The UN Commission on Sustainable Development will discuss in the next 10 days issues of access and supply of affordable energy.
The UN said energy use is expected to increase by 50 per cent in the next 25 years with two-thirds of demands coming from developing countries, including China and India.
The opening session went without its chair, however. Aleksi Aleksishvili, Georgia's finance minister, failed to show up because of an emergency energy crisis at home, the UN said. In January, Russia's crucial gas pipeline to Georgia was cut off in the midst of winter, but it was not known what the current crisis was.
'The commission should aim at having a real impact on improving access to reliable, affordable, and clean energy services,' Aleksishvili said in a message to the session.
The UN said he was expected to arrive in New York once the crisis at home was settled.
Aleksishvili urge the 53 nations in the commission, many represented by ministers, to find solutions for affordable energy for sustainable development, clean air and clean water.
The UN said an estimated 2.4 billion people in the world still rely on wood or dung for cooking in addition to the 1.6 billion who have no access to electricity.
