ESCAP considers other energy sources
NUSA DUA, Bali (JP): The Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP) regional meeting was officially closed on Friday night with the endorsement of the Bali Declaration on Asia Pacific Perspective on Energy for Sustainable Development.
"The Bali Declaration contains a commitment by Asia Pacific countries to enhance policies, planning and management, including the integration of energy issues into the policy making process in the economic, social and environmental sectors," said chairman of the meeting Purnomo Yusgiantoro, who is also the Indonesian minister of energy and mineral resources.
Representatives from 33 countries, along with six United Nations bodies and four observer countries, business communities and non-government organization attended the four-day meeting.
The Bali Declaration and its action plan will be submitted to the Ninth Session of the Commission on Sustainable Development slated to be held in New York next April.
"Meanwhile, the action plan consists of strategy for the implementation of the commitment, including the expansion of energy accessibility," Purnomo said.
"The United Nation's World Energy Assessment Report indicates that nearly two billion people or one third of the world's population still do not have adequate access to commercial energy and rely almost totally on traditional energy sources. Most of them living in rural areas in developing countries."
Another major concern addressed by the action plan is the need to develop renewable energy sources to substitute for fossil-fuel generated energy.
"The most reasonable alternative energy sources are wind, solar energy and hydroelectric energy," he added.
"Yet, we have to deal with many obstacles, including financial investment and the availability of sufficient technology in developing these alternative energy resources."
The section chief of the United Nations' Environment and Natural Resources Development, Pranesh Chandra Saha, revealed that UN figures quoted at the conference gave a dismal picture of energy demand outstripping supply.
"By 2010 the ESCAP regions are estimated to be the largest energy consuming regions in the world," Pranesh said.
The bill for energy investment requirement by 2005 in East Asia alone would range between US$150 billion and $200 billion annually, ESCAP executive secretary Kim Hak Su said.
The action plan also consists of a design for optimizing the efficiency of energy consumption, efforts to provide reliable and affordable energy services in rural areas, and innovative finance schemes for sustainable energy and enhancing the transfer of technology.
The meeting also recommended that policy on energy price be restructured to support sustainable energy development and create a level playing field for renewable energy and energy efficient technology. (zen/edt)