The Johannesburg World Summit for Sustainable Development 2002 (WSSD) failed to develop a global action plan to halt climate change and climate negotiations had also run into difficulties. Many initiatives resulted out of this failure, including the German government’s invitation to host the renewables2004 conference. The Heinrich Boell Foundation, the German NGO Forum Environment & Development and the WWF took action and organized an NGO workshop in Bad Honnef, Germany, in October 2003. The focus was on preparing for the WSSD follow up conference - Renewables 2004 in Bonn. In order to bundle their proposals and to strengthen their position, NGOs from all over the world formed a new network: "Citizens United for Renewable Energies and Sustainability": C U R E S.

CURES calls for ambitious programs to promote renewable energies because:

• Urgent measures to progress away from the current fossil energy system are required to stop rapid global warming.
• Renewable energies are the only way to give access to modern energy services to the two billion people currently excluded from them.
• While most developing countries so far depend on imported fossil fuels, renewable energies open up the opportunity for decentralised energy supply,  which are produced locally, creating more employment
• Renewable energy systems are far less prone to corruption and crises than the fossil energy system.