UN secretary general kicks off sustainable energy year in Abu Dhabi

The Secretary General of the United Nations, Ban Ki-moon, called on governments of the world, as well as the private sector and civil society, to make “significant” commitments to support his Sustainable Energy for All initiative and to end “energy poverty” in the world. He made the comments in his keynote speech to the World Future Energy Summit, which opened in Abu Dhabi today. The summit also serves as the global launch of 2012 as the International Year of Sustainable Energy.

“This is the right time for this Initiative,” said Ban. “Across the world we see momentum building for concrete action that reduces energy poverty, catalyzes sustainable economic growth, and mitigates the risks of climate change. Achieving sustainable energy for all is both feasible and necessary. My Initiative will help us meet these objectives simultaneously. It can be a triple win for all.”

The Secretary-General has designated sustainable development as his top priority for his next five-year term. His objectives include ensuring universal access to modern energy services—at present, one person in five lacks access to modern electricity and twice that number, three billion people, rely on wood, coal, charcoal or animal waste for cooking and heating.

The other objectives of Ban’s Sustainable Energy for All initiative are to double the rate of improvement of energy efficiency, and to double the amount of renewable energy in the global energy mix.

To help achieve these objectives, the secretary general has appointed global leaders from business, finance, government and civil society to mobilize action commitments that will help drive change on the ground. 

Chinese premier, Wen Jiabao, and South Korean prime minister Kim Kwang-sik, also spoke at the opening session of the summit.  Wen noted that China has made great strides in achieving sustainability. The country has shut down 80 gigawatts of small coal power plants, equal to the power supply of a mid-sized European county, he said. He also proposed setting up an international energy market management system within the framework of the G20.