Secretary-General's message to the Energy Globe Awards

Clean, affordable and sustainable energy is essential for human development. Yet some two billion people in our world lack access to electricity. They rely instead, for cooking and heating, on poor quality fuels such as wood, crop wastes and dung burned in inefficient stoves that create significant indoor pollution, which in turn leads to respiratory disease and other health problems. The use of such fuels also contributes to deforestation, water pollution and smog. Let us remember, too, the many millions of women and girls who spend hours each day carrying and foraging for fuel -- back-breaking work that is also a tragic loss of time that could be spent on education, employment or simply caring for the health and well-being of one's family.

The poor are also the most vulnerable to the consequences of climate change. The world's best science has been warning us for many years about unsustainable patterns of energy consumption and use. Today they are being increasingly joined by the insurance industry, which is naturally concerned at the heightened frequency and intensity of extreme weather events and natural disasters of recent years. The financial community is also getting involved, suggesting that the risks associated with climate change will be a growing factor in investment decisions. With the recent decisions by the Russian Federation, we can now expect the Kyoto Protocol to enter into force. That would be a significant first step in slowing down the growth in harmful greenhouse gas concentrations in the atmosphere. It would also help to galvanize the world's efforts to tackle the planetary challenge of climate change.

The Energy Globe Awards demonstrate that clean and modern forms of energy to drive sustainable development and reduce environmental impacts are available now. We need to do all we can to promote their further development and to establish a level playing field so that they can reach the market and take hold. Instead of pollution and poverty, let us do more to set the world on a course to achieve the Millennium Development Goals. And instead of climate change, let us create a climate for change, and for a safer, more sustainable path of development. I congratulate all the awardees for their commitment to this cause and for their contributions to the work of the United Nations. Please accept my best wishes for a successful ceremony.