The World Solar Commission

  The World Solar Commission (WSC) was originally composed of 18 Heads of State and Government from both developing and industrialized countries. These high-level personalities, serving in their personal capacities, have pledged their support for a renewed impetus to the development and utilization of renewable sources of energy, within the framework of economic and social development and environmental protection. This political will at the highest level has been reflected in the 1996 Harare Declaration on Solar Energy and Sustainable Development, adopted at the World Solar Summit held in 1996 and later in the World Solar Programme 1996- 2005 (WSP), approved in June 1997 by the World Solar Commission.    

  The composition of the WSC on the 1st May 1998 was as follows:
Chairman: His Excellency Mr. Robert Gabriel Mugabe, President of the Republic of Zimbabwe
Members: His Excellency Mr. Soeharto, President of the Republic of Indonesia
- His Majesty Juan Carlos I, King of Spain
- His Excellency Mr. Abdou Diouf, President of the Republic of Senegal
- His Excellency Mr. Zine El Abidine Ben Ali, President of the Republic of Tunisia
- His Excellency M r. Eduard Shevardnadze, President of Georgia
- His Excellency Mr. Jiang Zemin, President of the People’s Republic of China
- His Excellency Mr. José Maria Figueres Olsen, President of the Republic of Costa Rica
- His Excellency Mr. Nelson Mandela, President of the Republic of South Africa
- His Excellency Mr. Ibrahim Maïnassara Baré, President of the Republic of the Niger
- His Excellency Dato’ Seri Dr. Mahathir bin Mohamad, Prime Minister of Malaysia
- The Right Honourable Percival James Patterson, Prime Minister and Minister of Defence of Jamaica
- His Excellency Mr. Romano Prodi, President of the Council of Ministers of Italy
- His Excellency Mr. Benjamin Netanyahu, Prime Minister of the State of Israel
- His Excellency Mr. Viktor Klima, Federal Chancellor of the Republic of Austria
- His Excellency Mr. Atal Bihari Vajpayee, Prime Minister of India
- His Excellency Mr. Yasser Arafat, President of the Palestinian Authority.

  Former Members of the World Solar Commission: His Excellency Mr. Sardar Farooq Ahmad Khan Leghari, President of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan ;
His Excellency Mr. Wasim Sajjad, Pre s ident of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan ; The Honourable Mr. Paul Keating, Prime Minister of Australia ;
His Excellency Mr. Franz Vranitzky, Federal Chancellor of Austria ; The Honourable M r. V. P. Narasimha Rao, Prime Minister of India ;
His Excellency Mr. H.D. Deve Gowda, Prime Minister of India ;
His Excellency Mr. Inder Kumar Gujral, Prime Minister of India ; The Honourable Mr. Shimon Peres, Prime Minister of Israel, when they were assuming their high functions.

  A college of Personal Representatives designated by the members of the World Solar Commission is the working body that prepares the decisions of the Commission, in close collaboration with the Secretary-General of the Commission. UNESCO has offered to serve as the Secretariat of the World Solar Commission and has made available the human resources of its Division of Engineering and Technology for that purpose. Dr. Boris Berkovski, Director of this Division, has been nominated as Secretary-General of the World Solar Commission.    

  The World Solar Commission successfully organized the World Solar Summit in Harare, Zimbabwe, on 16-17 September 1996. The World Solar Programme 1996-2005 was approved by the World Solar Commission at its second session held on 23 June 1997, within the framework of the Special Session of the UN General Assembly, “Earth Summit + 5”. Five global projects of universal value and almost 500 national high priority projects have been included in the WSP. The World Solar Commission is organizing a series of business and investment meetings to enhance the implementation of the WSP.