The current global financial and economic crisis must be used to bring about a green energy revolution, Director-General of the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO) Kandeh K. Yumkella said on Monday in Vienna.

The Vienna international energy conference opened at Hofburg in Vienna on Monday, focusing on ways to secure sustainable policies and investments to allow a shift towards a low-carbon “green economy” driven by “green industry.”
And “this conference was designed to provide a solid framework that would show the way towards a low-carbon global ‘green economy’ powered by ‘green industry,’” Yumkella said in his opening speech at the conference.
Director of the International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis (IIASA), Detlof von Winterfeldt, said that “we are facing a convergence of challenges that require a fundamental transformation of energy systems,” and the need to respond to climate change is urgent. He said it was untenable that today 2.4 billion people were without access to modern energy services, the cost of which is not only achievable but affordable in the medium term.
Austrian Foreign Minister, Michael Spindelegger, said also that Vienna has become “a dynamic hub” for international efforts to promote peace, security and sustainable energy, pointing out that Austrian science, technology institutions and companies are known to be at the leading edge of renewable energies and energy efficiency and the Austrian Development Cooperation has been supporting renewable energy projects in developing countries for many years.
The three-day event “Towards an Integrated Energy Agenda Beyond2020” was organized by UNIDO, Austrian Government, IIASA and the Global Forum on Sustainable Energy, attracting more than 500 government officials, energy and economics experts, and civil society representatives from around the world.
Participants will also discuss the role of the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA), which will advise industrialized and developing countries on how to reduce their dependency on fossil fuels by promoting the rapid adoption of renewable energy worldwide.
(Source: Xinhua)