2012 International Year of Sustainable Energy For All
/---/UN Secretary‐General Ban Ki‐moon at the recently held Rio+20 United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development announced actions and commitments in support of the UN’s Sustainable Energy for All initiative towards achieving three objectives –;
- ensuring energy access,
- doubling energy efficiency
- doubling the share of renewable energy – all by 2030.
More than 50 Governments from Africa, Asia, Latin America and Small Island Developing States have engaged with the initiative and are developing energy plans and programmes. Businesses and investors have committed more than $50 billion to achieve the initiative’s three objectives. More than one billion people will benefit from Sustainable Energy for All’s public and private sector commitments.
Access to energy, particularly sustainable energy, is indistinguishable from a sustainable future for the developing world. Not only does access to energy transform the lives of the energy-poor by raising living standards, it also:
- enables income generation – for example, through solar pumps for irrigation or electricity for a small business;
- provides power to community health clinics, and refrigerators to store medicines, as well as cell phones, which have transformed commerce;
- reduces the time and drudgery of collecting fuel wood, supporting cleaner, more efficient cooking and heating options;
- provides lighting, so children can study after dark;
- enables businesses to operate and creates new opportunities for entrepreneurs
For more info visit www.un.org/futurewewant
05.07.2012 /
