NEWS AND EVENTS

12-21 November 2005

Biofuels Global Initiative East Africa mission

Mersie Ejigu, President & CEO of PAES undertook the UNCTAD / UNF exploratory mission to Uganda, Tanzania, and Kenya. The primary purposes of the mission were to review the potential for an UNCTAD program in these countries and identify key institutions, individuals, and organizations engaged in rethinking the energy paradigm. The mission met with senior government officials, members of the civil society, higher institutions of learning, and the private sector.

Launched by the United Nations Conference for Trade and Development (UNCTAD) in June 2005, the Biofuels Global Initiative aims to assist developing countries to utilize their potential for renewable energy, in particular, biofuels, through:

• developing capacity in the production, use, and trade of biofuels
• raising public and private sector awareness on increased biofuels use.
• promoting ways of generating new trade opportunities and investments, such as CDM
• expanding research to improve the variety, agro-ecological coverage, and cost efficiency of biofuels feedstock
• encouraging the increased utilization of local technologies and anchoring of biofuels in policy and institutional processes that aim at poverty alleviation.