1 October 2014: The UN Secretary-General’s Sustainable Energy for All (SE4ALL) initiative has received €2 million in funding from the EU. The funding will support the work of the SE4ALL Secretariat Global Facilitation Team towards the initiative’s global goals over a two-year period.

The support was announced at a signing ceremony that took place during an EU workshop on ‘Empowering Rural Electrification: The EU Framework for Access to Sustainable Energy,’ held in Brussels, Belgium, from 29-30 September 2014. The agreement was signed by Christopher Jones, Head of the Cabinet of the European Commissioner for Development, and Kandeh Yumkella, UN Secretary-General’s Special Representative for SE4ALL.

Further, on 1 October, the European Commission hosted the SE4ALL Access Committee meeting at the same venue. Speaking at the event, European Commissioner for Development Andris Piebalgs outlined the aim of the meeting as building on the recommendations of the previous Access Committee meeting held on 28 April 2014, in Vienna, Austria, namely: a comprehensive approach to ending energy poverty; promoting the private sector; and combining sector reforms for an investment-friendly environment while ensuring necessary support for catalyzing real change and growth.

Piebalgs also highlighted the European Commission’s goal to support access to sustainable energy services for 500 million people in developing countries by 2030, and more than €3 billion earmarked for supporting sustainable energy activities in the EU’s partner countries and regions.

SE4ALL is focused on three 2030 objectives: universal access to modern energy services; doubling the rate of energy efficiency improvements; and doubling the share of renewable energy in the global energy mix. [SE4ALL Press Release] [European Commission Press Release] [IISD RS Story on EU Rural Electrification Workshop]