BANGKOK, Oct. 7 (Xinhua) -- Greater collaboration between government and the private sector, and inter-regional dialogue should be implemented if the global energy transition is to be realized, said the 10th International Forum on Energy for Sustainable Development, organized by the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP) in Bangkok on Monday.
The commission said in a report that while the Sustainable Development Goal 7 (SDG7) and the Paris Agreement provide a blueprint for the global energy transition, global energy targets require vast amounts of capital as well as long-term planning and coordination at multiple levels of government.
"We know that this will require a radical transition in many areas. How we source and consume energy must change. Transformation across sectors is needed and we need decisions on fuels and technologies to account for the full costs of air pollution and leverage clean energy to bring back blue skies, clean water and healthy cities. To extend renewable energy-based grids, we need deeper regional cooperation and integration," said Armida Alisjahbana, UN under-secretary-general and executive secretary of the ESCAP.
Sontirat Sontijirawong, Thai energy minister, said that apart from the government, the private sector is the real driver for implementation as they bring the investment and skills needed to push SDG7 into reality.
Sontirat also said that the Thai Ministry of Energy had recently launched financial incentive schemes to boost business investment on renewable energy and energy efficiency.
Bambang Brodjonegoro, Indonesia's minister of national development planning, said that one common SDG7 challenge faced by all Asia-Pacific countries is to fulfil the target of providing affordable energy to the people, while ensuring it is sustainable for the long-term.
Bambang said Indonesia has introduced a low-carbon development initiative as a basic framework for the next five-year medium-term development planning.
The 10th International Forum on Energy for Sustainable Development aims to explore pathways to close the gap between targets and actions in areas such as access to electricity, renewable energy, clean cooking and energy efficiency.
