“WATER” IS REQUIRED FOR MORE ENERGY
Brice Lalonde, UN Assistant Secretary General, who made a speech at Energy Management and Policies Workshop organized at Izmir University of Economics, stated that water would become a major issue in the coming years as a result of climate changes.
The second of the Energy Management and Policies Workshops organized this year brought world’s leading names of the energy sector together. In his opening speech, Prof. Dr. Tunçdan Baltacıoğlu, IUE Rector, said that energy was one of the most important arguments of sustainable development, and fossil resources being consumed away brought along new searches.
The workshop, co-organized by Global Compact Turkey, began with the opening speeches of Brice Lalonde, UN Assistant Secretary General and UN Global Compact Office Senior Adviser, and Kamal Malhotra, UN Resident Coordinator and UNDP Resident Representative for Turkey.
Mr. Lalonde said, “When we look at the effects of climate changes, we see that water will cause major problems in the future. New decisions have to be made concerning water. A 40 % increase in energy demand is anticipated for coming years. Therefore, it is of utmost importance to make energy available for everyone. However, we should not be ruining the world in doing so. We need to sustain the achievement methods of energy as much as possible. We can make this world a better place together. People have a blinkered view of the world. Everyone is looking through their own window of opportunity. Everyone wants to do good for themselves. We need to have a long-term plan for sustainable humanity.”
Brice Lalonde said that 2015 would be an important year for UN. He continued to say:
"We will first look and see if we succeeded in meeting the goals regarding starvation. The planning of next period also needs to be performed in 2015. When we look at the effects of climate changes, we see that water will cause major problems in the future. New decisions have to be made concerning water. Water is associated with everything. If you want more energy, you need water. If you want more oil, you need to pump out water. People with a blinkered view of the world should indeed be aware of this. We need to work together against all problems. Everyone is trying to do something for themselves.”
Kamal Malhotra, UN Resident Coordinator and UNDP Resident Representative for Turkey, stated that they implemented 5 of the programs that involved protection of ozone layer and prevention of some elements that cause damage to ozone layer.
Malhotra, who stated that renewable energy investments increased in Turkey, said, "Turkey implements many of the efficient energy programs. Energy productivity in industry is one of them. The UN also supports this project co-organized by Ministry of Energy and Natural Resources and KOSGEB.”
At the end of the sessions, advanced level research projects by students of Sustainable Energy Graduate Degree Program, within IUE Graduate School of Social Sciences, were presented to participants for evaluation. The Energy Management and Policies Workshop will come to an end with a reception.
