Group for the Environment, Renewable Energy and Solidarity (GERES) is an international development NGO set up in
Marseille
Marseille ( , , ; also spelled in English as Marseilles; oc, Marselha ) is the prefecture of the French department of Bouches-du-Rhône and capital of the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region. Situated in the camargue region of southern Franc ...
in 1976.
Background
The ''Groupement pour l'Exploitation Rationnelle de l'Energie Soldaire'' (Group for the Rational Use of Solar Energy) was founded on 14 September 1976, following the first oil crisis, at the initiative of teachers/researchers working with Georges Peri. Its aim was to put researchers and professionals in touch in order to develop solar energy solutions.
GERES changed its name first in 1986 (''Groupe Energies Renouvelables'' / Renewable Energies Group), again in 1994 (''Groupe Energies Renouvelables et Environnement'' / Renewable Energies and Environment Group), and then finally in 2008 (''Groupe Energies Renouvelables, Environnement et Solidarités'' / Group for the Environment, Renewable Energy and Solidarity) as it broadened its areas of intervention.
In 2004, GERES launched CO2Solidaire, the first French carbon offsetting programme.
Activities
As an organisation specialising in sustainable and
renewable energies
Renewable energy is energy that is collected from renewable resources that are naturally replenished on a Orders of magnitude (time), human timescale. It includes sources such as Solar power, sunlight, wind power, wind, the movement of Hydropo ...
, climate change and environmental protection, GERES works for an
energy transition
The energy transition is the process of downshifting fossil fuels and re-developing whole systems to operate on low carbon energy sources. More generally, an energy transition is a significant structural change in an energy system regarding ...
, along with natural resource conservation and improved living conditions for local people, both in Europe and in the developing world.
As lead agency for the Climate and Development Committee of Coordination SUD, for the period 2013 - 2016, GERES is working with other NGOs to engage in advocacy with authorities aimed at guiding national and international climate change policy.
GERES promotes renewable energy use and local economic development in four broad geographic areas:
Europe
Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a Continent#Subcontinents, subcontinent of Eurasia ...
and the Mediterranean,
West Africa
West Africa or Western Africa is the westernmost region of Africa. The United Nations defines Western Africa as the 16 countries of Benin, Burkina Faso, Cape Verde, The Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Ivory Coast, Liberia, Mali, Maurit ...
,
Central Asia
Central Asia, also known as Middle Asia, is a subregion, region of Asia that stretches from the Caspian Sea in the west to western China and Mongolia in the east, and from Afghanistan and Iran in the south to Russia in the north. It includes t ...
and
Southeast Asia
Southeast Asia, also spelled South East Asia and South-East Asia, and also known as Southeastern Asia, South-eastern Asia or SEA, is the geographical United Nations geoscheme for Asia#South-eastern Asia, south-eastern region of Asia, consistin ...
.
It is present in a dozen or so countries working alongside local development actors around five core themes:
* clean energy production
*
energy efficiency
Energy efficiency may refer to:
* Energy efficiency (physics), the ratio between the useful output and input of an energy conversion process
** Electrical efficiency, useful power output per electrical power consumed
** Mechanical efficiency, a ra ...
and energy saving
* economic development
* local policy and land use
*
climate change
In common usage, climate change describes global warming—the ongoing increase in global average temperature—and its effects on Earth's climate system. Climate change in a broader sense also includes previous long-term changes to E ...
References
External links
* {{official website, http://www.geres.eu/en/
Organizations established in 1976
Environmental organizations based in France