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Nairobi, March 22, 2007

President Mwai Kibaki is escorted by the Director General for the UN Nairobi Offices Dr Anna Tibaijuka to officiate theTICAD Conference on Energy and Environment for sustainable Development at Gigiri, Nairobi.

President underscores Government's commitment to supply sustainable energy

President Mwai Kibaki today said the Government is fully committed to increasing the supply of sustainable energy to as many Kenyans as possible in a manner that does not harm the environment.

He noted that even with the best afforestation plans it is evident that Africa cannot cope with the current and projected demand for fuelwood by its rapidly growing population hence the need to carefully plan for ways that will encourage people to shift their primary energy source from fuelwood to other renewable sources of energy.

Saying Africa has abundant energy resources, President Kibaki said it is imperative that Africa harnesses the potential of these energy sources in an efficient and well-governed manner.

Said the President: "More importantly, we will need to develop effective power supply networks and reduce energy costs to make it affordable to ordinary people. Above all, we must ensure that our manufacturing, transportation and service industries become far more efficient and less destructive to the environment."

President Kibaki was speaking at the UNEP headquarters at Gigiri, Nairobi where he officially opened the TICAD Conference on Energy and Environment for Sustainable Development.

The President said as part of the institutional reforms that will enable the country to better exploit renewable energy sources, the Government intends to demarcate operations of the Kenya Power Generation Authority into two entities.

He said one of the two entities will concentrate on hydro-electricity while the second one, the Kenya Geo-Thermal Development Company, will concentrate on geothermal resource assessment and development.

In order to encourage the use of electric power in the rural areas, President Kibaki said the Government is putting in place the Rural Electrification Authority in order to accelerate the pace of power supply to communities in the countryside.

To encourage the use Liquefied Petroleum Gas and reduce pressure on the country's forests and woodlands, the President said the Government is in the process of streamlining Kenya's distribution and supply infrastructure for liquefied petroleum gas.

"We are also making progress in developing alternative energy resources. These include harnessing solar energy and wind energy, developing mini and micro hydro-electric dams at community level and promoting the use of biomass fuels," the Head of State said.
He pointed out that the Government has already completed a Broad Wind Resource Atlas and will set up a national centre of excellence for the development of renewable energy technologies.

Noting that African Governments cannot contain the challenges of energy and environmental conservation on their own, the President urged developed countries to extend support to developing countries in order to strengthen their capacity in addressing the challenges.

Said President Kibaki: "In a world that is using increasing amounts of energy, a sustainable global environment is an international public good to which all countries should commit."

President Kibaki observed that the lack of sufficient and affordable electricity supply in Africa is not caused by a deficiency in natural resources and energy potential but the inability to generate sufficient financial and technical resources to exploit these energy sources.

The Head of State added that lack of adequate infrastructure to transfer electricity from surplus areas to deficit areas within the continent had also contributed to the problem of insufficient electricity supply in the continent.

"The continent has some of the highest hydroelectricity potential in the world as well as some of the best opportunities for tapping into renewable energy sources such as solar, geothermal and wind power," President Kibaki said.

The President, however, said that under the New Partnership for Africa's Development (NEPAD), all the governments in the region have committed themselves to the East and Central African Power Pool.

He pointed out that as the host of the NEPAD Secretariat for Eastern Africa, Kenya has been an active supporter of East and Central African Power Pool among other NEPAD projects.

The President noted with satisfaction that TICAD has already signed a joint cooperation agreement with the NEPAD Secretariat in Johannesburg under which energy for sustainable development could be one area of extended cooperation between Africa and Japan.

President Kibaki said the theme of the conference is timely since it captures a crucial development dilemma in Africa where a rapid social and economic development is taking place and there is need to ensure that this is accomplished in a manner that is both energy- efficient and environmentally sustainable.

He said the conference builds on the one on climate change which he opened last November where delegates spent time on the issues of renewable energy, sustainable development and managing the problems of carbon dioxide emissions along the lines envisaged in the Kyoto Protocol.

In particular, President Kibaki recalled that the delegates discussed the need for African countries to use traditional sources of energy in an environmentally sustainable manner.

"These issues are of common concern to all our countries, because the negative effects of environmental pollution and high carbon emissions are felt well beyond the borders of the countries producing them," the President said.

He said in Africa the need for sustainable use of traditional sources of energy has acquired new significance in light of the economic and political reforms that have not only resulted in renewed economic growth but also in high energy demand.

Citing the example of most African economies that have turned around in the last five years with the continent's GDP growth rate estimated at 4.8 percent in 2005, President Kibaki said Kenya itself grew at 4.9 percent in 2004, 5.8 percent in 2005 and an estimated 6 percent in 2006.

In addition, the President said Africa is experiencing tremendous population growth combined with rapid urbanization which has inevitably led to higher demand for energy by all sectors.

"Moreover, since 82 percent of Africa's population is dependent on fuelwood as the primary source of energy, there is increasing pressure on the traditional fuel sources and the local environments," President noted.

The Head of State therefore stressed the need for African countries to urgently rethink their energy and environmental policies, saying Africa's rapid transformation into a developing continent with a promise of better quality of life for its people must not compromise the quality of its environment.

In this regard, the President urged experts and the delegates attending the conference to deliberate on the energy and environmental challenges in order to come up with innovative and practical ways of tackling them.

Noting that at the moment Africa is an insignificant source of carbon emissions globally, the President however said the continent cannot be insensitive to the danger of high carbon emissions because it is already paying the price of such emissions from the industrialized economies.

"For instance the icecaps on our highest mountains such as Mt. Kenya and Mt. Kilimanjaro are shrinking visibly while erratic climatic changes such as floods and droughts are becoming more common," President Kibaki said.

Other speakers included the UNON Director-General and Executive Director of UN Habitat Dr. Anna Tibaijuka, the TICAD/UNDP Africa Bureau Director Amb. Bouna Semou Diouf and the Japanese Senior Vice-Minister for Foreign Affairs Mr. Takeshi Iwaya among others.