New climate deal must tackle energy poverty, says UN

Tuesday, 24 November 2009 09:00

1.5 billion people still living in darkness, says UN ahead of Copenhagen climate talks

As world leaders enter into final negotiations ahead of the Copenhagen climate talks, almost a quarter of the global population —1.5 billion people—  lives without electricity, 80 percent of them in the least developed countries (LDCs) of South Asia and sub-Saharan Africa. That’s according to figures from a new UN report that shines a light on the plight of the three billion people without access to modern energy services.

“Almost half of humanity is completely disconnected from the debate on how to drive human progress with less emissions and greener energy because their reality is much more basic than that: they carry heavy loads of water and food on their backs because they don’t have transport; they cook over wood fires that damage their health, not with electricity, gas or oil,” said Olav Kjorven, UN Assistant Secretary-General and Director of Development Policy at UNDP. “We must ensure that the energy needs of these people are central to a new climate agreement,” he said.

According to the Report, to halve the proportion of people living in poverty by 2015 —the first of eight, internationally agreed Millennium Development Goals (MDGs)— 1.2 billion more people will need access to electricity and two billion more people will need access to modern fuels like natural gas or Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG), also called propane.

Two million people die every year from causes associated with exposure to smoke from cooking with biomass and coal —and 99 percent of those deaths occur in developing countries. In LDCs and sub-Saharan Africa, half of all deaths from pneumonia in children under five years, chronic lung disease and lung cancer in adults are attributed to the use of solid fuel use, compared with 38 percent in developing countries overall.

“Expanding energy access is essential to tackle global poverty. It needs to happen at the lowest cost and in the cleanest and most sustainable way possible to help developing countries establish a low-carbon route to development,” said Mr. Kjorven.

The report was produced in partnership by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and the World Health Organization (WHO), with support from the International Energy Agency (IEA).

Source: UNDP