Habitat II conference ignores role of renewables

Renewable energy sources such as wind and solar should have been far more seriously addressed at the Habitat II conference in Istanbul because of the threat of global warming, says Yadowsun Boodhoo, vice-president of the Commission on Climatology of the World Meteorology Association. He was speaking at the Second United Nations Conference on Human Settlements, also known as Habitat II. Boodhoo, from Mauritius, told delegates that waste in First World cities, especially inefficient energy use, could have a huge impact on developing nations -- and especially small island developing states (SIDS.) Indeed, since the Rio summit, developing nations have called for the industrialised world to reduce its use of energy that produces greenhouse gases. At Habitat II, the SIDS led by Jamaica fought off a bid by the European Union and the United States to delete a clause in the conference action plan recognising their vulnerability to rising sea levels because of global warming.