UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon is leading a global initiative on Sustainable Energy for All to mobilize action from all sectors of society in support of three interlinked objectives to be achieved by 2030: providing universal access to modern energy services; doubling the global rate of improvement in energy efficiency; and doubling the share of renewable energy in the global energy mix. 

Providing Sustainable Energy for All  

Sustainable energy—energy that is accessible, cleaner and more efficient—powers opportunity. It grows economies. It lights up homes, schools and hospitals. It empowers women and local communities. And it paves a path out of poverty to greater prosperity for all.

But nearly one in five people around the world do not have access to modern energy services. Twice that number, three billion people, rely on wood, coal, charcoal or animal waste for cooking and heating. In today’s economy, this is inequitable – a major barrier to eradicating poverty. The energy future we want is one in which everyone has access to modern energy services, our energy resources are used more efficiently, and we increasingly invest in renewable sources.

Sustainable energy—energy that is accessible, cleaner and more efficient—powers opportunity.

 The key to both challenges is to provide sustainable energy for all – energy that is accessible, cleaner and more efficient. Two leading figures from the worlds of business and public service, Charles Holliday, Chairman of Bank of America, and Kandeh Yumkella, Chair of UN-Energy and Director-General of the UN Industrial Development Organization, co-chair the Secretary-General’s High-Level Group on Sustainable Energy for All.

Together with other distinguished members of the High-Level Group, they will mobilize commitments from governments, the private sector, and civil society partners to take actions that will make sustainable energy a reality for all over the next two decades. 

About the Year of Sustainable Energy for All

 The United Nations General Assembly declared 2012 the International Year of Sustainable Energy for All, recognizing that “…access to modern affordable energy services in developing countries is essential for the achievement of the internationally agreed development goals, including the Millennium Development Goals, and sustainable development, which would help to reduce poverty and to improve the conditions and standard of living for the majority of the world’s population.”

The UN General Assembly is encouraging Member States and other actors to increase the awareness of the importance of addressing energy issues and to promote action at the local, national, regional and international levels.