I. Inter-Parliamentary Meeting

Canary Islands, Spain, 16-19 January 1998

Summary

Renewable energy sources (RES) are poised for take-off as a clean, efficient and cost-effective energy resource. Participants to this Inter-Parliamentary meeting held in the Canary Islands saw successful renewable energy projects first hand, including wind and solar energy projects. The meeting also gave the attending personalities the opportunity to hear about progress in implementing RES in the framework of EU policies, and to discuss and comment on how they can support new initiatives to accelerate RES development into the next century, especially at political and institutional level.

The three sessions of the Meeting were held in the Islands of Lanzarote, Tenerife and Gran Canaria, in venues where the benefits of respecting the environment and of local use of renewable resources are clearly demonstrated. Enrique Pérez Parrilla (President of the Insular Council of Lanzarote) and Manuel Medina Ortega (MEP) insisted on the importance of harmonised and environmentally friendly planning, as can be clearly seen throughout the island of Lanzarote. Adán Martín Menis and Ricardo Melchior Navarro (President and Vice-President of the Insular Council of Tenerife) highlighted the key importance of renewables for their island and any similar environment, and their commitment to the full utilisation of their potential. Francisco de la Barreda Pérez (Councillor for Industry and Commerce, Regional Government of Canarias; President of ITC) expressed the importance of valorising clean local resources in isolated energy systems. Furthermore, in the official reception, José Macías Santana (President of the Insular Council, Gran Canaria) and Jose Miguel Bravo de Laguna Bermúdez (President of the Regional Parliament of Canarias), stressed that the energy sources that have always been used by mankind should be used now to achieve a truly sustainable development.