Worldwide, about 1.3 billion people lack access to electricity, while 2.7 billion lack access to clean cooking fuels. Meeting their needs is central to reducing poverty but relying on existing technologies would make runaway climate change unavoidable. UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon is leading a “Sustainable Energy for All” initiative that is built on his vision for deploying renewable energy, increasing energy efficiency, and achieving universal energy access during the next two decades. Can the Rio+20 Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro this June help to foster a global consensus for action? What could the United States do to spur progress? Please join the Secretary General and other distinguished speakers for a thoughtful discussion of one of the world’s most pressing development issues.

Remarks by

Nancy Birdsall, Center for Global Development
Nigel Purvis, Climate Advisers

Session One: Sustainable Energy for All & Rio+20

Timothy Wirth, President, United Nations Foundation and Better World Fund
Vijay Iyer, Director of Energy, World Bank
Moderator: Nancy Birdsall, CGD

Session Two: From Rio to Rio+20: A U.S. Perspective

Carlos Pascual, U.S. Special Envoy and Coordinator for International Energy Affairs
William Reilly, former Administrator of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
Moderator: Nigel Purvis, Climate Advisers

Keynote Addresses

Ban Ki-moon, U.N. Secretary General
Christian Friis Bach, Minister for Development Cooperation of Denmark>