More sustainable energy for all

The General Assembly of the United Nations has declared 2012 as the "International year of sustainable energy for all". Enel France will hold online discussions regarding this topic.

Sustainable energy for all could be on everyone's wish list for 2012. The UN has taken the first step by declaring this year the "International year of sustainable energy for all" in order to allow everyone on the planet access to efficient, affordable, reliable and clean energy services. The time is therefore right to make everyone aware of the importance of improving energy efficiency and developing renewable energy sources on a local, regional and international level.

According to Michel Crémieux, chairman of Enel France, "access for all to electricity is a key factor in the creation of a sustainable and fairer world. It is a necessary condition for sustainable economic and social development".

During the 2011 Private Sector Forum of the United Nations Global Compact in New York, Fulvio Conti, Chief Executive and General Director of Enel, stated that "the availability of electricity is essential for helping a large part of the world escape poverty. Electricity is in fact the most efficient energy source needed to meet daily needs, but it is also essential for improving hygiene and health conditions, for encouraging the spread of information and education".

"It is very important that an industrial group such as Enel, present in more than 25 countries, adapts such a long-term view and contributes by acting and responding to demands for fairer and more sustainable development". Says Mr Crémieux, adding "Mr Conti has highlighted that governments, international bodies, companies and civil society are all involved and must work together to supply electricity to the 1.4 billion people in the world who still have no access whatsoever as well as the one billion who only have sporadic access".

The Enel Group has always been reactive with regard to global development problems. Enel has been a member of the United Nations Global Compact since 2004 and is committed to undertaking, with this international organisation, projects aimed at supplying electricity to around two million people in the next three years in developing countries.

According to Mr Conti, initiatives already undertaken by the Group "have allowed more than one million people access to electricity" thanks to the "Enabling Electricity" program. He also referred to the "Water and Electricity in Maghreb" project, the on-going training of specialist technicians in Latin America and the "Ecoelce" project in Brazil that aim to lower the cost of energy, particularly for the most disadvantaged.

Enel France shares the Group's wishes of reducing the gap between those countries that have energy and those that do not, and of reducing in each one the social and economic inequality with regard to consumption and economic development.
"On our website, explains Mr Crémieux, we shall put forward the views of political and administrative leaders and industrialists in the French energy sector who are in a position to comment on the matters highlighted by the "International year of sustainable energy for all". A virtual network of potential ideas, projects and solutions to allow a better understanding of how to help the people of developing countries who are in real need of energy to support their legitimate desire for a better life.