[Brief translation]
The United Nations Commission on Sustainable Development (UNCSD) and interested countries decided on April 27 to set up a special assembly to promote ocean thermal energy conversion (OTEC), a system which holds great potential for the production of clean energy. On the same day, Professor Haruo Uehara of the Institute of Ocean Energy, Saga University that is researching and developing the system gave a speech at the UN headquarters in New York in which he emphasized the system as an effective means of resolving the 21st century issues of energy and water shortages. With the heightened prospect of UN support, OTEC has taken a major step forward toward commercial viability. Talks among interested countries will continue and include financial issues, with the idea of establishing the special assembly by the end of the year.