UNIS/OUS/RI/005
17 June 2009

Re-issued as received

MEDIA ADVISORY

International Energy Conference to Open in Vienna on Monday

VIENNA, 17 June (UN Information Service) - Some 500 policymakers, private sector and civil society representatives from developing and industrialized countries will meet in Vienna on 22 June to discuss energy issues in the context of the global financial and economic crisis.

The three-day event is organized by the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO), the Government of Austria, and the International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis (IIASA) and the Global Forum on Sustainable Energy.

The conference will identify potential opportunities the current crisis offers, address ways to secure sustainable policies and investments to allow a shift towards a low-carbon "green economy" with a "green industry", and contribute to the global climate policy - the focus of the United Nations climate change conference in Copenhagen in December.

The highlights of the Global Energy Assessment, an analysis of the global energy challenges of the 21st century, will be presented at the conference.

Participants will also discuss the role of the new International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA).

Key speeches will be delivered by Kandeh K. Yumkella, UNIDO Director-General; Rajendra Pachauri, TERI Director-General and the Chair of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change; Brigitte Öppinger-Walchshofer, Austrian Development Agency, Managing Director; and Detlof von Winterfeldt, IIASA Director.

Journalists are invited to the opening session at 9:30, on Monday, 22 June, at the Hofburg's Redoutensaal, to be followed by a news conference at 10:30.

All other sessions of the conference will also be open to the media.

Please register for the conference and see the full programme at: www.viennaenergyconference.org

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For further information, please contact:

George Assaf
Spokesperson, UNIDO
Telephone: (+43-1) 26026-3849
Email: g.assaf@unido.org
Website: www.unido.org

Mikhail Evstafyev
Advocacy and Media Specialist, UNIDO
Mobile: (+43-650) 391-5278
Email: m.evstafyev@unido.org