Miquel Munoz Participates in Energy Conference

Miquel Munoz (left) with UNIDO Director-General Kandeh Yumkella at the International Energy Conference in Vienna.
Miquel Munoz (left) with UNIDO Director-General Kandeh Yumkella at the International Energy Conference in Vienna.

Pardee Postdoctoral Fellow Miquel Muñoz participated in the International Energy Conference 2009. The conference was held at the Hofburg Palace in Vienna, Austria, from June 22-24, 2009, and was jointly organized by the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO), Austrian Development Cooperation (ADC), the International Institute of Applied Systems Analysis (IIASA), and the Global Forum on Sustainable Energy (GFSE).

Titled “Towards an Integrated Energy Agenda Beyond 2020: Securing Sustainable Policies and Investments,” the meeting brought together 778 participants from 93 industrialized and developing countries, including 20 ministerial-level participants, energy representatives and experts, as well as representatives from UN agencies, bilateral organizations, the private sector, academia and regional and international non-governmental organizations.

The overall objective of the Conference was to provide a platform for high-level policymakers, private sector and civil society representatives to discuss energy issues in the context of the current global financial and economic crisis. The conference served as an opportunity to, amongst other things: shift the debate on energy and development beyond generalities and identify specific courses of action; initiate and advance regional and international co-operation in dedicated result-oriented working sessions; celebrate the 10th anniversary of the GFSE; provide inputs to the United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP15) in Copenhagen in December 2009; and present new international energy initiatives such as the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA).