It was announced by the UN Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon at the opening of the 5th World Future Energy Summit which was held from 16 to 19 January 2012 in Abu-Dhabi (United Arab Emirates).

The UN Secretary General called for stepped up action by governments, private sector and civil society to ramp up their investments into sustainable energy since 2012 was declared the International Year of Sustainable Energy for All. In particular, he noted: “Across the world we see momentum building for concrete action that reduces energy poverty, catalyses sustainable economic growth, and mitigates the risk of climate change. Achieving sustainable energy for all is both feasible and necessary, and my initiative will help us meet these objectives simultaneously. It can be a triple win for all”.

Besides he stressed: “Globally, one person in five lacks access to modern electricity. Three billion people rely on wood, coal, charcoal or animal waste for cooking and heating. In industrialized countries the problem is one of waste, not shortage, due to inefficient energy use”.

The UN Secretary General defined three specific goals to meet by 2030:

• Ensuring universal access to modern energy services.
• Doubling the rate of improvement in energy efficiency.
• Doubling the share of renewable energy in the global energy mix.

The Head of State Agency on Energy Efficiency and Energy Saving of Ukraine Mykola Pashkevych at the opening of the Board meeting stated: “The international community declared 2012 as the year of sustainable energy. The UN Secretary General urged the governments of all countries to redouble efforts to reduce energy consumption and increase the share of renewable energy sources in energy mixes. For Ukraine this matter is now more topical than ever. Our Agency will make every effort to realize these goals”.

“Deregulation in the field of energy efficiency, cancellation of control and supervisory functions and paid services, elimination of corruption factors allowed us to cooperate with business. This is proved by activated implementation of energy-efficient projects and facilitated mobilization of investments. Over the past year more than 300 million kW*h of electricity were generated from renewable energy sources in Ukraine. As a result of implementation of the energy efficiency programme, only in the first half of 2011 0.8 bn. c. m. of natural gas was saved. Since 2010 the level of energy intensity of GDP is steadily decreasing”, noticed Mykola Pashkevych.

Finally M. Pashkevych added that the Agency completed the reorganization, territorial divisions will soon be established and this will approximate the Government efforts in increasing energy efficiency to end users of energy. “We have taken a fast pace, I hope we will not only preserve it this year but speed it up”, concluded the Head of the Agency.

Prepared based on materials of SAEEEC.