Brussels, 11/04/2012 (Agence Europe) - The first European “Sustainable Energy for All” summit is to be held in Brussels on Monday 16 April. The European Commission and the Danish Presidency will host the event, which will bring together representatives of the European Union, the United Nations, the developing countries, industry and civil society organisations - all committed to supporting the objective of giving the poorest people of this planet access to renewable and sustainable energy by 2030. This aim was agreed by the UN high level group steered by Secretary General Ban Ki-moon. European Development Commissioner Andris Piebalgs is a member of the high level group.
European Commission President José Manuel Barroso and Ban Ki-moon will open the summit, to be jointly chaired by Andris Piebalgs and Christian Friis Bach, Danish Development Cooperation Minister. Ensuring universal access to modern energy services, doubling the overall rate of energy efficiency improvement, and doubling the share of renewable energies in the overall mix of fuel sources are the three objectives to be attained by 2030, with support from the European Commission. The year 2012 is the international year for sustainable energy for all. It was initiated early February at the European Parliament (see EUROPE 10548). (AN/transl.jl)