UN heads urge governments and industry to invest in clean energy

Friday, 19 June 2009 08:16

Renewable and clean energy sources offer the world hope not just in combating climate change but also in reversing the global economic slump, top United Nations officials told the General Assembly yesterday, calling for investment in ‘green’ technology, according to UN News Centre.

“The prospects for renewable energy have never looked better, even in the face of recession,” said General Assembly President Miguel D’Escoto. 

Mr. D’Escoto voiced hope, especially for the most vulnerable, that the global economic downturn will end before too long. “It would be an enormous step forward if this recovery were coupled with visionary policies, innovative technologies and broad incentives for new and renewable sources of energy.” He also said that the private sector must become mobilized in supporting the goal of renewable energy.

Mr. D’Escoto stressed that “our development and survival as a healthy species depend on the long-term availability of energy from sources that are dependable, safe and environmentally sound.”

In his opening remarks to the gathering, Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon noted that climate change is not only posing serious global threat but is generating a “world of opportunities.”

“The Green Economy is the wave of the future,” said Mr. Ban. He said that the UN conference in Copenhagen this December aimed at reaching an ambitious new greenhouse gas emission reduction agreement to succeed the Kyoto Protocol can create momentum for the ‘green economy.’ “Copenhagen can give it a massive, even decisive, boost,” he said. “It can support job creation, rural development and environmental protection.

Mr. Ban stressed that the expansion of renewable energy must be made the foundation of development, noting that the transformation of the global energy market is already under way. “We stand at a crossroads. One direction leads to an abyss. The other direction leads to sustainable, more prosperous, more stable world. The choice should be clear,” he stated.