Eradicating energy poverty is KSA priority
The world currently is facing an unprecedented health crisis, and it is, as usual, vulnerable communities that are hit the hardest. Lack of access to electricity worsens humanitarian issues amid the COVID-19 pandemic and impedes the poor from securing social and economic opportunities.
In 2011, former UN SecretaryGeneral Ban Ki-moon called on global governments, businesses and civil society organizations to work toward achieving universal access to modern energy services by 2030. So crucial is the issue of energy access that the UN initiative known as Sustainable Energy for All tracks global achievements to enable this to happen. However, before announcing the UN initiative in 2007 during the third OPEC Summit in Riyadh, the late King Abdullah placed eradicating energy poverty on the summit’s agenda. In 2008, Saudi Arabia launched an initiative under the slogan “Energy for the Poor” with the goal of helping developing countries to meet the cost of energy for their people.
It is of paramount importance that Saudi Arabia builds on its legacy with such initiatives to eradicate poverty by powering
So crucial is the issue of energy access that the UN initiative known as Sustainable Energy for All tracks global achievements to enable
this to happen.
economies in developing countries. Currently, under its
2020 presidency for the G20,
Saudi Arabia’s has renewed its commitment to empower people as a prime priority by creating better living conditions and access to cleaner, more sustainable and affordable energy to reduce poverty and promote economic growth. Saudi Arabia’s proactive initiatives reflects its international commitment to recognizing human suffering around the globe, and bringing reliable, clean, affordable power sources to those affected greatly by the impact of the pandemic will sharpen international collective action to fight poverty across the world. Electricity is the foundation and lifeline for communities and economies to run and thrive. There is growing international acknowledgement of the strong ties between poverty and lack of access to modern energy.
More than 840 million people now live without access to modern power and 2.8 billion people rely on polluting cooking and heating options to meet their daily heating and cooking needs. Access to modern electricity power should not be the end in itself; it is about advancing inclusive bottom-up solutions that will enable sustainable development priorities to end poverty.