14 December 2012: The African, Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) Group of States expressed their support for the UN General Assembly’s (UNGA) draft resolution on a decade of Sustainable Energy for All (SE4ALL) from 2014 to 2024 in The Sipopo Declaration, which was adopted at the Seventh Summit of ACP Heads of State and Government in Malabo, Equatorial Guinea from 13-14 December 2012.

The draft resolution on SE4ALL declares the decade 2014-2024 to be the “UN Decade of SE4ALL” to promote the use of all sources of energy. In supporting the proposed Decade, the Sipopo Declaration recognizes the role of energy in meeting the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), combatting climate change and achieving sustainable development, including in the post-2015 development agenda.

In the Declaration, States said the proposed SE4ALL decade would “continue to build on the momentum created, and promote action at all levels.” The Declaration also welcomes the UN International Year of SE4ALL in 2012. A similar endorsement for a SE4ALL decade was made in the ACP Head of State Outcome Document at a meeting in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia in November 2012.

Henry Puna, Prime Minister of the Cook Islands, recognized energy as “inextricably tied to our economic growth and welfare” and noted that many Pacific Island countries have taken steps to decrease their dependency on fossil fuel. By 2020, the SE4ALL Initiative aims to: achieve universal energy access; increase energy efficiency; and increase the share of renewable energy in the global energy mix. Kandeh Yumkella, Director-General of United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO) serves as the Special Representative for SE4ALL and chief executive of the Initiative. [UNIDO press release] [IISD RS story on UNGA Draft Resolution]