Preparations for the International Conference for Renewable Energies, Bonn 2004
National Advisory Committee meets for the first time in Berlin

Berlin, 26 May 2003. Today, Monday, a National Advisory Committee (NAC) has convened in regard to the International Conference for Renewable Energies, which is to take place the first week of June, 2004. The Committee, which is made up of around 50 energy experts from politics, associations, the private sector and the academic and scientific world, constitutes a forum of national actors in the field of renewable energy and development cooperation. Its mission is to provide technical expertise on Conference content during Conference preparations.
Sitting on the Committee are members of the German Bundestag (parliament) and representatives of the L�nder (federal states), associations, the private sector, science and academia and non-governmental organizations. "The members of the NAC have the knowledge and experience needed in fields relevant to the Conference. We want to use their know-how and to channel impulses from this circle of experts into the preparation process," explains Michael Schroeren, spokesperson for the German Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety (BMU).

The BMU is responsible for Conference organization together with the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) on behalf of the Federal Republic of Germany. "At the same time we consider it our job to keep the national players informed on the status of Conference preparations in terms of both content and organization," adds Barbara Wieland, BMZ press officer. The NAC plans to meet three times in advance of the Conference itself. The aim of this initial meeting will be primarily to identify the various interests and expectations the parties to the Conference have of it.

In addition to the NAC, an International Steering Committee (ISC) will soon be convening as well. This committee will be made up of some 50 representatives from the private sector, developing countries, international organizations, NGOs, and various civil society groups. They will discuss Conference issues, lend it shape and structure, and advise its hosts on developments.
At the World Summit on Sustainable Development in Johannesburg in 2002, German Chancellor Gerhard Schr�der invited members of the international community to a dialogue on renewable energy. The International Conference for Renewable Energies is intended to further the process begun at the Johannesburg Summit toward a global expansion of renewable energy. At the initiative of the European Union, the Johannesburg Renewable Energy Coalition had been formed at the World Summit and now includes 80 countries who have made a political commitment to the development of renewable energy. The Conference in Bonn is to advance this process on a broader scale and add to it in terms of content, including measures for greater energy efficiency.
The Deutsche Gesellschaft f�r Technische Zusammenarbeit (GTZ) GmbH (German technical cooperation) is organizing the Conference on behalf of the BMZ and the BMU. At the Conference Secretariat, located in Eschborn near Frankfurt, GTZ enjoys the additional support of the Deutsche Energie-Agentur (dena).