Combating Poverty With Clean Energy
Wednesday, January 19, 2011
ABU DHABI (IDN) – Fighting poverty by promoting sustainable development and mitigating climate change is one of the priorities of UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon for 2011. With this is view, he is calling for a global revolution that would benefit some 1.6 billion people in developing countries still lacking access to electricity.
Addressing the Fourth World Future Energy Summit in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, on January 17, Ban said: “Our challenge is transformation. We need a global clean energy revolution — a revolution that makes energy available and affordable for all.”
This, he added, is essential for minimizing climate risks, for reducing poverty and improving global health, for empowering women and meeting the Millennium Development Goals (eight anti-poverty targets with a 2015 deadline), for global economic growth, peace and security, and the health of the planet.”
Ban said that the decisions taken now will have far-reaching consequences. The prevailing fossil fuel-based economy is contributing to climate change — and global energy needs are growing rapidly.
Several studies point out that in twenty years, energy consumption will rise by 40 per cent, mostly in developing countries, where 1.6 billion people still lack access to electricity, and where 3 billion people rely on traditional biomass fuels for cooking, heating, and other basic household needs.