JOHANNESBURG, South Africa, Sept. 19 (UPI) -- An energy revolution is needed in Africa if its people are to address the challenges of meeting climate change goals, a U.N. official said.
Kandeh Yumkella, director general of the U.N. Industrial Development Organization, told delegates at a ministerial energy conference in Johannesburg, South Africa, that a sea change was needed in the energy sector.
"We cannot solve climate change without an energy revolution -- they are interconnected," he said in a statement. "Although both are often portrayed in terms of challenges, there are also huge opportunities for Africa's economy and its people."
Only 42 percent of the people in Africa have access to electricity, the lowest rate in the world. Officials, through the so-called Johannesburg Declaration, set a goal of doubling the existing electricity generating capacity in the region within eight years.
The declaration notes that most regional countries face substantial developmental challenges in part because of energy issues. Meanwhile, more than 80 percent of the households in the region rely on solid biomass for cooking, which comes with significant environmental and health risks.
Delegates at the Johannesburg meeting, in the declaration, called on "the multilateral development institutions and the U.N. secretary-general and all the U.N. agencies and programs to globally support Africa's transformational energy agenda."
