Gorbachev asks G8 to create solar energy fund

London, 4 May: Former Soviet president Mikhail Gorbachev has called on the G8 nations to establish a $50 billion "global solar fund" to support installation of solar energy plants, particularly in developing countries.

Gorbachev was speaking on the 20th anniversary of the Chernobyl disaster and ahead of the next G8 summit at St Petersburg in July, where global energy security will be a key topic.

As chairman of Green Cross International, a body set up by Gorbachev to tackle global environmental problems, he warned G8 leaders against relegating renewable energy to a secondary role behind oil, gas and nuclear power.

He said the $50 billion fund, to be invested over a 10-year period, could easily be raised by re-allocating the subsidies given to fossil fuels and nuclear energy.

"In the US, for example, direct subsidies to nuclear energy amounted to $115 billion between 1947 and 1999 with a further $145 billion in indirect subsidies. In contrast, subsidies to wind and solar combined during the same period totalled only $5.5 billion," Gorbachev said.