WAM NEW YORK: The President of the General Assembly, Nassir Abdulaziz Al-Nasser, today underlined the urgent need to provide sufficient and low-cost energy to people across the world who lack access, stressing that making energy readily available can boost efforts to eradicate extreme poverty.

"More than a billion people continue to live without access to electricity," said Al-Nasser in an address to a conference organized by the Foreign Policy Association on the topic of �The Future of Energy.' "It is clear that the basic energy needs of their daily lives are not being met. Today, more than any time in the past, there is an urgent need to ensure the sustainable use of energy and to address the challenge of energy poverty," he added.

Al-Nassir noted that it is widely acknowledged that the more energy is available to communities, the greater the impact on food security, health, education, transport, communications and water and sanitation.

Al-Nasser also stressed that the United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development (Rio+20), in the Brazilian city of Rio de Janeiro next month, will be "a once-in-a-generation opportunity to secure a sustainable future and a more equitable world." WAM/MMYS