, Interface was committed to the goal of zero extracted natural capital per a dollar of revenue, he continued. That was a difficult long-term goal, and to reach it, his company would have to drive energy usage to its irreducible minimum and then supply that irreducible minimum from renewable sources. Further, it would have to recycle billions of square yards of carpets and textiles. Someday, his company expected to man the landfills, beginning the process of restoring the Earth.

"We want to reach the point when we take nothing from Earth that is not renewable and do no harm to the biosphere", he said. Today, his company in South California was producing the world's "first solar-made carpet". In one of its Georgia factories, the company had created an entirely new category of flooring -- the first product of the next industrial revolution, called selenium. It required 45 per cent less petro-products, including all energy, than the product it was replacing. It was also recyclable and could be

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cleaned with plain water. It would be the first "climate-neutral product" produced by his company. Interface was also committed to planting trees and creating other carbon offsets for the carbon dioxide it was producing in making selenium. It would be the company's first zero-waste product.

"You can actually do well by doing good", he said. "To the industrialists everywhere I want to say: come and join in creating the next industrial revolution and let's give our great-grandchildren a chance. It is the right thing to do and it is clearly the smart thing to do."

In conclusion, Mr. Hayes then said that everybody was aware of the inequalities of the world and the human impact on the environment. Within the United States, there had been a tendency on the part of some politicians to say, "after you" to the rest of the world, ignoring the fact that America had a moral obligation to be among the leadership. The United States was responsible for producing 25 per cent of the greenhouse gases; it consumed 30 per cent of electricity and 43 per cent of the gasoline on the planet. A single Boeing 747 operating in 1999 used twice as much petroleum as the Central African Republic. With that kind of disparity, the United States could not stand back and wait for the rest of the world to move. Domestically, the purpose in the United States had been to stir up the public to demand from their leaders to take up the leadership role. In that respect, he was pleased that Secretary Richardson was such a strong leader in that field.

Asked about the way to change the mentality of the companies, Secretary Richardson said that the United States Department of Energy had some joint investment programmes with big automakers in Detroit. The objective was to develop natural gas vehicles, as well as fuel-cell and hybrid vehicles. Some foreign-auto companies were also participating. In terms of the actual amount of money involved, he said that substantial increases in funds had been submitted to the Congress for solar, wind, biomass, natural gas and geothermal energy efficiency programmes.

Assistant Secretary of Energy Dan. W. Reicher added that about $400 million had been requested for the next year's budget for those programmes, which constituted a 20 per cent increase over this year. The overall budget of the Department of Energy for working with energy efficiency and renewable energy was about $1.2 billion. It was the largest component of climate change technology initiative of the Clinton Administration.

Mr. Toepfer then said that UNEP was working on the "cleaner production" initiative. Today, within the framework of the Commission on Sustainable Development, there would be a signing ceremony of an International Cleaner Production Declaration. Ministers and CEOs would participate in the signing.

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