Ladies and gentlemen of the media,
It is a great pleasure to visit the European Union at the early stage of my second term as the Secretary General.
Let me thank President Barroso, Commissioner Piebalgs and Danish Development Minister Bach for hosting this important event.
The European Union is a key strategic partner of the United Nations across the whole spectrum of the United Nations ideals and goals and objectives, starting from peace and security, development and Human Rights. In that regard, I am particularly honoured and pleased to participate in this Sustainable Energy for All initiative summit meeting which was hosted by President Barroso.
Sustainable energy is essential for development. It is critical for ending energy poverty and generating economic growth. And it is necessary for reducing the dangerous warming of our planet.
That is why I launched this initiative in November last year.
My vision is for a world with universal access to modern energy services for all the people of the world by 2030.
A world with significantly improved rates of energy efficiency and a doubling of renewable energy in our global energy mix.
Today, the European Commission has made groundbreaking commitments that will go a long way toward meeting these objectives, especially on the issue of energy access. I am grateful and highly commend this very ambitious initiative which was announced by President Barroso this morning. This energizing development, and again already existing 20-20-20 initiative, is in line with the Sustainable Energy for All initiative which I have initiated.
President Barroso has just provided details of the Commission’s commitments and his leadership in raising sustainable energy to the top of the development agenda is bold and far-sighted and ambitious. I encourage other countries to follow this example.
The world faces two energy challenges today. We need to turn on the lights and power for every household and at the same time, while turning down the global thermostat.
The solution is to provide a sustainable energy for all.
One in five people in the world still do not have access to electricity.
Two out of five – three billion people -- still rely on wood, coal, charcoal or animal waste for cooking and heating.
In the 21st century, this is inequitable… and unsustainable.
Sustainable Energy for All is a true global partnership between governments, the private sector and civil society. This is the biggest Public-Private partnership. And for that reason, I am going to establish a partnership facility within the United Nations.
It can take actions to scale and unleash the potential of all stakeholders.
I encourage everyone to join us.
Together we can create momentum that is truly game-changing.
Next week in London, we will release the initiative’s Action Agenda at the close of the Clean Energy Ministerial. We anticipate commitments that can drive innovation and unleash massive investment flows.
This Initiative is about actions that catalyze a sustainable energy revolution that benefits all the countries.
Through their actions here today, the Commission is pointing the way to the future.
Mr. President, thank you for your leadership and your colleagues for showing yet again why the European Union is one of the UN’s key strategic partners.
I look forward to deepening our ties. I look forward to working closely with you to realize the great potential of this initiative, and to ensure an ambitious outcome at the Rio+20 Conference in June.
Ladies and gentlemen, Mr President,
Before I conclude this press conference, I would like to say a few words about the coordinated attacks launched yesterday across Afghanistan by Taliban insurgents.
I condemn these attacks in the strongest possible terms. They targeted state institutions and international organisations, including foreign diplomatic missions, in Kabul and in other parts of the country. The United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan, UNAMA, is monitoring the situation.
We need to strengthen the capacity of counter-terrorism efforts and of Afghan national security.
These issues will be discussed in detail at the forthcoming NATO summit in Chicago in May.
The UN remains committed to supporting the efforts of the Government to consolidate peace and democracy.
For other issues, security issues which was stated by President Barroso I share exactly what he said. We will be very closely working together with the European Union and other key partners in addressing many issues for countering terrorism and restoring constitutional orders in those countries, in Mali and Guinea-Bissau. We will try our best efforts in restoring peace and stability in Sudan and also we are working very hard to keep this cessation of violence in Syria. The advance of the monitoring team has arrived yesterday already. They are already operating their missions to observe the situation. I hope that with the deployment of this observer mission which will be enlarged in near future, we will able to insure that there is cessation of violence and an inclusive political dialogue will be able to continue to meet the aspirations and wishes of the Syrian people, led by Syrian people. At the same time, we will continue to generate and mobilize necessary humanitarian assistance to many needy people in Syria. It is very important that cessation of violence should continue, must continue. The Syrian authorities must exercise maximum restraint. And again the opposition forces also should fully cooperate so that the cessation of violence will continue.
Thank you very much.