Damilola Ogunbiyi on New Year’s Day commenced her term as United Nations Secretary-General’s Special Representative for Sustainable Energy for All, Co-chair of UN Energy and CEO, Sustainable Energy for All (SEforAll), with an ambition to meet the 2030 clean energy target of sustainable development goal 7, identify opportunities for the private sector, and end energy poverty.
Ogunbiyi is taking over from Rachel Kyte who resigned as CEO of SEforAll last year.
In a video message posted on Twitter, the former managing director of Nigeria’s Rural Electrification Agency (REA) said she recognised that the sustainable goals, especially that which deals with clean energy, as at today were far from being achieved.
She said, “As we begin this new decade, we are far from achieving the UN sustainable development goals including Goal 7 that promises sustainable energy for all.”
Ogunbiyi noted that “energy is central to almost every major challenge and opportunity the world faces today. Around the world, close to a billion people are being robbed of the chance to live in a dignified, healthy way because they have no access to energy. This crisis has gone on for too long.
“Throughout my career I have witnessed the transformative effect that bringing energy to people can have. I have seen how energy access can give children the chance for better education and for their parents to build prosperous and fulfilling lives.”
The new CEO of Sustainable Energy for All, added that “with just 10 years left to 2030, the challenge ahead of us is enormous. But we are ready to meet this challenge head on. We must raise ambition. We will enable change on the ground. We will build networks and partnerships.”
She explained that “We will gather accurate data on energy, and use it to find the solutions to end energy poverty, and to identify the vast opportunities for the private sector. And we will do this while putting real people at the heart of everything we do. Thank you and I look forward to achieve SDG 7.”
Sustainable Energy for All is an international organisation launched by the then secretary-general of the United Nations, Ban Ki-moon, to help mobilise achievement of universal energy access, improve energy efficiency, and increase the use of renewable energy.