The UN-Energy newsletter highlights, among other issues, progress made on SE4ALL at Rio+20, the first meeting of UN-Energy Asia Pacific, the Green Industry Platform which mobilizes action for the Green Industry Agenda, and online tools for global solar opportunities, bioenergy, and food security.
30 June 2012: The June 2012 edition of the UN-Energy Newsletter has been published, focusing on the launch of the Green Industry Platform at the UN Conference on Sustainable Development (UNCSD, or Rio+20); new UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) tools on Bioenergy and Food Security; strengthening public private partnerships (PPPs) to accelerate global electricity deployment; and global solar opportunity tool.
The Green Industry Platform was launched during Rio+20 by the UN Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO), UN Environment Programme (UNEP) and UN Global Compact, aiming to mobilize action on the Green Industry Agenda to green manufacturing and create green new businesses. On the launch of the Green Industry Platform at Rio+20, Kandeh Yumkella, UNIDO Director General and UN-Energy Chair, noted that “the Platform is set to secure concrete commitments and mobilize action in support of the Green Industry Agenda, encouraging the more efficient use of energy and raw materials in manufacturing process services.”
The newsletter also highlights the new FAO bioenergy and food security analytical framework tool designed to help policy-makers make informed decisions regarding modern bioenergy development. It covers a broad range of environmental and socio-economic food security issues, and has already been implemented parts of Africa, Asia and Latin America.
On strengthening PPPs to accelerate global electricity deployment, the newsletter indicates that during the January 2012 meeting of the Secretary-General’s High-level Group on Sustainable Energy for All, a framework on action was developed toward achieving the initiative’s objectives in the areas of energy access, energy efficiency and renewable energy.
The newsletter highlights a new online global solar opportunity tool that facilitates analysis and visualization of the technical and economic potential for solar power in a given country or region. In other news, an update on the Sustainable Energy for All Initiative (SE4ALL) is provided, including that at Rio+20, over 150 voluntary commitments were registered by civil society, governments, the private sector and international organizations. Finally, the newsletter provides overview of the first meeting of the UN-Energy Asia Pacific, in Bangkok, Thailand, on 20 April 2012. [Publication: UN Energy newsletter]