Wind power industry calls for urgent progress in Cancún climate talks

Wind energy can and must make a significant contribution to saving the climate, according to a declaration issued today by international wind industry representatives at the Global Wind Energy Council´s ‘Wind Power for a Low Carbon Economy’ conference at the international climate negotiations in Cancún, Mexico.

Wind energy could produce more than 12% of the electricity needed globally by 2020, saving 10 billion tons of CO2 in the process, or 1.5 billion tons per year. This would represent more than half of the emissions reductions envisaged by industrialised countries in their pledges to the Copenhagen Accord.

“The climate change agenda has to be seen as an economic and business opportunity at the same time as a driver to preserve the global environment,” said Bruno Ferrari, Mexican Secretary of the Economy. “Wind power generation provides economic, social and environmental profits. Mexico is committed to taking advantage of them through a local development strategy.” Mexico has an estimated wind power potential of 71,000 MW that can satisfy all the electricity needs in the country.

“The wind energy industry stands ready to play its part as a key solution to combating climate change, and a leader of the energy revolution our planet urgently needs,” said Carmen Becerril, President, Acciona Energia, S.A. “But it cannot fulfil its full mitigation potential without unambiguous political commitment from the decision makers gathered here in Cancún.”

In the declaration, leaders of the global wind power industry call on decision makers to take urgent action to avert dangerous climate change, and to substantially raise their pledges for reducing emissions. They call for action in three areas:

1. Make progress towards a robust climate agreement:
The global wind energy industry urgently calls for decision makers in Cancún to make rapid progress on negotiating an ambitious and legally binding international agreement to meet the 2°C limit set out by the Copenhagen Accord. Failure to deliver on the key outstanding issues will significantly undermine investment in clean energy technologies and other concrete action on mitigation.

This agreement must move us gradually towards a global price on carbon, to enable the private sector to play its key role in financing the energy revolution.

2. Raise your pledges:
The 2020 pledges made by industrialised countries under the Copenhagen Accord fall a long way short of the emissions reductions required for averting dangerous climate change, and the level of ambition needs to be increased towards the upper end of the range of 25-40% emissions reductions below 1990 levels.

Industrialised countries can and must review their pledges for reduction targets and raise them very substantially, as well as assisting developing countries’ often ambitious programmes to decarbonise their electricity systems with both public finance and private investment through the carbon markets.

3. Recognise the potential of wind power for achieving substantial cuts:
Wind energy is already making a significant contribution to reduce emissions in both industrialised and developing countries, and by 2020, substantial savings of CO2 can be achieved. Under a new 2020 climate agreement, wind energy alone will provide for a significant portion of the emissions reductions.

Wind Industry Cancún Declaration, Cancún, 6 December 2010:
Leaders of the global wind power industry today issued a declaration at the COP16 climate negotiations in Cancún, Mexico, calling on decision makers to take urgent action to avert dangerous climate change.

The wind industry fully embraces its responsibility to lead the way towards a sustainable energy future, and reiterates the need for a strong binding international climate agreement in order to drive continued investment towards climate friendly technologies.

Wind power is a key solution to combating climate change, and the industry stands ready to produce more than 12% of the electricity needed globally by 2020, and 22% by 2030. However, to achieve this, a clear unequivocal political commitment to transform the global energy system is required. UNFCCC Parties should act on that commitment here in Cancún.

CALL FOR ACTION:
1. Make progress towards a robust climate agreement:
The global wind energy industry urgently calls for decision makers in Cancún to make rapid progress on negotiating an ambitious and legally binding international agreement to meet the 2°C limit set out by the Copenhagen Accord. Failure to deliver on the key outstanding issues will significantly undermine investment in clean energy technologies and other concrete action on mitigation.
This agreement must move us gradually towards a global price on carbon, to enable the private sector to play its key part in financing the energy revolution.

2. Raise your pledges:
The 2020 pledges made by industrialised countries under the Copenhagen Accord fall a long way short of the emissions reductions required for averting dangerous climate change, and the level of ambition needs to be increased towards the upper end of the range of 25-40% emissions reductions below 1990 levels.

Industrialised countries must raise their pledges for reduction targets very substantially as well as assisting developing countries’ often ambitious programmes to decarbonise their electricity systems with both public finance and private investment through the carbon markets.

3. Recognise the potential of wind power for achieving substantial cuts:
Wind energy is already making a significant contribution to reduce emissions in both industrialised and developing countries, and by 2020, substantial savings of CO2 can be achieved. Under a new 2020 climate agreement, wind energy alone will provide for a significant portion of the emissions reductions.

The wind industry stands ready to play its part as a key solution to combating climate change, and a leader of the energy revolution our planet urgently needs.

WIND POWER IS A KEY SOLUTION TO CLIMATE CHANGE:
Wind energy has the potential to save 10 billion tons of CO2 by 2020.

The power sector accounts for about 40% of global CO2 emissions, and a dramatic shift is needed in the way we produce and consume electricity. Science leaves no doubt that global emissions need to peak and begin to decline before 2020, and the large-scale roll out of wind power can make this happen in the power sector. Large wind farm can be operational in just a matter of months, starting to generate power as soon as the first turbines are connected to the grid.

Already now, wind power is one of the fastest growing electricity generation technologies. Given wind energy’s potential and the current pace of expansion, more than 1,000 GW worth of wind farms could be operating globally by 2020, thereby saving around 1.5 bn tons of CO2 every year. This would add up to 10 billion tons of carbon emissions reductions by 2020.

The pledges submitted by Annex I countries under the Copenhagen Accord would add up to an aggregate emissions reduction of 12-18% by 2020, and global wind energy could contribute between 46% and 69% of these reductions, i.e. 1.5 billion tons of CO2 every year. Of course these emissions reductions are nowhere near what the science tells us is required, but even for a range of 25%-40%, wind power could still achieve 34%-21% of the required reductions.

This means that even under the most stringent 2020 emission reduction targets, at least one fifth of all emissions reductions of Annex I countries could be met by wind energy alone.

Political will and support is needed to fulfil wind power’s potential:
Market distortions in favour of conventional power technologies continue to hamper investment in clean energy sources and as a result undermine efforts to combat climate change. Until the external costs of dirty electricity production are fully internalised in power prices, and almost 700bn USD worth of annual fossil fuel subsidies are phased out, wind power will continue to need political commitment and effective financial support mechanisms to achieve the level of growth needed for heralding a genuine energy revolution.

An ambitious and binding international agreement on cutting greenhouse gas emissions would be the most powerful tool to achieve the level of political support this industry needs to fulfil its full potential.

Wind energy can be deployed anywhere in the world:
Already now, around 200,000 wind turbines produce clean electricity in more than 75 countries around the world, in both industrialised and developing countries. In fact, in 2010 for the first time, more than half of all new wind power capacity will be built outside of the OECD. Modern wind turbines have been designed for a large spectrum of different weather conditions, and they operate in deserts, on high mountains, on ice, in humid climates, and of course at sea. Wind energy can be used at large scale nearly anywhere on our planet, and there is enough wind on this world to satisfy our electricity needs several times over.

Wind energy is competitive with other power generation technologies:
The cost of wind power has fallen considerably over the last 20 years, and in many regions of the world, wind power is competitive with new-built conventional power generation technologies, even without a price on carbon, and without accounting for the high external costs to society of polluting power generation. If these factors were taken into account, wind power would already now be the cheapest form of producing electricity.

In addition, because it uses no fuel and produces no CO2, wind power provides a powerful hedge against unpredictable future oil, gas, coal and carbon prices.