United Nations (UN) Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon on Thursday called for a ‘clean energy revolution’ to transform the global economy.
Ban, during a visit to the United States, underlined the importance of clean energy to put the world on a cleaner, safer, more equitable path, adding that those countries that move quickly into developing clean energy will be the economic powerhouses of the 21st century.
Ban spoke during a round table in Denver, Colorado on sustainable energy for all, stating that clean energy would allow citizens to also enjoy cleaner air, better health, greater market competitiveness, and enhanced security.
In addition, the Secretary-General said the UN system is advocating three energy targets which will help address the “energy poverty” which exists in much of the developing world by enhancing equity, revitalize the global economy and help protect the world’s ecosystems.
“These targets are challenging, but they can be met,” said Ban, who added that tackling energy poverty is vital to efforts to achieve the set of anti-poverty targets known as the Millennium Development Goals. The targets would also ensure universal access to modern energy services, doubling energy efficiency, and doubling the renewable energy share in the overall global energy mix.
“If we are to achieve these goals, we need nothing short of a clean energy revolution,” Ban said. “What we need most is strong, sustained political leadership to drive this clean energy revolution forward at the speed and scale necessary.”
On Thursday, Ban met with various leaders of the energy industry, including those involved in wind, solar and natural gas, to discuss sustainable energy for both the developed and developing world.
The Secretary-General also toured the U.S. Department of Energy’s National Renewable Energy Laboratory in Golden, Colorado, the country’s only federal laboratory dedicated to the research, development, commercialization and deployment of renewable energy and energy efficiency technologies.
During his visit at the laboratory, Ban noted the urgency to develop new, clean ways of generating and using energy as the impact of climate change increases and becomes more evident. Furthermore, the urgency will only be greater, he underlined, as demand for energy continues to increase.
“The sustainable development agenda is the agenda for the 21st century,” Ban said Wednesday night at the University of Denver’s Josef Korbel School of International Studies. “Both science and economics tell us that we need to change course – and soon,” he added, noting that for most of the last century, the world mined its way to growth and burned its way to prosperity.
“Those days are over,” he continued. “Climate change is showing that the old model is more than obsolete, it is dangerous. We need a revolution in thinking and in action. Making this happen will take major changes – in our lifestyles, our economic models and our social and political life.”
“Above all, we need to connect the dots between challenges such as climate change and water scarcity, energy shortages and food,” he said. According to the UN, only 3 percent of current global energy investment could finance access to modern energy for all.
Source: www.irishweatheronline.com
Ban, during a visit to the United States, underlined the importance of clean energy to put the world on a cleaner, safer, more equitable path, adding that those countries that move quickly into developing clean energy will be the economic powerhouses of the 21st century.
Ban spoke during a round table in Denver, Colorado on sustainable energy for all, stating that clean energy would allow citizens to also enjoy cleaner air, better health, greater market competitiveness, and enhanced security.
In addition, the Secretary-General said the UN system is advocating three energy targets which will help address the “energy poverty” which exists in much of the developing world by enhancing equity, revitalize the global economy and help protect the world’s ecosystems.
“These targets are challenging, but they can be met,” said Ban, who added that tackling energy poverty is vital to efforts to achieve the set of anti-poverty targets known as the Millennium Development Goals. The targets would also ensure universal access to modern energy services, doubling energy efficiency, and doubling the renewable energy share in the overall global energy mix.
“If we are to achieve these goals, we need nothing short of a clean energy revolution,” Ban said. “What we need most is strong, sustained political leadership to drive this clean energy revolution forward at the speed and scale necessary.”
On Thursday, Ban met with various leaders of the energy industry, including those involved in wind, solar and natural gas, to discuss sustainable energy for both the developed and developing world.
The Secretary-General also toured the U.S. Department of Energy’s National Renewable Energy Laboratory in Golden, Colorado, the country’s only federal laboratory dedicated to the research, development, commercialization and deployment of renewable energy and energy efficiency technologies.
During his visit at the laboratory, Ban noted the urgency to develop new, clean ways of generating and using energy as the impact of climate change increases and becomes more evident. Furthermore, the urgency will only be greater, he underlined, as demand for energy continues to increase.
“The sustainable development agenda is the agenda for the 21st century,” Ban said Wednesday night at the University of Denver’s Josef Korbel School of International Studies. “Both science and economics tell us that we need to change course – and soon,” he added, noting that for most of the last century, the world mined its way to growth and burned its way to prosperity.
“Those days are over,” he continued. “Climate change is showing that the old model is more than obsolete, it is dangerous. We need a revolution in thinking and in action. Making this happen will take major changes – in our lifestyles, our economic models and our social and political life.”
“Above all, we need to connect the dots between challenges such as climate change and water scarcity, energy shortages and food,” he said. According to the UN, only 3 percent of current global energy investment could finance access to modern energy for all.
Source: www.irishweatheronline.com
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