Fukushima Community Power Declaration

Fukushima Community Power Declaration

—　For the future of the earth　—

We, all the participants of the 1st World Community Power Conference in Fukushima WCPC2016, gathered here more than 600 people from more than 30 countries in Fukushima city on 3rd and 4th November 2016, the year of the fifth commemoration of the Fukushima disaster and one year after the Paris climate agreement, agreed to and decided to issue this Declaration.

Whereas:

 

  • The sustainable energy supply and use are essential to ensuring the maintenance or enhancement of the society’s quality of life as well as sustainable development for all people in the world.
  • Climate change has been causing unprecedented situations for the current generation, and will become a further threat for the future generations.
  • Lesson from Fukushima nuclear disaster told us that we should take into account the catastrophic risks of nuclear energy.
  • As we stand a tipping point of surge in renewable energy such as wind power and solar PV globally, which are inherently clean, eternal, inexhaustible, and being everywhere in the world, we have a chance to achieve 100% renewable future with energy efficiency, which can avoid the climate risk, the nuclear risk, security of supply risk, air pollution and many other hazards resulting from fossil or nuclear energies.
  • In order to achieve that, the implementation of sustainable renewable energy must respect local and regional needs and priorities, as well as existing societal, cultural and environmental conditions, and, in other words, follow the principles of “community power.”
  • Community power, according to the common definition, ensures that the local communities and their actors have democratic control of the renewable energy installations during the planning, installation and operation period, and Community Power ensures that the local communities and their actors get the majority of the economic and social benefits.

The participants re-confirm and refine “the 10 Elements of a Global Community Power Strategy:” as WWEA study presented in March 22nd, 2016 (see Appendix). Reflecting this 10 elements, the participants of the 1st World Community Power Conference commit themselves for the following actions:

 

  • to act so that community power becomes the prevailing model of the future renewable energy supply all over the world.
  • to continue building a global momentum for more community power around the world and to act according to the principle “think globally, act locally.”
  • to strengthen the community power networks on all levels of society, locally, regionally, nationally and globally.
  • to exchange information about the status of community power in the world, including best-practice business models and policies.
  • to focus in particular on working with local governments in order to define local renewable energy master plans.
  • to encourage national governments to create the necessary framework conditions as identified in this declaration.
  • to work with international organizations such IRENA, UNESCO, UNFCCC, and the international finance organizations so that they put community power as a priority strategy on the international agenda of the global energy transition.
  • to encourage in particular community power solutions in the so called developing countries and promoting the transfer of the needed technical, social and financial know-how.
  • to take the 1st World Community Power Conference in Fukushima city as the starting point for a global community power process which includes the community power network as well as the next World Community Power Conference to be held in Mali, Africa.

Fukushima city, 4 November 2016

Read out by Kaoru Kobayashi, Mayor of Fukushima City, and signed by the representatives of the three organizing institutions on behalf of all the participants:

Yauemon Sato, Japan Community Power Network
Tetsunari Iida, Institute for Sustainable Energy Policies
Stefan Gsänger, World Wind Energy Association

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Appendix: 10 Elements of a Global Community Power Strategy

WWEA Study: Community Wind threatened by discriminating policies (March 22nd, 2016) with minor modification by the WCPC2016 conference participants

  1. Community Power is a driver and an essential precondition for the success of the global energy transition as decided in Paris 2015.
  2. Community Power brings about an equitable distribution of the benefits and advantages entailed by local and sustainable energy production, further, it enhances local added value, especially important in developing countries.
  3. Community Power leads to more energy democracy, it generates and secures acceptance and enhances societal support for the energy transition.
  4. Community Power projects must not be discriminated and they should have preferential market access, but at least the same market access opportunities as any other market player. The market power of monopolistic structures must be limited.
  5. Guaranteed feed-in tariffs are proven to be the most effective policy instrument to provide investment security especially for small investors as well as equitable market access opportunities and, simultaneously, stimulate a dynamic expansion of renewables.
  6. There is a need for further policy and market instruments for the integration of renewables into the energy system which specifically harness the potentials and beneficial effects of the Community Power model. Such instruments should also support cooperation between communities in urban conglomerations and in their environment.
  7. Community Power has a central role for a 100%RE future, especially when it comes to the decentralized / local integration of renewables and efficient use of energy.
  8. Promising future business models for Community Power include: direct supply of 100% renewable electricity, e-mobility, efficiency services, heating and cooling and energy storage.
  9. Community Power stakeholders have to improve their local, regional, national and international networks and cooperation in order to strengthen their voice in the political arena. United they should address policymakers in parliaments and governments.
  10. Community Power in developing countries can be kick-started and strengthened by a Global FIT program and a Global micro credit program, both addressing the crucial issue of investment security, for example within the context of the Green Climate Fund.