The Fourth United Nations (UN) Sustainable Energy for All (SEForALL) forum which discussed a wide range of issues form clean cooking, energy access finance, and accelerated access has ended with a call on governments and stakeholders to speed up progress in achieving the energy goals.

With displaced populations increasing worldwide, speaker after speaker at the two-day forum in the Portuguese capital, Lisbon, called for urgent actions on the provision of clean cooking energy and electricity as a way of reducing the global energy poverty.

The 2018 Forum, was on the theme “Leaving No One Behind” and speakers and participants at the event expressed the belief that smarter thinking can offer quicker results in the global universal energy access.

Government leaders which included Ghana’s Minister of Local Government and Rural Development, Hajia Alima Mahama, Uganda’s Minister of State in charge of Energy, Mr Simon D’Ujanga and Rwanda’s Minister of State for Energy, Water and Sanitation, Ms Ermaine Kamayirese, as well as UN officials and civil society pledged to work together to accelerate gains to bring clean affordable energy to their communities.

There was a general consensus that replicating success stories, such as solar plants, biomass pellets, which are biofuels made from compressed organic matter and agricultural waste as a way of reducing rural women’s dependency on wood fuels for cooking is the way to go.

The forum also saw the launch of the Shine campaign with three-dozen groups from the faith and philanthropic sectors making commitments to mobilise financing for energy access efforts.

Source: Graphic Online