UN calls for doubling renewable energy by 2030

UN chief Ban Ki-moon made a call to double global consumption of renewable energy over the next two decades in order to ensure sustainable economic development.

“It’s possible if we show political leadership,” Ban said about the goal that falls under a sustainable energy initiative aiming to have universal access to power by 2030. Currently, renewable energy accounts for about 16 percent of world consumption.

“We have to be very austere in using energy... We have to completely change our behavior, at home, at the office,” the UN secretary-general added at an event hosted by the Center for Global Development think-tank in Washington.

About 1.3 billion people on Earth -- a fifth of the global population -- lacks access to electricity, while 2.7 billion do not have clean fuel to cook their food and heat their homes, relying instead on open fires or furnaces that burn coal, wood or animal waste.

“Energy is central to jobs, transport, water, sanitation... climate,” Ban said after meeting with finance ministers from the G20 most powerful economies.

AFP