IRENA Director-General Invited to join UN Secretary-General’s High-Level Group on Sustainable Energy for All

The Secretary-General of the United Nations, Ban Ki Moon, has made a direct appeal to international leaders from the private sector, Governments and civil society to join the recently established UN initiative “High-Level Group on Sustainable Energy for All”. The Director-General of the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA), Mr. Adnan Amin received a personal invitation to participate in the group from the SG ahead of the upcoming UN Conference on Sustainable Development in Rio de Janeiro in June 2012 (Rio+20).

SG establishes High-level Group on Sustainable Energy for All (SE4ALL)

UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon on Monday launched a 30-member High-level Group on Sustainable Energy for All (SE4ALL), which includes UNEP Executive Director Achim Steiner and UNDP Administrator Helen Clark. The Secretary-General said energy access for all would be one of his main priorities during his second term.

The high-level group will be co-chaired by UN Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO) Director-General Kandeh K. Yumkella, and Bank of America Corporation Chairman Charles O. Holliday.  

The objective of the Group, which brings together leaders from government, finance, business and civil society, is to advise on an effective strategy to achieve the goal of sustainable energy for all by 2030 through three interlinked global targets: universal access to modern energy services; doubling energy efficiency; and doubling the share of renewable energy in world’s energy supply.

The Secretary-General said energy poverty was a threat to the achievement of the Millennium Development Goals, and there was therefore a need for “a clean energy revolution.” The High-level Group on Sustainable Energy for All would “work with me to develop and put into play a Global Action Agenda for my initiative … in the lead-up to the Rio+20 UN conference on Sustainable Development.”