From Saint-Petersburg to Heiligendamm via Paris

The event is a follow-up to the recommendations of the 2006 St.Petersburg summit of the G8 and in line with the policy goals of UNESCO. The Conference will look at the main energy problems confronting the world community in the 21^st century, the role of science in sustained energy development and the tasks of reducing energy poverty. The following sessions will take place as part of the Conference : “Energy Challenges,” “Science and Sustained Energy Development” and “Reducing energy Poverty.” The Conference will be attended by the Russian Minister of Industry and Energy Victor Khristenko and the UNESCO Director General Koichiro Matsuura.

The UNESCO Secretariat has sent invitations to the offices of UNESCO member countries in Paris (195 countries), observer countries and some international organizations.

The working languages of the event will be English, French and Russian.

The Conference is expected to adopt an address to the G8 summit in Heiligendamm (Germany).

“The risks carried by unbalanced and uncoordinated global energy development are too high,”  Andrei Reus said during the launching of the Sustained Energy Development Center held at the UNESCO Paris headquarters on April 17 and timed for the 176^th session of the UNESCO Executive Council.

UNESCO possesses a colossal scientific and educational potential which can and must be used to address pressing world energy problems, such as the lack of accurate information on world energy markets and the need for serious analysis of the situation that is shaping up.

“We can perform together with UNESCO a very important mission in harnessing the world potential of fundamental and applied studies to developing new energy technologies as well as in the field of energy efficiency and renewable energy,” the representative of the Russian Ministry of Industry and Energy said.