Brussels, 26/08/2002 (Agence Europe) - With a view to the Johannesburg Summit, which will be addressing energy questions and the fight against poverty, the International Energy Agency (IEA) has published a study entitled "Energy and Poverty", with the aim of providing detailed information on global poverty and energy use, to contribute to better choices towards solutions. The IEA study notes that: (1) 1.6 billion people today have no access to electricity, and in the absence of radical new policies, 1.4 billion will still have no electricity in 30 years' time; (2) 2.4 billion people rely on primitive biomass (wood, agricultural residue, dung) for cooking and heating (a figure expected to reach 2.6 billion in 2030); (3) in the absence of an adequate energy supply at affordable prices, it is virtually impossible to carry on productive economic activity or to improve health and education. As a result, poor people remain poor. As IEA Executive Director Robert Priddle concludes, "there can be no economic development without secure affordable energy". Information: Pierre Lefèvre. Tel.: 33 1 40576554. E-mail: pierre.lefevre@iea.org>
The study is one chapter in the next edition of the IEA's biennial world energy projections, "World Energy Outlook 2002", to be released on 21 September in Osaka (Japan). Info: http: //http://www.worldenergyoutlook.org/weo/pubs/weo2002/energypoverty.pdf>