The three-day World Energy Forum 2012 kicked off in Dubai Monday, which will deal with questions of how the world can tackle the growing energy demand.

About 100 head of states, ministers and decision makers worldwide were attending the forum. In his opening speech, Dubai Deputy Ruler Sheikh Maktoum said that as of today 1.5 billion people out of the 7 billion people worldwide do not have access to electricity.

"The world needs safe, green and sustainable energy," the deputy ruler said. He invited the delegates to cooperate in the field of renewable and sustainable energy and thank the United Nations General Secretary Bank Ki-moon for giving Dubai the opportunity to host the World Energy Forum 2012.

A welcome address from UN General Secretary Ban Ki-moon, who could not attend the forum, was submitted by Wu Hongbo, Under- Secretary-General of Economic and Social Affairs at the UN, who declared October 22 the "World Energy Day".

"Poverty and the absence of electricity go hand in hand," Wu said. "Over 3 billion people live with less than 2.5 U. S. dollars per day. Until 2050, global food consumption will increase by 70 percent. These challenges can only be addressed if multinational initiatives improve the supply of clean energy," he added.

In order to further reduce the lack of clean energy source "we launched last September the formation of a new advisory board to provide strategic guidance, which is meant to deal with how UN members can cooperate to achieve the UN's strategic objective " Sustainable Energy for All" until 2030, he said.

The World Future Energy Forum 2012 runs through Wednesday, October 24. Enditem

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