Reacting to the recent call of the European Parliament, Dimas spoke at the Beijing International Renewable Energy Conference: “ Considering climate change, issues of security of supply, and energy price volatility, I think the European Union should indeed seriously consider adopting this ambitious target.” But meanwhile he pointed out that ‘the jury is still out’. Dimas announced that the European Commission will publish its findings early next year.

The Beijing conference was held on 7 and 8 November, following the World Summit on Sustainable Development 2002 in Johannesburg and the Renewables 2004 Conference in Bonn . Around 1200 participants and 30 ministers from 100 countries shared experiences and views on renewable energy policies, technologies and financing during the event, which was organised by China and the European Commission. In the resulting ‘Beijing Declaration’ representatives of 78 countries called for a substantial increase of the global share of renewable energy in the world’s total energy supply. They stressed the need for more international cooperation and financing schemes, such as loan guarantees, the Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) of the Kyoto mechanisms, and market-based instruments that can leverage scarce public funds.

However, no extra actions or targets have been suggested, apart from the International Action Programme that was already composed during the Bonn conference. Next year the UN Commission of Sustainable Development will cover renewable energy.