UN ESCAP Calls for New Regional Energy Compact:
Asia needs clean energy to power sustainable & inclusive economic growth
Singapore (UN ESCAP Strategic Communications and Advocacy Section) – Balancing sustainable development with high rates of economic growth requires agreement on a new energy compact for Asia and the Pacific, the top United Nations Asia-Pacific official told a forum of sector policymakers here today.
“The Asia-Pacific economy is an engine of growth – but to keep it running we need cleaner, more sustainable, more accessible energy,” said Dr. Noeleen Heyzer, United Nations Under-Secretary-General and Executive Secretary of the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP).
“We need a new Asian energy compact – a game-changer – to ensure universal access to modern energy sources, reduce dependence on fossil fuels, significantly improve energy efficiency, and more than double the share of renewables in the Asian energy mix by 2030.”
Her remarks formed part of a lecture titled “Rio+20: Implications for energy access and sustainable development in Asia”, as part of the Distinguished Speaker Programme organized by the Energy Market Authority (EMA), Singapore.
The lecture comes less than two months before the United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development, to be hosted in Brazil. Speaking about the event, Dr. Heyzer said: “Rio+20 is the best chance of this generation to make growth more inclusive, and to ensure that it respects the limits of our world. We require nothing less than a fundamental ‘re-set’ of the global development agenda – and in Asia that also means changing the patterns of energy production, transmission and consumption.”
Global energy demand is predicted to grow by 33 per cent between 2010 and 2035 – with 50 per cent of that increase in demand expected from China and India alone. “Asian growth currently depends on fossil fuels for 80 per cent of our primary energy supply. With increasingly volatile commodity prices and the negative impacts of carbon-intensive growth on our environment, we need a transformation of our regional economic systems – and this must be driven by the energy sector,” said Dr. Heyzer.
2012 has been declared by the United Nations General Assembly as the International Year of Sustainable Energy for All, and the United Nations Secretary General, Mr. Ban Ki-moon, has launched a global Sustainable Energy for All Initiative.
The ESCAP Executive Secretary also highlighted the link between universal access to energy and key international development goals. “One in five people in the world still do not have access to modern energy services. Widespread energy poverty condemns billions to darkness, to ill-health and to missed opportunities. It is inequitable and unsustainable.”
“We must end this indignity and inefficiency, but we must do so in a way that is smart and sustainable, so that it protects natural resources and the eco-systems on which we depend for survival.”
The world body will be working with countries in the region to explore the potential for developing an integrated regional power grid, among other initiatives to address issues of energy security and sustainability in Asia and the Pacific.
“Providing sustainable energy to all, offers benefits for developed and developing countries alike. It can enable countries to leapfrog the outdated energy systems of the past – to build the resilient, competitive, clean energy economies of the shared future we want,” said Dr. Heyzer.
The Under-Secretary-General also announced that ESCAP will convene a high-level Asia-Pacific energy forum in Vladivostok from 27-30 May next year.
“Connecting the dots between the challenges of water, food, and energy security lies at the heart of sustainable development – and Rio+20 will be a generational opportunity for us to turn ideas into action – globally and especially in Asia and the Pacific.”
For more information, please contact:
Ms. Francyne Harrigan
Chief, Strategic Communications and Advocacy Section, ESCAP
T: (66) 2 288 1864, M: (66) 81 835 8677, E: [email protected]
Headquartered in Bangkok, United Nations ESCAP is the largest of the UN’s five Regional Commissions in terms of its membership, population served and area covered. The only inter-governmental forum covering the entire Asia-Pacific region, ESCAP works to promote sustainable and inclusive economic and social progress. More information on ESCAP is available at www.unescap.org
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UN ESCAP Calls for New Regional Energy Compact: Asia needs clean energy to power sustainable & inclusive economic growth
