Below is a selection of events that took place during the conference.
All photos by Dirk Ostermeier.
 

Development Minister Heidemarie Wieczorek-Zeul and Environment Minister J�rgen Trittin meet the Solar Generation: a meeting with young Greenpeace members outside the conference centre.

Around half of the world's population meets its energy needs through biomass. The perspectives of this energy source for northern and southern countries, the legal conditions required for its efficient and sustainable use and the role of science and politics were hence in the spotlight at the Day of Biomass, the one-day side event that took place on 3 June in the Wissenschaftszentrum.
Among the high-ranking guests were B�rbel H�hn, Environment Minister of North Rhine-Westphalia, Wilhem Dietzel, Environment Minister of Hesse (right) and Dr. Gustavo Best, FAO (left). More Information

Strategic Partnership Agreement with Inter-American Development Bank signed
Today at the "Renewables 2004" Conference in Bonn, the Federal Minister for Economic Co-operation and Development, Heidemarie Wieczorek-Zeul, and the President of the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB), Enrique Iglesias, signed a co-operation agreement to promote renewable energies and increase energy efficiency in Latin America and the Caribbean. This co-operation is particularly directed towards strategic analyses and policy dialogue concerning potential fields of intervention, together with approaches towards improving the institutional regulatory framework in the region. The German government hopes that this co-operation will provide additional impetus on both sides in order to further intensify existing activities in Latin America and the Caribbean in line with the goals of the Conference and design them more effectively as part of a broader policy approach. The co-operation will initially be supported by a supra-national technical co-operation project with a financing volume of 2.6 million euros.

renewables 2004 was also featured at Villa Hammerschmidt, the Federal President's residence. Federal President Johannes Rau had lively discussions with representatives of companies operating in the field of renewable energy.

On the second day of the conference, successful examples of renewable energy initiatives, policies, projects and case studies were presented by conference delegates. Each presentation was followed by a short but lively and sometimes controversial discussion in the plenary.
These "best practices" were selected by the conveners, giving due consideration to a balanced representation of regions and institutions.

On the second day of the International Conference for Renewable Energies, Federal Minister Heidemarie Wieczorek-Zeul introduced German development co-operation's contributions to the International Action Programme. "With these contributions we are making optimum use of renewable energy's potential in the developing countries, whilst taking due account of sustainability, financial viability and acceptance in the developing countries," Ms Wieczorek-Zeul said in Bonn. "Because then our contributions will truly be "lighthouses", beaming the light of their example on other developing countries." More ...

Germany is intensifying its international cooperation on the increased use of renewable energies. At the renewables 2004 Conference in Bonn, Federal Environment Minister J�rgen Trittin today signed new agreements with Denmark and Brazil. Denmark and Germany plan to cooperate more closely on offshore wind energy research (Letter of Intent as pdf). An intensive exchange of experience was agreed on with Brazil concerning fees for feeding electricity from renewable energies into the grid. More ...

The official opening of the Business Forum Renewables, which was organised by Deutsche Gesellschaft f�r Technische Zusammenarbeit (GTZ) GmbH and Deutsche Energie-Agentur (dena), took place with an Opening Press Conference. Present were Rezzo Schlauch (Parliamentary State Secretary in the Federal Ministry of Economics and Labour), Tilman Herberg (Head of the Environment and Infrastructure Division, GTZ), Stephan Kohler (Managing Director, dena), and Michael J. Inacker (Vice President and Head of External Affairs and Public Policy, DaimlerChrysler AG). More ...

Over 350 parliamentarians from all over the world met at the International Parliamentary Forum for Renewable Energies in the Wasserwerk (waterworks) in Bonn. To date, almost all political strategies that successfully promote the use of renewable energies have been initiated by parliaments. The Forum offered a platform for exchanging experiences and discussing new strategies for regenerative energies. The result, a Resolution entitled "Renewable Energies - The Challenge for the 21st Century", was presented to the Plenary of renewables 2004 on 3 June.
www.ipf-renewables2004.de/en

On the second day of the conference, international experts hosted the Day of Geothermal Power in Bonn's Hotel Maritim. Several experts from science, business and politics presented information on the state of the technology, project implementation and financing as well as on the political framework conditions.
In many regions of the world, geothermal energy is an immensely promising source of reliable and low-priced renewable energy, a fact confirmed by a number of successful examples from Kenya, Iceland and the Philippines on display at the Day of Geothermal Power. Knowledge and financial deficits still have to be overcome, however, before the use of geothermal energy can be expanded much further. For this purpose, at the Day of Geothermal Power, a variety of national and regional initiatives were launched that will become part of the International Action Programme of renewables 2004. More ....

At a reception hosted by the city of Bonn and the state of North Rhine-Westphalia for all conference participants, Bonn was given the European Energy Award. Lady Mayor B�rbel Dieckmann, who took receipt of the Award, was very pleased with this acknowledgement.
Around 2,500 conference delegates enjoyed the mild early summer day in the Museum Square in Bonn. The reception offered the guests from all over the world an opportunity for informal conversations and an exchange of experiences.

The Multi-Stakeholder Dialogue (MSD) marked the beginning of renewables 2004. The MSD is the most important instrument for a transparent conference - it enables a wide variety of interest groups to become involved. The stakeholders present at the Bonn conference included representatives from non-governmental organisations, municipalities and regional bodies, unions and the private and financial sectors, actors in the fields of development cooperation and poverty alleviation, as well as manufacturers and suppliers to the renewable energies sector. The lively discussion among stakeholder representatives and delegates was facilitated by David Hales, representative of the Stakeholder Forum for Our Common Future and member of the International Steering Committee. The results of the MSD will be integrated into the follow-up process of the conference. The MSD was chaired by Heidemarie Wieczorek-Zeul, Federal Minister for Development and J�rgen Trittin, Federal Minister for the Environment.

The International Conference for Renewable Energies, renewables 2004, has opened! The hosts of the Conference, Heidemarie Wieczorek-Zeul, the Federal Minister for Development and J�rgen Trittin, the Federal Minister for the Environment extended a warm welcome to delegates from around 120 nations. By 4 June, at the invitation of Federal Chancellor Gerhard Schr�der over 100 ministers will have agreed on goals concerning the worldwide expansion of renewable energies.

At the Municipal Leaders Conference on Renewable Energies - Local Renewables 2004 - in Bonn, which took place from 30-31 May 2004, mayors and representatives of cities and municipalities of the world agreed on the Local Governments' Renewables Declaration. More �

Federal Development Minister Heidemarie Wieczorek-Zeul today received a message in a bottle from the aid organisation Brot f�r die Welt. Citizens sent 35,000 postcards in a bottle as tall as a man as an appeal to the Federal Government to promote the human right to water in the national and international political arena. Cornelia F�llkrug-Weitzel, the director of Brot f�r die Welt, representatives of the Protestant Church in the Rhineland and water activists from northern and southern countries handed over the bottle to the Minister during renewables 2004.

After some 4,000 km and 16 federal states the runners in the climate relay race today finally arrived at their destination in Bonn, host city of the International Conference for Renewable Energies. The baton was handed over to Federal Environment Minister J�rgen Trittin. With this campaign, which was initiated and coordinated by the Climate Alliance with the help of local and regional governments and NGOs, thousands of runners, cyclists, horse riders, inline skaters and rowers set a clear signal for climate protection and the urgently required expansion of renewable energies. Deutsche Post donated one euro per runner to a school project that aims to familiarise students with the technologies behind solar, wind, hydro, biomass and geothermal energy and to explain to them the potential of renewable energies and energy conservation measures in terms of worldwide climate protection.