19 April 2024 - The President of the UN General Assembly called for the acknowledgement of mixed efforts to achieve the goals of the , as the UN’s drew to a close on Friday.
The unanimous declaration of the Decade of Sustainable Energy for All in 2012 aimed to hone on the importance of improving “access to reliable, affordable, economically viable, socially acceptable and environmentally sound energy services and resources for sustainable development.”&苍产蝉辫;
Dennis Francis said there have been both achievements and shortcomings in meeting the goal throughout the decade.
He noted that developing countries experienced a 9.6 per cent annual growth in renewable energy installation and the global population with access to electricity has increased from 87 per cent to 91 per cent since 2015.
Yet, he said, “the pace of energy transformations is still much too slow – and the benefits are not shared equitably.”&苍产蝉辫;
‘Business as usual cannot be a credible option’
Mr. Francis said urgent action needs to be taken to address these sustainability issues, especially since more than 73 million people in least-developed countries continue to remain without electricity.
“We must truly deliver to all people, universal access to affordable, reliable, sustainable, and modern energy, while substantially increasing the share of renewable energy in the global energy mix by 2030,” he said.
He also stressed actively trying to make renewable energy three times more widespread worldwide and doubling how much energy we save each year.
Most important, he said, is rectifying, “...the stark moral failure evident in the fact that billions still live without adequate energy, or any energy at all, while others are reportedly planning lunar vacations being offered commercially.”&苍产蝉辫;
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