Addis Ababa, Jun 2, 2022(Walta) – Ethiopia, as a Co-Chair of the Group of Friends of Sustainable Energy, co-hosted the launching of Tracking SDG7: The 2022 Energy Progress Report along with Pakistan, Denmark, Norway, and the custodian agencies.
At the event, Ambassador Yoseph Kassaye, Deputy Permanent Representative of Ethiopia to the United Nations delivered a welcoming remark in which he said this year’s report is launched at the time when our world faces dimensional crises one of which pertains to energy.
He said these crises, coupled with the impacts of the pandemic and climate change if left unaddressed, will further delay the urgently needed transition to building greener economies.
Ambassador Yoseph also welcomed the inclusion for the first time since the last year’s report a full chapter dedicated to international financial flows to developing countries in support of clean energy.
He said this is a clear reminder of the need to exert more efforts in scaling up support, in particular, to reach those furthest behinds.
Speaking on Ethiopia’s experience, Ambassador Yoseph said that Ethiopia is harnessing its renewable energy resources to sustain its hard-fought gains and achieve its national development objectives including Agenda 2063 and the SDGs.
As one of the few countries in the world which generates almost all of its electricity from renewable resources, he said its capacity has increased with improvement also exhibited in energy intensity.
However, despite progress made in the field, much still remains to be done to meet the increasing energy demand he added.
Ambassador Yoseph also underlined the need to strengthen investment, including international public finance to address access deficit, enhance gains in clean cooking and enable LDCs to continue to harness their renewable energy resources to pursue a greener development path different from the business-as-usual growth model.