Bangkok: Annual investments of $ 35 billion can bring access to electricity to 759 million people who currently lack it, and $ 25 billion a year can help 2.6 billion people access clean kitchens. ‘by 2030, delegates said at the five-day UN ministerial meeting. meeting that ended here on Friday.

The investment required is only a small fraction of the trillion-dollar global energy investment needed overall, but will bring huge benefits to one-third of the world’s population, they said.

The recommendations on energy access are part of a proposed global roadmap with concrete actions to achieve clean and affordable energy for all by 2030 and net zero emissions by 2050 launched by the United Nations to lay the groundwork for a large-scale mobilization of commitments this year. .

National and municipal governments, foundations and businesses have now started announcing major commitments in the form of energy pacts, leading to a high-level dialogue on energy, a summit to be convened by the UN in September.

“The ambitious energy pacts proposed by countries, companies, cities and many other partners are a spark of hope to achieve a just transition to sustainable energy and thereby improve the lives of millions of people,” said the Secretary General of the Dialogue. Liu Zhenmin, United Nations Under-Secretary-General for Economic and Social Affairs.

“But this is only the start and we need a lot more commitment and concrete action at this year’s high-level energy dialogue to get to where we need to be by 2030,” did he declare.

The proposed roadmap, which will inform the high-level dialogue on energy in September and be reflected in the political declaration resulting from the summit, is based on reports submitted by five technical working groups that brought together more than 160 experts since March.

The five areas of intervention are: access to energy; energetic transition ; enable the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) through fair and inclusive energy transitions; innovation, technology and data; and finance and investment.

To achieve the goals of the SDGs and the Paris Agreement, the energy transition must become an effort of transformation, a redesign of the system, suggests the proposed roadmap.

Reports recommend rapidly scaling up available solutions to reach 8,000 GW of renewable energy by 2030, up from 2,800 GW currently, and to increase the average annual rate of energy efficiency improvement by 0 , 8 to 3%.

By 2025, 100 countries are expected to set targets for 100% renewable energy, and there should be no new coal-fired power plants planned in the world. The share of fossil fuels in the global mix will rise from 60% currently to 30% by 2030.

The proposed roadmap also calls on countries to phase out coal by 2030 in wealthier countries that are members of the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) and by 2040 in non-member countries, recognizing that many developing countries will need support for this. treat.

By 2050, 92% of electricity will come from renewable technologies.

“The energy revolution is underway, but 759 million people still live without electricity and without the opportunities it offers,” said Achim Steiner, administrator of the United Nations Development Program and co-chair of the high-level dialogue.

“This is one of the most glaring examples of inequality in our world today. Access to clean and affordable energy for all is the foundation for a rapid and just global energy transition.”

(ANI)