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Zambia urges landlocked countries to invest in renewable energy

Xinhua, November 2, 2016 Adjust font size:

Zambia has urged fellow Landlocked Developing countries (LLDCs) to invest in renewable energy to increase access.

Zambia's Permanent Representative to the United Nations (UN) Mwaba Kasese-Bota, who chairs the LLDCs Group, said the countries hold great potential for the production of renewable energy, which however requires more investment.

In remarks delivered at a just-concluded high-level seminar on accelerating sustainable energy for all LLDCs held in Austria, the official said energy access in LLDCs remains low and that this could be improved by investing in renewable energy, according to a statement released on Tuesday.

"The average population access to electricity of 44 percent lags behind way behind the average for all developing countries which stands at 81 percent," she said.

While acknowledging the efforts undertaken to improve access to clean fuel and energy technologies, she noted that the share of the population with access to the energy averaged around 25 percent, which was less than half of the world average.

"Our energy efficiency is also much lower than in developing countries as a whole. Our countries hold great potential for the production of renewable energy, particularly that derived from hydro-power, wind, sun and geothermal sources, yet energy investment in our countries continues to be low," she added.

In 2014, the Second UN Conference on LLDCs adopted the Vienna Program of Action for the decade 2014-2024 which recognized the importance of energy infrastructure.

According to her, the program of action stresses that access to affordable and reliable renewable energy and related technologies was critically important in enhancing productive capacities of the countries in order to achieve sustained economic growth and sustainable development. Endit