UNIDO director-general Kandeh Yumkella writes keynote article on energy access in new quarterly magazine

VIENNA, 23 April 2010 – Sierra Leone’s Kandeh K. Yumkella believes that current efforts to meet global energy demand are insufficient in scale and scope. In a keynote article on energy access in the second issue of the new quarterly magazine, Making It: Industry for Development, he states that “attempting to address the issue in the same way that we have in the past is clearly not remotely adequate”

Yumkella is the Director-General of the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO). Since August 2007, he has served as Chair of UN-Energy, the inter-agency mechanism to coordinate energy-related issues within the UN system. He is also Chair of UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon’s Advisory Group on Energy and Climate Change consisting of business leaders and experts.

In his article, co-written with Leena Srivastava, the Executive Director of The Energy and Resources Institute (TERI), an independent, not-for-profit, research institution, based in New Delhi, Yumkella argues that energy access must move up the political and development agendas to become a central priority.

Making It: Industry for Development is a full colour, 48-page magazine, published by UNIDO. The current issue includes contributions from a range of experts who highlight the importance of energy generation to facilitate productive activities, and the need for improved access to energy as a means of reducing poverty.

Alongside the Yumkella/Srivastava keynote article are an interview with Bangladesh solar power pioneer, Dipal Barua, and articles by China’s solar power billionaire, Zhengrong Shi; and the Executive Director of the International Energy Agency, Nobuo Tanaka.

The editor of Making It, Charles Arthur, says the magazine is addressing vital questions:  “How can industries across the globe increase output to meet a growing demand while, at the same time, reduce greenhouse gas emissions? What needs to be done to give the world’s poorest people access to energy, and how can that be achieved.”

The magazine frames these questions in the context of the current debate on climate change and sustainable development, and aims to help move the debate forward. “We want to provide a platform for these conversations to take place – Making It and its website provide that stage”, says Arthur.

The magazine website – www.MakingItmagazine.net – includes additional material and relevant links, and provides a platform for discussion and debate about the intersection of industry and development.

At the launch of the first issue on 7 December 2009, UNIDO’s Director-General, Kandeh Yumkella, described the magazine as “high-quality, scholarly, but accessible”.  

For more information and to subscribe to future issues, visit the website or contact:

Charles Arthur, Editor – Making It

c.arthur@unido.org

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