Secretary-General Names Members of High-level Group on ‘Sustainable Energy for All’

 

United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon today announced the members of his High-level Group for the “Sustainable Energy for All” initiative.

The Group includes distinguished global leaders in business, finance, Governments, and civil society.  It is co-chaired by Kandeh Yumkella, the Chair of United Nations Energy and Director-General of the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO), and Charles Holliday, Chairman of Bank of America.  

“From job creation to economic development, from security concerns to health and the status of women, energy lies at the heart of all countries’ core interests,” said United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon when announcing the High-level Group.  

The members of the Group will develop an action agenda that will mobilize action by all stakeholders in support of energy access, energy efficiency and increasing the share of renewable energy.  A range of commitments and partnerships will be announced at the United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development (Rio+20) in 2012.  

By mobilizing action from a broad range of stakeholders, the “Sustainable Energy for All” initiative will also advance the United Nations General Assembly’s designation of 2012 as “the International Year of Sustainable Energy for All.”  

The Secretary-General also released today his vision statement on energy in a briefing to Member States.  The President of the General Assembly, Mr. Nassir Abdulaziz Al-Nasser, joined the Secretary-General at the briefing.

Speaking about the mandate for the Group, co-Chair Yumkella noted that many of the world’s most pressing challenges could not be addressed “when 20 per cent of humanity has no access to electricity, and nearly 40 per cent rely on charcoal or wood for cooking or heating”.  According to Mr. Yumkella, “Our goal is to help change people’s lives so they have the access to energy they need to build more productive, healthier lives,” Group co-Chair Holliday said, “private sector investment, innovation, and the entrepreneurial spirit had a significant role to play” in the Initiative.

For further information, please contact Dan Shepard, United Nations Department of Public Information, tel.: +1 212 963 9495; e-mail:  shepard@un.org.

Membership of Secretary General’s High-level Group on Sustainable Energy for All

Co-Chairs:  Kandeh Yumkella, Chairman, UN-Energy; and Charles Holliday, Chairman, Bank of America.

Principals:  Farooq Abdullah, Minister of New and Renewable Energy of India;Suleiman Jasir Al-Herbish, Director-General, OPEC Fund for International Development; Sultan Ahmed Al Jaber, CEO and Managing Director, MASDAR; Adnan Amin, Director General, International Renewable Energy Agency; John Browne, Partner and Managing Director, Riverstone Holdings; Steven Chu, United States Secretary of Energy; Helen Clark, Administrator, United Nations Development Programme; Luciano Coutinho, President, Brazilian Development Bank; Brian Dames, CEO, ESKOM; Aliko Dangote, President and CEO, Dangote Group; Christine Eibs Singer, CEO, E+Co; Ditlev Engel, President and CEO, Vestas; Wolfgang Engshuber, Chairman, Principles for Responsible Investment; William D. Green, Chairman, Accenture; Timur Ivanov, Director General, Russian Energy Agency; Georgina Kessel, Director-General, National Bank of Public Works and Services of Mexico; Michael Liebreich, CEO, Bloomberg New Energy Finance; Edison Lobão, Minister of Energy and Mines of Brazil; Peter Löscher, President and CEO, Siemens; Helge Lund, CEO, Statoil; Julia Marton-Lefèvre, Director General, International Union for Conservation of Nature; Ibrahim Mayaki, CEO, New Partnership for Africa’s Development; Mark Moody-Stuart, Chairman, Foundation for the United Nations Global Compact; José da Costa Carvalho Neto, CEO, Eletrobras; Andris Piebalgs, European Commissioner for Development; James E. Rogers, Chairman, President & CEO, Duke Energy; Sanjit 'Bunker' Roy, Founder and Director, Barefoot College; Andrew Steer, Special Envoy for Climate Change, World Bank Group; Achim Steiner, Executive Director, United Nations Environment Programme; Timothy Wirth, President, United Nations Foundation; Chen Yuan, Chairman of the Board of Directors, China Development Bank; and Shi Zhengrong, CEO, Suntech Power Holdings.

Technical Group:  Al Binger, Caribbean Community Climate Change Center; Fatih Birol, International Energy Agency; Abeeku Brew-Hammond, Energy Commission for Ghana; Mark Fulton, Deutsche Bank; Vijay Iyer, World Bank; Daniel Kammen, University of California, Berkeley; Susan McDade, United Nations Resident Coordinator for Uruguay; Vijay Modi, Columbia University; Nebojsa Nakicenovic, International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis; Petter Nore, Norwegian Agency for Development Cooperation; Richard Samans, Global Green Growth Institute; and Leena Srivastava, The Energy and Resources Institute.

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For information media • not an official record