22 Sep 2012

SUSTAINABLE ENERGY / ADVANCER

Ahead of a high-level event Monday (24 September) at United Nations Headquarters that will bring together world leaders, international organizations, the private sector and civil society on Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon’s ‘Sustainable Energy for All’ initiative, the head of the UN Environment Programme, Achim Steiner said the energy sector should be a “central player” in transitioning to a green economy. UNEP

Posted at: September 22, 2012 12:02 am

Duration: 02:51

Available in: SD

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STORY: SUSTAINABLE ENERGY / ADVANCER
TRT: 2.51
SOURCE: UNEP
RESTRICTIONS: NONE
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH / NATS

DATELINE: 14 SEPTEMBER 2012, NAIROBI, KENYA / FILE

SHOTLIST:

FILE – 2011, KENYA

1. Wide shot, Olkaria power station
2. Wide shot, pipes and power lines
3. Wide shot, power station

14 SEPTEMBER 2012, NAIROBI, KENYA

4. SOUNDBITE (English) Achim Steiner, Executive Director, United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP):
"The triple thrust of the 'Sustainable energy for all' initiative- access to energy, energy efficiency, renewable energy- is perhaps one of the most promising avenues in which we can demonstrate that the transition towards a low carbon green economy is very much also an opportunity that the energy sector can drive and be a central player in."

FILE – 2011, KENYA

5. Med shot, pipes in Olkaria
6. Close up, smoky pipes 
7. Wide shot, hilly area with giraffes
8. Wide shot, machines
9. Wide shot, operational procedures in the power station
10. Close up, turbine
11. Wide shot, smoke filled area

14 SEPTEMBER 2012, NAIROBI, KENYA

12. SOUNDBITE (English) Achim Steiner, Executive Director, United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP):
"The introduction of renewable energy today is less and less an issue of economic cross benefit analysis because the economics have shifted so significantly. Since the 1980s the price for wind power has come down by 90 percent compare that to the increase in prices for fossil fuels and you can see how the economics have shifted. You can also look at the price drops that have occurred in the available photovoltaic technologies in the markets today. Just in the last 18 to 20 months we have seen price reductions of 40-50 percent in the world market. The threshold for entering into a renewable energy technology era is coming down almost by the day."

FILE – DATE UNKNOWN, INDIA

13. Med shot, person wiping a solar panel

14 SEPTEMBER 2012, NAIROBI, KENYA

14. SOUNDBITE (English) Achim Steiner, Executive Director, United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP):
"It is here that both international institutions, national financial and planning institutions and also the banking system is critical to enable both small and medium scale enterprises and households to have access to the finance that allows them to make that transition."

FILE – 2011, NAIVASHA, KENYA

15. Med shot, independent solar panel in Malewa
16. Wide shot, same solar panel in Malewa

STORYLINE:

Ahead of a high-level event Monday (24 September) at United Nations Headquarters that will bring together world leaders, international organizations, the private sector and civil society on Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon's 'Sustainable Energy for All' initiative, the head of the UN Environment Programme, Achim Steiner said the energy sector should be a "central player" in transitioning to a green economy.

In a recent interview for UNifeed, Steiner said that 'Sustainable Energy for All' was "one of the very encouraging outcomes of the Rio+20 Conference" held earlier this year in Rio de Janeiro.

He believed the initiative's "triple thrust" - access to energy, energy efficiency, and renewable energy – was "perhaps one of the most promising avenues in which we can demonstrate that the transition towards a low carbon green economy is very much also an opportunity that the energy sector can drive and be a central player in".

Steiner said the economics of renewable energy have shifted significantly. In contrast to a rise in prices for fossil fuels, he noted that the price for wind power had come down by ninety percent since the 1980s.

Price drops have also occurred in photovoltaic technologies, he said, with price reductions of forty to fifty percent in the world market just in the last 18 to 20 months.

"The threshold for entering into a renewable energy technology era is coming down almost by the day", he said.

Steiner said the question of financing therefore "becomes critical", and called on international institutions, national financial and planning institutions and the banking system to help small and medium scale enterprises and households access the finance that allows them to make that transition.