14 April 2012: The Sustainable Energy for All (SE4ALL) Initiative’s Spring newsletter highlights European Commission (EC) financial support for SE4ALL, technical assistance activities in developing countries, as well as the roll-out of activities related to SE4ALL for Small Island Developing States (SIDS).
The newsletter highlights that the EC has pledged to support SE4ALL’s new technical assistance facility, pledging €50 million over two years, and will draw on EU experts to develop technical assistance expertise for developing countries. According to José Manuel Barroso, President of the European Commission, the EU and its member States will also look to provide several more hundred million euros over the next two years to support concrete new investments in sustainable energy for developing countries.

The newsletter also highlights an announcement of a conference on “Achieving Sustainable Energy for All in SIDS-Challenges, Opportunities and Commitments” and a roll-out of the year of SE4ALL in SIDS. The meeting is set to take place in Bridgetown, Barbados from 7-9 May 2012.

Also contained in the newsletter are sections on: Rio+Social, a platform that is set to draw wider participation to the UN Conference on Sustainable Development (UNCSD, or Rio+20) by online participants; a report of the Bloomberg New Energy Finance Summit recently held in New York, which featured Chad Holliday, Chairman, Bank of America, discussing SE4ALL; UN Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO) Director-General Kandeh Yumkella’s keynote speech at the “Energy Efficiency Global Forum” held in Florida, US in March; and leadership profiles featuring UNEP’s Executive Director Achim Steiner and World Business Council for Sustainable Development’s (WBCSD) President Peter Bakker. [Publication: SE4ALL Newsletter]