27 November 2013: Following a meeting of the Advisory Board of the Sustainable Energy for All initiative (SE4ALL), UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and World Bank President Jim Yong Kim announced the creation of a SE4ALL Finance Committee to begin a “concerted effort” by national governments, international organizations, civil society and the private sector to mobilize financing to deliver on the initiative’s energy access, energy efficiency and renewable energy deployment goals.

Ban and Kim also explained that national energy assessments have begun in 42 energy-poor countries. Once completed, the assessments will serve as baseline information for energy investments. At least 12 assessments are scheduled for completion by April 2014.

Other announcements made at the Advisory Board meeting included that: the success of Brazil’s “Light for All” program has meant that over 99 percent of Brazil’s population now has access to electricity; Norway has committed approximately US$325 million for 2014 to SE4ALL; Bank of America’s Green Bond, the world’s first, has raised over $500 million for three years; the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) Fund for International Development will be offering US$1 billion in funding for energy access; and the UN Development Programme (UNDP) is creating a Hub for Bottom Up Energy Solutions, which will promote energy access at the national level.

Kandeh Yumkella, the Secretary-General’s Special Representative and Chief Executive for SE4ALL, said there is widespread support for energy to be at the heart of any negotiated outcomes on a post-2015 development agenda. [World Bank Press Release] [Webcast of Press Encounter]