UN Efforts


UNIDO rep in Shenzhen

I was invited to give introductory remarks on behalf of UNIDO at the recent China Hi-tech Fair at the Shenzhen Convention Center in October 2007.  The Shenzhen International Technology Promotion Centre for Sustainable Development (ITPC) analyzed four sectors of the renewable energy industry in China — solar, wind, biomass and small-scale hydro — and developed rankings of the various industries and service groups.  The results of their UNIDO-sponsored effort, the “2007 BlueSky Ranking Report,” were announced at the conference and awards were presented to the winners.  I was interviewed by Xinhua News at the session, and I’d certainly like to congratulate Dr. Yu Yuanqi and his team once again for their considerable efforts in promoting renewable energy throughout the country.


Roger in Xinhua News

And in August 2007, Dr. Ivan Vera (now with UN DESA) and I finalized the Background Document for discussion at the Ad-hoc Expert Group Meeting on Sustainable Development Indicators for the Power Sector, which was held in Bangkok in July by UN ESCAP.   After the Earth Summit in Rio in 1992, efforts to “operationalize” the meaning of sustainable development (SD) resulted in a report entitled Indicators of Sustainable Development: Guidelines and Methodologies (now available in its 3rd [2007] edition).  IAEA and other multilateral organizations then decided that energy deserved particular attention, and the resulting report and case studies were described in my earlier “Vienna” posting.  Now, countries in Asia are once again narrowing the focus to address SD concerns within the rapidly growing power sector. UN ESCAP has led this effort, and Dr. Vera and I prepared the Background Document for their discussions in Bangkok.  The final background document was modified to reflect the experts’ comments, which are summarized in Annex I of the report.