Sustainable energy by 2030

In 2012, the United Nations launched an initiative to provide universal access to energy, double energy efficiency and double the share of renewables in the global energy mix by 2030.

The World Bank is a partner in the effort. Rachel Kyte, the bank's vice president for Sustainable Development, says to meet those goals and reduce the risks of runaway climate change, nations must consider a greener energy mix that includes renewable sources and natural gas.

In a remote village in Fiji, children get a chance to learn about renewable energy as part of their curriculum and try out a new solar powered lamp donated to the school. (Energy for All)

“There have been a series of very big natural gas finds offshore of the developing world. That becomes a huge opportunity to substitute for coal and to move to a greener energy mix in the short-to-medium term," Kyte says. "We’ve seen what gas has done for the U.S. emissions profile and for the U.S. economy and gas is changing the geopolitics of energy as a result.”

Infrastructure gap

The World Bank calculates there is a one-trillion-dollar gap in financing for infrastructure in the developing world. In spite of global economic uncertainty, Kyte says, ways must be found to cut investment risk.

She suggests, for example, tapping the $500 billion industrial nations spend for fossil fuel subsidies.