SEforALL, ENEL and UNIDO to work together on accelerating sustainable energy

May 12, 2017: ENEL, one of the world’s leading global utilities, and the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO) have announced that they will work together with key stakeholders, in cooperation with Sustainable Energy for All (SEforALL), on accelerating sustainable energy, including power grid efficiency and electrification.

The announcement was made at the Vienna Energy Forum, where over 1,200 high-level representatives from government, business, academia, civil society and international organizations have gathered to discuss the role of sustainable energy in the implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and the Paris Agreement.

“Business and industry are key stakeholders for increasing electrification rates at the speed and scale we need,” said Rachel Kyte, Chief Executive Officer of SEforALL, and Special Representative of the UN Secretary-General for Sustainable Energy. “We’re committed to working with all of our partners to create real solutions that will deliver universal access to affordable, reliable and modern energy services for all and reach SDG 7 goals.”

“We are very proud to team up with UNIDO within the framework of SEforALL’s electrification accelerator and help transform the power industry towards digitization, decentralization, electrification and an increasing contribution from renewables to achieve the objective of a more affordable and accessible energy”, said Francesco Starace, Enel CEO and General Manager.

“We have already taken a leading role in supporting the UN Sustainable Development Goals to end poverty and hunger, promote more equal energy access opportunities and improve life conditions of a large part of the world’s population. Our work towards achieving these goals entails a major responsibility because electricity can really make a difference and change people’s lives.”

“Energy is a pre-requisite for industrialization” said LI Yong, the Director General of UNIDO. “It is an enabler that will have a real impact towards meeting SDG 9 – the goal on industry, innovation and infrastructure. It is a very prominent sector that will create jobs and enhance economic prosperity in developing countries. We are pleased to work with ENEL, SEforALL and many other actors committed to accelerate the efficiency and the use of electrification.”

The partners intend to work in cooperation with a number of actors on developing an initiative that would help in creating local skills, deploying state-of-the-art technologies and enabling markets to improve access to energy.

For more information, please contact Benedikt Hoskuldsson, Lead Partnership Specialist, on Benedikt@SEforALL.org