PRESS CONFERENCE ON SUSTAINABLE ENERGY

Poverty alleviation could not be achieved without affordable clean energy, said Mohammed T. El-Ashry, Chief Executive Officer and Chairman of the Global Environment Facility (GEF), told correspondents at a Headquarters press conference this afternoon sponsored by the Department of Economic and Social Affairs. 

Mr. El-Ashry and José Goldemberg, author of the World Energy Assessment, briefed journalists on the Round Table on Sustainable Energy, which will be held on 30 January and has been organized by the GEF as a contribution to the World Summit on Sustainable Development, to be held in Johannesburg, South Africa, this fall.

Mr. El-Ashry said that the objective of the Round Table was to formulate proposals on energy development for consideration by the World Summit.  While energy could be a complicated subject, its importance for the World Summit was clear –- sustainable development at its most basic level was impossible without clean energy. 

He referred to his experience at the GEF and cited a few examples on the potential of sustainable energy.  In rural areas of Zimbabwe, Sri Lanka, Peru, China and more than 20 other countries, the GEF had supported and enabled thousands of families to get electricity for lighting and other household needs.  In Morocco, Kenya and India, small energy solar companies had received the financial and technical help needed to provide clean energy services in rural areas.  In Senegal the GEF had helped in introducing more efficient charcoal production and greater community control of charcoal earnings, while simultaneously protecting thousands of acres of State forestland.

Twenty-five eminent persons, internationally recognized for their knowledge of energy and development, will participate in the Round Table, he said.  Other participants will include high-level participants from China, India, Iran, Morocco, and South Africa.  Senior officials from two of the world’s major oil companies and one of the largest electric utility companies will also be present, as well as representatives from the World Bank, International Atomic Energy Agency, the Food and Agriculture Organization, the United Nations Foundation,   and the G-8 Renewable Energy Task Force.  Independent experts from several non-governmental organizations and universities were also expected.  

Mr. El-Ashry stressed that the meeting had not been convened simply to repeat old formulas and past failures.  The participants would focus on framing a discussion around concrete and achievable proposals.

Mr. Goldemberg, who will be moderator of the Round Table, said the purpose of the discussions were to frame recommendations for the Johannesburg Summit.  Since the 1992 Summit in Rio, a number of efforts had been made to promote sustainable development, and in particular sustainable energy development.  However, less progress had been achieved than expected and it was high time to act, he said.  The fact that 2 billion people in the world lacked access to modern energy services was no longer acceptable. 

Energy represented $1 trillion per year in sales, 3 per cent of the world’s gross domestic product.  In order to supply the cooking needs of 2 billion people without modern fuels, not more then $10 billion a year would be needed, he said.  It was essential that the World Summit put sustainable energy as one of the main agenda items, since it was at the core of many problems.

                When asked whether sustainable energy necessarily meant the same thing as renewable energy, Mr. Goldemberg said the two were not the same, even though much attention had been paid to wind energy and biomass in all its forms.  He believed that liquefied petroleum gas could be extremely useful in helping solve the problems of rural people.  His impression was that the modern uses of biomass were the ones that had greater opportunities.

Why had such little progress been made since Rio? a correspondent asked.  Mr. Goldemberg said that oil had been abundant and cheap.  On top of that, in Rio, even though Agenda 21 was a great step forward, energy had not been singled out as one of the elements that was at the core of solving other development problems.  In India, 6 per cent of all respiratory illness had to do with primitive ways of cooking, using fuel wood.  Therefore, if the energy situation was improved, the health situation for millions of people would also improve. 

Asked whether there was a relationship between economic growth and energy production, Mr. Goldemberg explained that until 1973 that had been the general sentiment of all major economists.  That was no longer the case, as could be seen in industrialized countries, where energy was used more efficiently.  Furthermore, in developing countries energy was tremendously costly, due to the need to import oil.

Mr. El-Ashry added that, despite the fact that oil had been abundant and cheap for many countries, the developing world had not benefited from it.  That had mostly been due to the limited attention given to rural areas by governments.  The GEF experience had shown that renewable resources were available in rural areas.  It was a matter of ensuring that they were utilized.  Improvements in the primitive use of biomass could even be made for the use of charcoal furnaces.  That would increase efficiency and reduce pollution.

It was announced that the Round Table would be open to the press and that it would be held at the World Bank Office from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. at 809 First Avenue, 12^th Floor.

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