CSD 14 – 10.-12. maí 2006

Mrs. Sigríður Anna Þórðardóttir, Minister for the Environment, Iceland

Making a Difference: Interactive Discussion with UN Organizations

It is our experience that people are not well aware of the potential that exists in the area of renewable energy. The geothermal area is one example. Many tend to dismiss geothermal energy as a marginal resource from a global viewpoint. Surely it is not a practical option everywhere, but the same is rue for wind, solar and tidal. Yet it is estimatet that geothermal could be a reliable and climate friendly energy source for hundreds of million people in East Africa, Central America, China, Indonesia and many other parts of the world. It could be a sizeable part of the solution to the climate problem and the development needs.

I would like to stress the leadership role of international financial institution in this regard. We will see billions of dollars invested in energy infrastructure in the coming years, that will have environmental effects for decades. Some of this investment will most likely be in fossil fuel-powered energy plants in places rich in geothermal energy.

The report of the Secretary-General identifies investment costs, the difficulty of assessing geothermal resources and inadequate local technical skills as major barriers confronting geothermal energy.

I challenge the international financial institutions to help remove these barriers and in particular to consider the longterm economic advatage of this energy source. They need to inform themselves about the availability of geothermal energy worldwide, and help build up local know-how in key areas. They must set up guidelines to study the possibility of using renewable energy sources before deciding upon fundin polluting energy generators.

I believe that the obstacles hampering the wider use of geothermal energy are the same that many other types of renewable energy need to contend with. Financing institutions must be aware of these barriers and work towards reducing them. The World Bank and others have taken some important steps in this direction. But we need to do much better if we are to build a sustainable energy future. – Thank you