BANGKOK, April 30 (UPI) -- The Asia-Pacific area must promote sustainable, efficient energy use, U.N. official Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said.
The region is behind rest of the world when it comes to providing access to energy, he told U.N. Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific.
An estimated 1.7 billion people are still using traditional fuels and 1 billion people still don't have electricity and the region has the largest number of victims from air pollution caused by burning biomass fuels.
"I urge you to look at innovative ways to promote the efficient use of energy, better energy management, cleaner production and consumption, changes in lifestyle and the wider use of renewable energy," he said.
Russia will supply 30 percent of its natural gas exports to countries in the Asia-Pacific region by the year 2020, a Russian envoy to the United Nations said.
The United Nations warned the region that it could face an energy infrastructure bill of $9 trillion by 2030 if it doesn't introduce energy saving and efficiency measures soon.
