Annan calls on G8 summit to ease up trade & ensure energy security
25 May '06
3 min read
Turning to the issue of energy security, Mr. Annan noted that 1.6 billion people in developing countries live with no electricity at all and lack of access to modern energy services – a formidable barrier to poverty reduction. These countries will need to nearly double electrical generating capacity over the coming years to support industrial and broad economic development.
Moreover, indoor air pollution, resulting for example from burning traditional biomass, contributes significantly to respiratory infections in children under five years of age, killing almost 2 million of them, according to UN World Health Organization (WHO) estimates.
He stressed that energy security cannot be reached if the environmental effects of energy consumption, especially the overwhelming reliance on fossil fuels, are not addressed.
“This reliance puts the very future of humanity at risk, since these fuels produce greenhouse gases and other pollutants, which affect the sustainability of life itself,” he wrote. “Burning fossil fuels causes air pollution, which triggers an estimated 800,000 premature deaths every year. And it generates greenhouse gas emissions, contributing to climate change.”
Mr. Annan said the scientific consensus is overwhelmingly clear that climate change is happening and humans are contributing to it, presenting one of the greatest challenges of our time.
“While almost all of us will suffer, poor people above all are vulnerable and will bear the brunt of the damage, especially in terms of rising sea levels and more frequent extreme weather events,” he wrote.
The Secretary-General regularly sends the G8 leaders a letter ahead of their annual summit, which he usually attends. Last year, before the summit in Gleneagles, Scotland, he called on them to rise to the challenges before them and provide leadership on a raft of issues, from improving the lot of Africa's poor to combating terrorism to countering global warming.
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