Press Release No. G/45/2000
14 November 2000
Business Forum, NGO Symposium complement ESCAP meeting,
21-24 November 2000, Bali, Indonesia
Bangkok, 14 November (United Nations Information Services) – Critical issues and regional strategies for the promotion of a sustainable energy future in the Asian and Pacific region will be the focus of a High-Level Regional Meeting on Energy for Sustainable Development to be held in Bali from 21-24 November 2000. The meeting, organized by the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP) and hosted by the Government of Indonesia, will also formulate an action programme to address sustainable energy issues.
HE Megawati Sukarnoputri, Vice President of the Republic of Indonesia, will open the High Level segment of the meeting on 23 November. Other participants of note include Mr. Kim Hak-Su, Executive Secretary, ESCAP, and HE Dr. Purnomo Yusgiantoro, Indonesian Minister of Energy and Mineral Resources.
More than 200 participants from approximately 35 countries are expected to attend the four-day meeting to be held at the Bali International Conference Centre, Denpasar, Bali, Indonesia.
Organizers see sufficient, clean and affordable energy as an essential precondition for sustainable socio-economic development in the region.
“Of the 1.8 billion people in the world who are deprived of the minimum needs of energy services, a majority live in the ESCAP region,” said Mr. Kim Hak-Su, ESCAP.
“There is a vicious circle in which lack of required energy in terms of quality and quantity leads to poverty, which in turn leads to a reduction in or even denial of access to existing sources of energy, leading to greater poverty.”
The meeting will consist of two segments: a meeting of Senior Officials from 21-22 November and a High-Level or Ministerial segment from 23-24 November. An NGO Symposium (21-22 November) and a Business Forum (23 November) will be held in conjunction with the meeting.
The meeting is expected to adopt a statement or declaration providing a common platform to address critical energy issues specific to the region. These include accessibility of energy; renewable energy; rural energy; energy efficiency; mobilizing financial resources; technology transfer; market reform and energy pricing; and international and regional cooperation and assistance. The declaration will be issued to the Ninth Session of the Conference on Sustainable Development, a global forum that will meet in New York next year.
Asia-Pacific NGO Symposium on Regional Perspectives and Initiatives for
Achieving a “Sustainable Energy Future for All,” 21-22 November 2000
The Asia-Pacific NGO Symposium on Regional Perspectives and Initiatives for Achieving a “Sustainable Energy Future for All” will be held in parallel from 21-22 November 2000. The two-day event will bring together concerned regional non-governmental and non-commercial organizations that are involved in planning and implementing advocacy work and projects for promotion of a sustainable energy future in the Asia-Pacific region. The Symposium aims to attain greater involvement and wider participation of civil society in the international consultation process on recommended energy policies and the financial, economic, social and environmental dimensions of energy sector development and energy use.
The Symposium will also provide a forum to highlight inspiring “best practices” and to promote “replicable project approaches” among the socially and environmentally concerned groups. Organizers envisage that the Symposium participants will adopt a consolidated regional position paper, “NGO Perspectives on Sustainable Energy Development Action Programme for the Asia-Pacific region” and present it to the governmental delegates attending the High-level segment. Among the organizations expected to attend are Greenpeace South East Asia, IUCN (International Union for the Conservation of Nature), and MAGIC EYES, Thailand.
The NGO Symposium is organized by ESCAP in partnership with PELANGI-Indonesia, a non-profit, non-governmental research organization for sustainable development
Business Forum, 23 November 2000
A second adjunct to the High Level Meeting on Energy for Sustainable Development is a Business Forum scheduled for 23 November 2000. The meeting will bring together regional business leaders from the energy sector to identify problems and find practical solutions to the issues being discussed by Government officials. Topics for working group discussions include energy and environment; energy end use efficiency; energy infrastructure; and access to energy services in remote locations.
Participants of note include HE Dr. Purnomo Yusgiantoro, Indonesian Minister of Energy and Mineral Resources, the Honourable Warren Entsch, Member of Parliament and Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister for Industry, Science, and Resources, Australia; Mr. Kim Hak-Su, Executive Secretary, ESCAP, and Dr. David Natusch, Managing Director, Resource Development Limited, New Zealand, who will chair the meeting.
Background information
In 1992, more than 100 heads of State met in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil for the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development (UNCED). The “Earth Summit” was convened to address urgent problems of environmental protection and socio-economic development. The assembled leaders signed the Framework Convention on Climate Change and the Convention on Biological Diversity; endorsed the Rio Declaration and the Forest Principles; and adopted Agenda 21, a 300-page plan for achieving sustainable development in the 21st century. The Commission on Sustainable Development (CSD) was created in December 1992 to ensure effective follow-up of UNCED; to monitor and report on implementation of the Earth Summit agreements at the local, national, regional and international levels. The CSD is a functional commission of the UN Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC).
In preparation for the ninth session of the Commission on Sustainable Development, which will consider energy, transport, and protection of the atmosphere, ESCAP was mandated to identify a regional perspective on Energy for Sustainable Development. In 2002 at its 10th session (“Rio+10”), the CSD will review the overall achievements in implementation of Agenda 21.
For further information please contact:
Mr. P. C. Saha, Chief, Energy Resources Section
Environment and Natural Resources Development Division, ESCAP
Tel: (66 2) 288 1546; Fax: (66 2) 288 1059 / 1048
E-mail: saha.unescap@un.org
URL: http://www.unescap.org/enrd/energy/bali/bali.htm
Mr. David Lazarus, Chief, United Nations Information Services/Bangkok
Tel: (66-2) 288-1866-1869; Fax: (66-2) 288-1052
E-mail: unisbkk.unescap@un.org
Mr. Abdullah Saleh Mbamba, Director, UN Information Centre/Jakarta
Tel: (62-21) 380-0292/385-4550; Fax: (62-21) 380-0274
E-mail: unicjak@rad.net.id