{"id":14555,"date":"2016-01-18T17:20:09","date_gmt":"2016-01-18T17:20:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.un.org\/sustainabledevelopment\/?p=14555"},"modified":"2018-04-22T12:01:50","modified_gmt":"2018-04-22T16:01:50","slug":"ban-sustainable-energy-can-save-millions-of-lives","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.un.org\/sustainabledevelopment\/blog\/2016\/01\/ban-sustainable-energy-can-save-millions-of-lives\/","title":{"rendered":"Ban: Sustainable energy can \u2018save millions of lives’"},"content":{"rendered":"

Millions of lives can be saved by ensuring access to affordable, reliable, sustainable and modern energy, United Nations Secretary-General<\/a> Ban Ki-moon today stressed at the World Future Energy Summit taking place in the United Arab Emirates.<\/p>\n

\u201cSustainable energy is the thread that connects economic growth, social equity, and our efforts to combat climate change,\u201d Mr. Ban told<\/a> industry leaders from around the world attending the week-long conference in Abu Dhabi.<\/p>\n

Highlighting last year\u2019s \u201clandmark\u201d global agreements on the Sustainable Development Goals<\/a> (SDGs) and on climate change at COP21<\/a> in December, the Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵ chief noted that for the first time, every country in the world pledged to act internationally and domestically to address climate change.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe universality of these agreements, and their inclusive nature, mean that we have a clear way forward,\u201d he said. \u201cNow is the time for action. Governments, the private sector, regional and international organizations, must start working to implement the 17 ambitious Global Goals,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

One of these Goals \u2013 SDG7<\/a> \u2013 aims to ensure access to affordable, reliable, sustainable and modern energy for all. He explained that clean, sustainable energy will not only help safeguard the future of the planet \u2013 keeping temperature rise below the two degree Celsius goal \u2013 it will also directly save an estimated 4.3 million lives every year. That is the estimated number of people who die prematurely from pollution resulting from indoor cookstoves that use fire, coal, charcoal or animal waste.<\/p>\n

\u201cMost of these people are women and children, who spend their time near wood-burning stoves and open flames. It is women and girls who bear the brunt of collecting firewood and fuels \u2013 time-consuming activities which limit their work and education opportunities,\u201d the Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵ chief warned.<\/p>\n

He added that SDG7 is also at the heart of development, since more than one billion people in the world have no access to electricity.<\/p>\n

\u201cAchieving SDG7 well before 2030 will vastly improve our chances of achieving the Global Goals on food security, health care, education, employment, sustainable cities and more,\u201d he declared. \u201cWe have made a good start. There has been remarkable progress on many fronts.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Secretary-General noted that a new generation of energy-efficient appliances is giving people access to the lighting, heating, communication and other tools that they need, while reminding all leaders and decision-makers at the Summit that emissions must be cut drastically and counterproductive subsidies must end.<\/p>\n

\u201cGovernments and the private sector will need to align their decisions,\u201d he insisted. \u201cEvery dollar of the trillions that will be spent on new infrastructure in the next 15 years must be invested in climate-friendly projects that will drive the growth of low-carbon goods and services.\u201d<\/p>\n

Ending his remarks, he underlined the important role women play in seeking sustainable solutions. \u201cWomen are often the primary managers of energy in their households and communities and so can be powerful agents of change in the transition to sustainable, clean, green energy.\u201d<\/p>\n

Later in the day, the Secretary-General spoke<\/a> at the launch of \u201cAbu Dhabi Action Day,\u201d saying how inspired he was by presentations showcased at the Summit, especially those created by young people.<\/p>\n

\u201cI am so honoured and excited to see that all of you are part of a global push to do something even bigger than adopt a global agreement on climate change \u2013 namely to make it a reality.\u201d
\nVia Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵ News Centre<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Millions of lives can be saved by ensuring access to affordable, reliable, sustainable and modern energy, Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon stressed at the World Future Energy Summit taking place in the United Arab Emirates.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":230,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[15,30],"tags":[472,261,5499],"class_list":["post-14555","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-energy","category-secretary-general","tag-ban-ki-moon","tag-energy","tag-sustainable-energy"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.un.org\/sustainabledevelopment\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14555","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.un.org\/sustainabledevelopment\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.un.org\/sustainabledevelopment\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.un.org\/sustainabledevelopment\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/230"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.un.org\/sustainabledevelopment\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=14555"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.un.org\/sustainabledevelopment\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14555\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.un.org\/sustainabledevelopment\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=14555"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.un.org\/sustainabledevelopment\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=14555"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.un.org\/sustainabledevelopment\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=14555"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}