September 9, 2002—A number of governments and private organizations made specific commitments during the World Summit on Sustainable Development to show their support for renewable energy. The US Department of State has announced the “Powering Sustainable Development” Initiative to increase access to modern energy services, to improve the efficiency of current energy use, and to change unhealthy patterns of vehicle and domestic energy use. Access to affordable, reliable, clean, and efficient energy is said to be essential to break the cycle of poverty and achieve sustainable development.
The Administration says that energy provides a necessary foundation to meet President Bush’s commitment to alleviate poverty, support education and health care, provide safe drinking water, reverse the loss of environmental resources, and support the availability of new technologies. Two billion people in the world lack access to energy services and three billion people have access only to inadequate, unreliable, or prohibitively expensive energy. Eighty-five percent of the largest cities in developing countries lack healthy air quality. At least 2 million deaths per year and many more respiratory illnesses are directly linked to indoor smoke.
The Agency for International Development, the Department of Energy, and the Environmental Protection Agency, along with partners around the world, will coordinate their resources and expertise for the Initiative. The “Powering Sustainable Development” Initiative will propose to invest up to $43 million in 2003 to leverage an estimated $400 million in investments from the US and other governments, the private sector, civil society, and development organizations.
