Affordable Clean Energy

Photo: Ambassador Kairat Umarov, the Kazakh Permanent Representative to the UN, addressing guests as UN Under-Secretary-General Fekitamoeloa Katoa ‘Utoikamanu, High Representative for the LDCs, LLDCs and SIDs, and KazakhFirst Deputy Foreign Minister Mukhtar Tileuberdi look on. Credit: Kazakh Permanent Mission to the UN in New York.

Astana World Exhibition Looks To Future Energy As Shared Resource

By Joan Erakit

NEW YORK (IDN) - Sharing seems second nature to the Kazakhs, so much so that one cannot attend a meeting at the Permanent Mission of Kazakhstan to the United Nations without being ushered into the dining room.

“It’s is in our tradition. When someone visits your home, you must offer them food and share a meal together,” Ambassador Kairat Umarov told dignitaries gathered at the mission on July 25.

The occasion to break bread was in part to brief fellow missions and UN partners on EXPO 2017 Astana, currently being held in the capital city of Kazakhstan – an exhibition on "Future Energy" that has already seen 1 million visitors since its opening on June 10 2017.

: IDN-INPS UN Bureau; UN INSIDER; 02 August 2017

Photo: Najma Hassan cooking in her kitchen in Kakuma refugee camp, Kenya, Credit: Justus Wanzala | IDN-INPS

Clean Energy Coming to Kenya’s Kakuma Refugee Camp

By Justus Wanzala

KAKUMA, Kenya (IDN) – As the sun shrinks into a red ball steadily disappearing beyond the horizon, residents of Kakuma refugee camp in Turkana County, north-western Kenya, adjust to their evening routines. Late shoppers rush out to food stores, school children pick up their books and mothers start preparing the last meal of the day.

Darkness quickly envelopes the camp – which is administered by the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) – and only a few businesses and homesteads are in the fortunate position of possessing diesel generators or solar and kerosene lanterns to provide lighting.

: Justus Wanzala; THE WORLD; Africa; 26 July 2017

Development Talk at the Astana Economic Forum

: Katsuhiro Asagiri; MULTIMEDIA; 19 July 2017

Photo: A session of the Astana Economic Forum with the Kazakh Prime Minister. Credit: The Astana Times | primeminister.kz

Astana Economic Forum Focuses on Sustainable Energy

By Ramesh Jaura

This is the sixth in a series of articles from Kazakhstan which being geographically located both in Asia and Europe, considers itself a Eurasian country. The articles are based on information gathered during a visit from June 7 to June 15 on the occasion of the opening of EXPO 2017 in Astana. Video clips accompany the articles in this series. – The Editor

BERLIN | ASTANA (IDN) – Renewable energy and green economy as well as sustainable economic growth, world trade and infrastructure were the principal themes of the recent Astana Economic Forum (AEF) that is widely acknowledged as a platform for dialogue on issues related to economic development in Central Asia and the world at large.

Though an annual event held in the capital of Kazakhstan since 2008, the Forum held on June 15-16 distinguished itself in more than one way. Over 4,000 participants from 100 countries participated in the tenth Astana Economic Forum that focused on 'New Energy – New Economy'.

: Ramesh Jaura; EURASIA Focus; 19 July 2017

Photo: Ambassador Kairat Umarov, Permanent Representative of Kazakhstan to the UN in New York. Credit: Kazakh Permanent Mission to the UN.

Kazakhstan Leads Discussion on Agenda 2030 in North and Central Asia

By Joan Erakit

NEW YORK (IDN) – The implementation of Agenda 2030 for Sustainable Development is slowly building momentum around the United Nations and amongst member states who see its success as vital to their work.

During the High-Level Political Forum July 10-19, many are gathered at the Headquarters in New York to not only review action plans and offer recommendations but also to continue a dialogue on implementation.

Kazakhstan, a country keen to promote its growing economy and energy sector, is part of the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESACP) -- a group of 53 member nations and 9 associate member states -- one of the UN’s most comprehensive regional commissions.

: IDN-INPS UN Bureau; UN INSIDER; 14 July 2017

Photo: A bird's eye view of EXPO 2017 Pavillons. Credit: expo2017astana.com

EXPO 2017 Shows the Way to Sustainable Energy Solutions

By Ramesh Jaura

This is the fourth in a series of articles from Kazakhstan which being geographically located both in Asia and Europe, considers itself a Eurasian country. The articles are based on information gathered during a visit from June 7 to June 15 on the occasion of the opening of EXPO 2017 in Astana. Video clips accompany the articles in this series. – The Editor

ASTANA (IDN) - Twenty-five years of independence marked by 25 major achievements leading up to EXPO 2017 that focuses on 'Future Energy' have catapulted Kazakhstan on to the world map, firmly challenging the prevailing view that this, the world's largest landlocked transcontinental country, is still part of the Eurasian steppes.

Touted by some as the 'Disneyland for Adults' and 'a virtual reality beyond science fiction' by others, EXPO 2017 shows the ways to access affordable, reliable, sustainable and modern energy for all. It is seventh of the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) to transform our world by 2030, by way of ending "poverty in all its forms" as envisaged in Goal 1. - WATCH THE RELATED VIDEO -

: Ramesh Jaura; UN INSIDER; 21 June 2017

Leaders of the five largest Nordic countries announce support for sustainable development goals (SDGs). Credit: Nordic Cooperation

Nordic States Support Sustainable Development Goals

By Lowana Veal

REYKJAVIK (IDN) – Leaders of the five largest Nordic countries recently announced support of the Nordic countries as a whole for the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) agreed under UN auspices.

The initiative, called Nordic Solutions to Global Challenges, was initially flouted in 2015 when the Paris Agreement on climate change and the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development were adopted. As part of the Agenda, 17 SDGs were outlined.

Since the UN climate change in Paris in 2015 (COP 21), the programme has been further developed and was launched at a meeting of the Nordic Council of Ministers on May 30, attended by the Prime Ministers of Denmark, Iceland, Norway, Sweden and Finland.

: Phil Harris; THE WORLD; Europe & Central Asia; 18 June 2017

Photo: Dr. Bradnee Chambers ©Aydin Bahramlouian

Harmonise Renewables with Migratory Species Conservation

By Bradnee Chambers

Dr. Bradnee Chambers is Executive Secretary of the Convention on the Conservation of Migratory Species of Wild Animals (CMS) an environmental treaty under the aegis of UN Environment. Below are excerpts from his keynote address at the side event on 17 May in the margins of the UN Climate Change Conference in Bonn. – The Editor

BONN (IDN-INPS) – The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and the Paris Agreement on Climate Change are ground-breaking and highly synergistic agreements. Together they provide a vision and an agenda for shared prosperity and peace on a healthy planet.

: IDN-INPS UN Bureau; OPINION; 18 May 2017

Vienna Energy Forum Has 10 Key Messages for UNIDO

Note: This report is based on a UNIDO media release issued on May 15. An independent analysis follows in the next few days. Meanwhile, we invite you to listen to our video interview with Piyush Goyal, India's Minister of State with Independent Charge for Power, Coal, New and Renewable Energy and Mines. - The Editor.

VIENNA (IDN) – Clean and affordable energy for all will play a vital role in achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) endorsed in 2015 and translating the 2016 Paris Climate Change Agreement into reality: this was the upshot of expert and high-level sessions of the four-day Vienna Energy Forum that concluded in the Austrian capital on May 12.

The fifth edition of the Forum co-organized by the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO), the International Institute of Applied Systems Analysis (IIASA), the Austrian Government, and Sustainable Energy for All (SEforALL) brought together more than 1,650 participants from 128 countries.

: IDN-INPS UN Bureau; UN INSIDER; 16 May 2017

Photo: UN Deputy Secretary-General Amina J. Mohammed. Credit: Vienna Energy Forum.

Fighting Poverty and Climate Change are the Same Fight

By Amina J. Mohammed

Note: Amina J Mohammed is the United Nations Deputy Secretary-General. Following are excerpts from her remarks as prepared for delivery at the opening of the Vienna Energy Forum on May 11, 2017. The full text was distributed by the Vienna-based UN Information Service (UNIS). – The Editor.

VIENNA (IDN-INPS) – Together, the two ground-breaking agreements (the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and the Paris Agreement on Climate Change) are a transformative vision for a better world -- universal, inclusive and integrated, an agenda for shared prosperity, peace and partnership on a healthy planet.

But realizing that vision means we must address climate change as a matter of utmost urgency.