VIENNA, June 22 (UPI) -- Energy security and universal access to energy resources are a primary problem for this generation to solve, a European leader said at an Austrian conference.
Austria hosted a conference aimed at finding ways to provide universal access to energy resources, including renewable resources, by 2030.
Kandeh Yumkella, director general of the U.N. Industrial Development Organization, said economic and social development is hindered without uniform access to reliable energy resources.
About 1.5 billion people in the world don't have access to electricity. Demand in developing countries is expected to grow, creating what officials say is a deep inequity between the rich and the poor in terms of energy access.
Officials estimate about $40 billion per year is needed to meet the 2030 objectives. Marc Perrin de Brichambaut, secretary-general of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe, said problems related to energy transcend national boundaries.
Energy security, he said, was "quite possibly the main problem for our generation to resolve."
