Big week in London for clean energy 24 April 2012
This week London is hosting both the UN's Sustainable Energy for All (SE4ALL) Initiative, and the Clean Energy Ministerial for international energy ministers.
These meetings will set the agenda for the UN sustainable development conference Rio+20 and the G20 meeting of finance ministers, which take place in June this year.
With over 1.3 billion people currently without access to electricity, SE4ALL aims to deliver energy access for the world's poorest people and promote a clean energy future.
However there is a risk that unsustainable technologies such as industrial biofuels and "clean" fossil fuels will be pushed as solutions. This dirty energy is responsible for 65 percent of global carbon emissions, driving catastrophic climate change.
By supporting the SE4ALL as chair of the Clean Energy Ministerial, the UK Government can:
- ensure that only clean, safe, affordable renewable energy is supported for the world's poor
- raise ambition on for Rio+20 and the G20 in June,
- provide assistance to help the world's poorest countries move away from dirty fossil fuels.
The UK Government can show real global leadership by helping to deliver clean and affordable energy to 20% of the world's population who are without even the most basic forms of electricity.
Access to clean, safe and affordable energy would bring huge benefits for the world's poor and the climate, and would help keep temperature levels below 2 degrees.
For more information see our briefing on these events.
