The United National Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO) and The United Nations Foundation (UNF)

A revolutionary new approach to the development and delivery of energy services is essential if economic prosperity, human and social development, and environmental protection goals are to be achieved. Reducing energy deprivation, Increasng access to clean energy, decarbonising energy systems through increasing use of renewables are key goals of the United Nations Sustainable Energy for All initiative. Additionally, achievement of the many of the UN Millennium Development Goals will only be possible when global energy challenges are confronted. Following introductions and overviews by UNIDO and the UN Foundation IIASA scientists will outline their contributions to the Global Energy Assessment (GEA), the first ever fully integrated study of the global energy system. Presenters will describe a range of energy futures that offer viable, cost-effective, sustainable pathways for resolving some of the abovementioned issues. The findings, offer policy makers, at all levels, invaluable new knowledge to inform transformational changes to the global energy system with its multiple benefits.

Co Chair/s:
Pavel Kabat: Director International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis (IIASA).
Kandeh Yumkellah: Director-General of the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO) and Co-Chair of the High-level Group on Sustainable Energy for All.

Moderator:
Luis Gomez- Echeverri: Deputy Director GEA

Presentations
Nebojsa Nakicenovic: Director GEA and Deputy Director IIASA - The need for a global transformation of energy systems and the link to RIO+20 goals.

Shonali Pachauri: Senior Research Scholar, IIASA ? Achieving universal energy access

Keywan Riahi: Program Leader, Energy IIASA - Integrated assessment scenarios, the multiple co-benefits of an integrated approach to energy transformation.

Content overview
Current energy systems do not deliver affordable, secure, and environmentally sound energy services, while current energy trends are incompatible with economic, social and environmental sustainability goals. A transformation of current energy systems is urgently required to meet many of the sustainability goals outlined by governments, non-governmental organizations and the international community such as:

1. providing secure and affordable energy services to all humanity
2. improving access to clean energy sources for the three billion people who cook with solid fuels and the 1.4 billion people without access to electricity;
3. increasing energy security for all nations, regions, and communities;
4. limiting greenhouse gas emissions to limit global warming
5. reducing indoor and outdoor air pollution from fuel combustion and its impacts on human health and well-being; and
6. minimizing the adverse environmental effects and diverse risks associated with energy systems.

The Global Energy Assessment (GEA) launched during RIO+20, is a major, multi-year initiative which assesses the global energy challenges of our rapidly changing world and responds specifically to the above mentioned sustainability goals.

Relevance to RIO+20 themes
Energy is a crucial entry point to address the most pressing global challenges including sustainable economic and social development, poverty eradication, adequate food production and food security, public health, climate protection, ecosystem conservation, and security.

The GEA makes a significant contribution to Rio+20, as it complements the objectives of the major themes of Rio+20, 1. a green economy in the context of sustainable development and poverty eradication; and 2. the institutional framework for sustainable development. Additionally GEA is linked directly [energy] or indirectly [water, food, cities, jobs] to five of the seven critical issues identified for the RIO+20 conference.

GEA identifies the urgent need for a comprehensive energy strategy to transform the global energy system. It examines how energy systems can be transformed in order to: provide access to the 1.4 billion people without access to electricity and the 3 billion without access to modern cooking fuels; reduce negative health consequences from energy systems; minimize the adverse environmental externalities of energy; and improve energy security for all nations. GEA assesses a broad range of resources, technologies, and policy options that can support such transformations. Involving more then 500 experts from 70 countries GEA is the first ever truly, integrated assessment of the energy systems that interconnects the environment, people and the economy, describing the many synergies and multiple benefits that can be derived by seeing energy as an entry point for resolving these challenges.

During this side event IIASA scientists will present some of the key findings of GEA, specifically with regards to the ?green growth? opportunities that a transformation of energy systems will enable and the investments in innovation and deployment of new technologies that will required; the options for, and the benefits that will be derived from, improving energy access to those without clean energy; the energy resources and technological options available to build sustainable energy systems; and finally the co-benefits that will be seen in poverty alleviation, economic development, energy security, improved health, climate change mitigation, and ecosystem protection.