The UN Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP) has launched the first annual 'Regional Trends Report on Energy for Sustainable Development in Asia and the Pacific,' alongside with the Asia Pacific Energy Portal – an online platform advancing the sustainable energy agenda in the region.
29 May 2015: The UN Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP) has launched the first annual ‘Regional Trends Report on Energy for Sustainable Development in Asia and the Pacific,’ along with the Asia Pacific Energy Portal – an online platform advancing the sustainable energy agenda in the region.
Shamshad Akhtar, UN Under-Secretary General and Executive Secretary of ESCAP, explained that the report and the portal are two of the three pillars of the Asian and Pacific Energy Forum (APEF) Implementation Support Mechanism set up by ESCAP in 2013, the third pillar being an annual Policy Dialogue, which met for the first time in 2014. She emphasized the portal’s role in further expanding the knowledge base supporting regional and global agendas, such as the Sustainable Energy for All (SE4All) initiative and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
The Asia Pacific Energy Portal offers member States tools, including interactive data visualizations that enable rapid trends identification as well as policy tracking and search. The combination of data and policy information in one application aims to improve analysis of the energy situation, policies and their development impact.
The report provides an additional platform to share member States’ experiences through case studies relating to the energy sector and its future development. It focuses on two topics: integration of renewable energy in the power system; and high-efficiency, low-emission coal technologies. [ESCAP Press Release] [Asia Pacific Energy Portal] [Speech by Shamshad Akhtar]