Sustainable Energy for All

Three numbers illustrate the scope of the energy access problem:

• 3 billion people lack access to affordable, modern energy services for cooking, heating and productive uses.
• More than 1.5 billion people lack access to electricity, and a billion more depend on unreliable power grids.
• Smoke from polluting and inefficient cooking, lighting, and heating devices kills nearly 2 million people every year, primarily women and children.

To draw global attention to this issue and spur the international community toward action, in December 2010, the UN General Assembly designated 2012 as the International Year of Sustainable Energy for All.

Through a global communications campaign, the organization of a wide variety of events, and the establishment of National Coordinating Committees to develop national energy access plans, the UN Foundation will work with the UN, governments, the private sector, and civil society toward the broader goal of universal energy access by 2030 – a recommendation of the Secretary-General’s Advisory Group on Energy and Climate Change, which was endorsed by the Secretary-General last year.

For more information, contact us at SEFA2012@unfoundation.org.

Resources

• Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon's endorsement of the Year Resolution 
• Report of the Secretary-General's Advisory Group on Energy and Climate Change (AGECC)

Visit the Website »

RELATED CAMPAIGNS AND INITIATIVES

THE LATEST