2 June 2011: The Global Summit to Strengthen Public-Private Partnerships to Accelerate Global Electricity Technology Deployment brought together leaders in the public and private sectors and civil society to discuss: the role of public-private partnerships best practices to effectively establish energy policies; the importance of long term stable policy frameworks to meet goals; and the integration of partnerships into electricity and energy services development plans.

The Summit, which took place on 2 June 2011 at the UN Headquarters in New York, US, was organized by UN-Energy and the Global Sustainable Electricity Partnership (formerly the e8). Created in the wake of the 1992 Rio Summit, the Global Sustainable Electricity Partnership is a non-profit international organization, composed of ten world leading electricity companies, and which aims to promote sustainable energy development through electricity sector projects and human capacity building activities in developing and emerging countries. Speaking at a press conference held after the meeting, Tariq Banuri, Director of the Division for Sustainable Development in the Department of Economic and Social Affairs (DESA), said the meeting, a prelude to the International Year of Sustainable Energy for All 2012, sought to launch partnerships aimed at supporting and promoting the global deployment of low- and zero-emitting electricity technologies and initiatives, mainly at local and regional levels. [Summit Website] [UN Press Conference Transcript]