The Jo'burg Summit: What did it really mean for renewables?

✍ Scribed by Stephen Peake

• Book ID: 104438534
• Publisher: Elsevier Science
• Year: 2002
• Tongue: English
• Weight: 574 KB
• Volume: 3
• Category: Article
• ISSN: 1471-0846
• DOI: 10.1016/s1471-0846(02)80106-8

✦ Synopsis

It was a summer of sustainable development. From the 26th August to 4th September 2002, the spotlight of global media attention settled firmly on Johannesburg in South Africa for the World Summit on Sustainable Development (WSSD). The task for Governments, NGOs and civil society was clear: to develop a concrete plan of action to follow through on the many promises that were made ten years ago at the Rio Earth Summit. If the avalanche of news reports and analysis left you feeling a little confused, disappointed or even slightly depressed, you are in good company. The sobering truth is that it is hard to conclude that Johannesburg was anything other than a failure. Few, if any, groups are publicly satisfied with the headline outcomes. However, behind this widespread despondency, it is possible to identify some important progress, especially in the field of renewable energy. %e reports.