UNITED NATIONS, Nov. 22 (Xinhua) -- Urgent action is needed to ensure energy access for the least developed countries (LDC), said a UN official here on Wednesday.
Transformational energy access requires a systemic approach in the energy sector, which demands effective long-term planning, said Chantal Line Carpentier, Chief of New York Office of United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) at a press briefing of the Least Developed Countries Report 2017, themed "Transformational Energy Access."
Carpentier said that clear strategic guidelines are also needed to ensure the early adoption of mutually compatible standards, with other key elements like proactive policy framework that supports and facilitates progressive technological and innovation policies.
The integration of strategies for increased energy access into overall development strategies is also critical, the UNCTAD official said, adding that the access to electricity is essential to the structural transformation of the economies of the LDCs.
The UNCTAD report said that 62 percent of the people living in LDCs have no access to electricity comparing with 10 percent in other developed countries, and 54 percent of the people without access to electricity worldwide are living in LDCs.
The report also indicates that electricity generation capacity per person in LCDs are only one-twelfth of that in other developing countries and one-fiftieth of that in developed countries.
Universal access to modern energy is important to sustainable development goals across the economic, social and environmental fields, the UNCTAD report said.
