Role of Sustainable Energy in Alleviating Climate Change, Global Poverty
From 18.09.2008 to 18.09.2008
REEEP Organised
Organised by REEEP
Location: Washington, DC
Description:
The Renewable Energy & Energy Efficiency Partnership (REEEP) will host a policy briefing chaired by Sen. Ken Salazar (D-Colo.) to address how sustainable energy practices and policies can help impoverished people worldwide meet their energy needs while reducing climate change emissions.
Worldwide, 2.5 billion people lack access to modern energy services and must rely on open fires for cooking, heating, and lighting. The burning of biomass for energy impedes sustainable development and, according to recent peer-reviewed studies, is the second largest contributor to global warming, after carbon dioxide emissions. More generally, lack of access to efficient energy conversion also results in poor agricultural and waste management practices, trapping populations in a cycle of poverty and disease.
The policy briefing will highlight how the U.S. government, in partnership with REEEP and other international institutions, plans to address this critical yet overlooked aspect of the world’s energy challenges through the development and deployment of appropriate energy technologies.
- Sen. Ken Salazar (D-Colo.), Member, Senate Energy & Natural Resources Committee
- Sen. Richard Lugar (R-Ind.), Ranking Member and Former Chairman, Senate Foreign Relations Committee
- Dr. Kandeh Yumkella, Chair, UN Energy; Director-General, UN Industrial Development Organization
- Dr. Marianne Osterkorn, International Director, REEEP
- Dr. Valerie Caton, U.K. Ambassador to Finland; former head of FCO Climate Change and Energy Group
- Dr. Lakshman Guruswamy, Director, Center for Energy and Environmental Security; Nicholas Doman Professor of Law, University of Colorado
- Under Secretary Paula Dobriansky, U.S. State Department, Democracy and Global Affairs