NEWS AND EVENTS

12-13 October 2006

Bonn International Conference "Sustainable Bioenergy - Challenges and Opportunities"

Upon the invitation of the German NGO Forum for Environment & Development and the United Nations Foundation, Mr. Mersie Ejigu, President & CEO of PAES, spoke at the opening plenary session of the Bonn International Conference "Sustainable Bioenergy - Challenges and Opportunities" held at Altes Wasserwerk - Former Parliament Building, Bonn, Germany. His statement titled: "Sustainable Energy Equals Freedoms + Choice: Bioenergy and Biofuels as Energy Solutions" elaborated the link between energy scarcity and insecurity to socioeconomic wellbeing and political development. He argued that energy is critical to the survival of human society, achieve sustainable development and freedom. He also elaborated the fact that energy is not only a means but also an end in itself. "Access to energy is indeed a fundamental human right. I don't have to wait for daylight to see you, talk to you, listen to you, and to do work. Access to energy and access to light is, indeed, a basic human necessity and a right every citizen should enjoy," he said.

He highlighted the huge potential Africa has to make the transition from traditional biomass based energy to modern bioenergy / biofuels. "But there are challenges, he said, which require efforts in the three areas: policy development, capacity building, and research." "If development is expanding freedoms, choice and empowerment, bioenergy and biofuels are not only energy, but development solutions. Bioenergy is a development imperative" he concluded.