12. Undoubtedly, there is a pressing need for further research in many fields as set out below. Nevertheless, a great deal of research has already been done and results have been achieved. Some new scientific and technical solutions have already emerged. The need for further research must not be used as an excuse for political inaction. The long lead time for remedial efforts to show effects calls for immediate action by all countries, both individually and collectively. No country can escape the risks of global warming. The cost of inaction now will be staggering in a few years. As an immediate first step, countries must commit themselves to realistic, but substantive goals for reducing the use of fossil fuels and their emissions. The transition to a world without excessive reliance on fossil fuels requires that countries continuously adjust their mix of energy use. During the period of transition, nuclear energy will play a role. The United States, Japan, Western Europe, the other OECD nations and the Soviet Union as major energy consumers carry a special responsibility to instigate a general policy leading to a reduction of greenhouse gas emissions.

13. The industrialized countries (OECD) should jointly agree on targets for the reduction of fossil fuels and the emission of greenhouse gases, should adopt legislation implementing such agreements and should empower the International Energy Agency to monitor and report regularly on adherence. Similar monitoring systems should be set up for countries in other regions.

14. Population growth and the need for economic growth in developing countries pose a dilemma as they result in a steadily rising energy demand which is essentially satisfied from fossil fuel sources which increases the threat to the global climate. Industrialized countries should therefore follow the commendable lead of the Netherlands and earmark funds for a new global fund which should help developing countries obtain and introduce technologies to improve energy-use efficiency and reduce environmental risks. Likewise, international financial institutions and bilateral aid agencies should adapt their lending programmes towards the promotion of technological leapfrogging in developing countries.

15. Short, medium and long-term measures are required. In the short run, considerable amounts of energy can be saved through conservation measures and efficient production and use, which would also bring about financial savings. As technology has already advanced enormously, even very ambitious commitments could be implemented.

16. Prices have proved an effective tool in influencing energy consumption. Their level should reflect the need to reduce ecological risks. The demand for fossil fuels could be lowered through levies and changes in energy subsidies. Adjustments in pricing will be effective if all countries act in concert thereby avoiding interference with their competitive positions. Research and development funds and energy subsidies should be reviewed to ensure that they favour efficiency measures as well as environmentally sound energy production.

17. In the medium-term, a shift in the mix of fossil fuels from coal and oil to gas can contribute to a reduction in the level of greenhouse emissions.

18. In the long run, all countries should drastically change their research and development priorities towards a massive promotion of renewable energies. The InterAction Council calls upon the industrialized countries, in particular the Summit Seven at their forthcoming meeting in Paris, to spearhead and fund a substantial, ten-year programme of co-operative research into the economical use and introduction of solar energy and photovoltaics on a large scale. Funding should begin at once. Renewable energies and in particular hydropower, if produced in the right conditions, must remain an important source of energy.

19. Leaders of all countries must personally address the immense dangers to our future resulting from indiscriminate energy use and must initiate the required policy adjustments. The InterAction Council calls on the leaders of the industrialized countries, the Soviet Union and China to take the lead in speedily convening a global conference aimed at the early adoption of a convention on the stabilization of the composition of the atmosphere and the establishment of effective and innovative institutions.

20. The 1970s could be characterized as a decade devoted to energy security, when even coal production was promoted for the sake of reducing dependency on other energies. The 1990s must become the decade of reconciling energy policies with both security and environmental requirements - implying the massive promotion and introduction of environmentally sound non-fossil energies.

21. At its future sessions, the InterAction Council will continue to assess developments in this area. Specifically it will publicly identify those countries which have realized the goals set by the international community in the environmental area and those that have fallen short of these standards.

25. It is imperative, therefore, that the United States correct its internal and external imbalances without delay. The constant budgetary and trade deficits must be corrected within a defined timeframe; the United States` investment rate, private saving and public spending must be brought into equilibrium. In short, the United States still the richest economy in the world, must regain its former status as a net capital exporter.

26. Japan and West Germany must correct their endemic trade surpluses, while other European countries must adjust their trade deficits. Moreover, they must begin to acknowledge that their domestic policies directly affect other countries. All OECD countries plus the Soviet Union and some East European countries must assume responsibility for providing increased funds for official development assistance to less developed countries.

27. The European Community having set 1992 as the date for the completion of its internal market, must be aware of its partners` growing anxiety about whether it will emerge as a "partnership Europe" or as a "fortress Europe". The Community, already in the process of bringing about regional and structural adjustments, must open its markets to the maximum extent possible, in particular to developing countries by removing quotas and by refraining from protectionist action in such areas as so-called anti-dumping policies and the setting of rules of origin.

28. Africa is a continent in despair. Some of the countries of Sub-Saharan Africa have undergone painful adjustment processes yet increased external assistance has not been forthcoming. While it is true that the solution of developing countries problems lies mainly with these countries themselves and in particular with their adoption of an adequate economic policy mix, it remains that without appropriate external financing and technological transfers their developing problems cannot be solved.

29. Trade is a fundamental basis of wealth of the industrialized countries and the prime means by which developing countries can integrate themselves into the global economy. But free trade is under threat. Over the last years the world has moved towards increased protectionism. Afraid of the short term costs of economic adjustments many countries have chosen to forego the long term benefits of free trade relations with other countries choosing instead to apply open or hidden protectionist measures. This process must be reversed. The ongoing Uruguay Round of the General Agreement on Tarriffs and Trade (GATT) must be made a success. To this end restrictions on trade in tropical primary products should be abolished while the GATT should be given greater powers of enforcement. In particular, the European Community, the United States and Japan must reduce their farm subsidies. Landlocked countries such as Nepal or Botswana should receive immediate consideration from transit countries to allow the free flow of goods as determined by various international conventions.

30. Seven years after the eruption of the debt crisis, the debt problem remains unsolved. Time may have been gained to the benefit of the creditor banks but a definitive solution has only been postponed. The crisis continues to constitute a serious obstacle to the efforts of the less developed countries to resume growth and to improve the income levels of their populations. It has to be recognized that this is a problem that will not be solved in the short run.

31. The Brady initiative, which requires urgent formulation and subsequent implementation, represents a step in the right direction. For the first time it recognises the need for debt and debt service reduction. At the same time it reiterates the need for economic reform in the debtor countries, a greater role for the international institutions and additional resources from the commercial banks.

32. In this new phase of the debt strategy, major changes are required from all the players in the problem. Commercial banks should facilitate the elimination of some restrictions in the restructuring arrangement already concluded, and should be more prepared to recognize the market value of the debt of less developed countries.

33. Governments must help by eliminating the obstacles in legal, accounting and fiscal regulations so as to give incentives to commercial banks for debt and debt services reductions. International financial institutions must recognize the importance of their role not only as providers of net resources but in co-operation with their own resources in debt reduction schemes, as catalysts for other sources of funds to debtor countries and as monitors of debtor countries' economic reform programmes. Debtor nations, for their part, must strengthen and maintain their economic adjustment programmes so as to stimulate domestic and foreign investment, resume growth and create adequate initiatives and favorable domestic conditions for capital repatriation.