Opening Remarks at the UN Commission on Sustainable Development

I would first like to commend you and the rest of the Bureau as well as the Secretariat on your organization of this Review Session. Your skillful work has offered us the opportunity to focus our efforts on action and results. I hope we can rise to the task.

President Bush has said that, in the United States, our goal is “to develop and accelerate the deployment of cleaner, more efficient energy technologies to meet national pollution reduction, energy security, and climate change concerns in ways that reduce poverty and promote economic development.”

Energy powers development. Energy boosts crop production, drives industry, and creates jobs. Energy moves water, brings schools into the 21st century, and lights, heats, and cools hospitals. We cannot achieve the Millennium Development Goals without addressing energy.

With energy issues making daily headlines around the world, we believe this CSD gathering could not have come at a more opportune moment. This conference has the potential to make a significant impact on international awareness of and access to energy. Our common goal for this two-year cycle of CSD should be to achieve a measurable increase in the number of people around the world who have access to clean, affordable and healthy energy services.

Four issues will underlie U.S. efforts on energy. First, governance. To promote investment and sound management, it is essential to have the necessary policy and regulatory structures in place and to have accountable institutions addressing transparency and corruption. Second, finance. With $16 trillion for energy investment needed over the next 20 years, it is only through attracting private sources of capital that the need can be met. Third, technology. The full range of technologies, conventional, nuclear, renewable – solar, wind, geothermal, hydro, and biomass - and efficiency technologies will all have roles. Fourth, partnerships. We will work with other governments, business, civil society and international organizations to reach these goals.

Over the next two weeks, we can take some important steps forward. Let me identify three. First, we can begin to identify lessons learned and best practices from around the world. The Chairman has already indicated his intention to prepare a matrix and the secretariat has prepared an initial draft to help organize such information. We applaud this effort. Second, we can advance our discussions on measuring results. Goals are important. Demonstrating results towards those goals are even more so. We hope to have rich robust discussions here over the results we seek, and the metrics we use to report them. Third, we can expand the networks of implementers, improving communication and linkages, so that smaller projects can grow and new approaches can flourish.

In our interventions and discussions, the United States will contribute concrete examples of our domestic and overseas energy initiatives. We have already submitted thirty case studies to the Secretariat. We will use the plenary discussions, the Partnership Fair, the Learning Center and our May 2 side event to provide additional information on our efforts. At these sessions, you will hear, for example, how the Partnership for Clean Fuels and Vehicles has resulted in the elimination of leaded gasoline in all 49 sub-Saharan African countries and how t hrough USG support for the Global Village Energy Partnership and related activities, 15.7 million people have received increased access to modern energy services.

The United States was encouraged by CSD’s accomplishments during the water cycle. At the fourth World Water Forum in Mexico, the CSD Secretariat presented a compelling example of its latest contribution to facilitate implementation of our water goals. WAND, the Water Action and Networking Database will provide local implementers with interactive best practices and case studies so that they can take concrete action appropriate to their national circumstances. We thank the Secretariat for its leadership in this area and encourage them to perform a similar role as we go forward in the energy cycle.

Mr. Chairman, the CSD has undergone a critical shift with its focus on action and demonstrating results. It is our hope that the CSD example will serve as a catalyst for broader action, here at the CSD, elsewhere in the United Nations, and beyond, with civil society, national governments, regional efforts, and other international organizations. We can make our efforts at the CSD relevant by looking at the needs of each of our countries and simultaneously at the needs of the two billion people in the world without access to modern energy services. The United States comes to this meeting ready to produce results.