By Joan Erakit<\/p>\n\n\n\n
NEW YORK (IDN) – Sharing seems second nature to the Kazakhs, so much so that one cannot attend a meeting at the Permanent Mission of Kazakhstan to the United Nations without being ushered into the dining room.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cIt\u2019s is in our tradition. When someone visits your home, you must offer them food and share a meal together,\u201d Ambassador Kairat Umarov told dignitaries gathered at the mission on July 25.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The occasion to break bread was in part to brief fellow missions and UN partners on EXPO 2017 Astana<\/a>, currently being held in the capital city of Kazakhstan \u2013 an exhibition on “Future Energy” that has already seen 1 million visitors since its opening on June 10 2017.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In partnership with Fekitamoeloa Katoa \u2018Utoikamanu, Under-Secretary-General and High Representative for the Least Developed Countries (LDCs), Landlocked Developing Countries (LLDCs) and Small Island Developing States (SIDs), and Cihan Sultano\u011flu, UN Commissioner-General for the Organization\u2019s participation in Expo 2017, Assistant Secretary-General, Assistant Administrator and Director of the Regional Bureau for Europe and the Commonwealth of Independent States of UNDP, the Mission of Kazakhstan hosted the Central Asian country’s First Deputy Foreign Minister Mukhtar Tileuberdi in a forum to focus on energy as a tool to eliminate poverty.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cEXPO 2017 is on its way to becoming a legend. By September, when it ends, it will leave behind an immeasurable legacy on how new technologies and innovations can help advanced as well as vulnerable countries to achieve SDG 7<\/a> on renewable energy,\u201d said Ambassador Umarov, Kazakhstan’s Permanent Representative to the UN in New York.<\/p>\n\n\n\n There is no doubt that renewable energy is something many countries are beginning to prioritize as economies and populations grow. For EXPO 2017, Kazakhstan chose the theme Future Energy to help shepherd the global community in its effort to address energy challenges and to act as a thought partner.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThe vision of Future Energy is to highlight solutions and paths that ensure sustainable energy management,\u201d said Tileuberdi, adding: \u201cThese pathways are aimed at combating climate change and reducing CO2 emissions, promoting energy alternatives \u2013 renewable energy in particular \u2013 and driving energy efficiency programmes, ensuring energy security, managing energy production, storage and use and guaranteeing universal access to sustainable energy.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n During the EXPO, Kazakhstan has followed through with its commitment to collaborate with other countries \u2013 most importantly landlocked and small developing countries whose ability to access renewable energy sources is often limited. One of EXPO\u2019s main goals is to demonstrate the importance of equal and fair access to energy sources, taking into consideration poverty, climate, gender equality and social justice. What the EXPO 2017 ‘Future Energy’ is addressing is inclusivity, making it clear that Renewable Energy must be a shared resource among all.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Under-Secretary General \u2018Utoikamanu emphasized the need to address energy and energy poverty in the context of LDCs, SIDs, and LLDCs by utilizing information sharing and investment in energy moving forward. \u201cI am convinced that we can end the draining energy poverty in vulnerable countries, if we pool together the know-how and skills we have in the energy sector and share it with vulnerable countries,\u201d said \u2018Utoikamanu.<\/p>\n\n\n\n One of the major challenges that initiatives spawned from EXPO 2017 will face is the democratization of access to technologies and tools that promote renewable energy \u2013 especially for LDCs, SIDs, and LLDCs. The price of energy is simply too high in some countries, and that the lay woman or man who must rely on energy sources to take care of his\/her family cannot benefit from the future energy if it is not equally and fairly accessible.<\/p>\n\n\n\n According to \u2018Utoikamanu, this is something that small countries are placing high on their priority list. \u201cMany of the vulnerable countries have already prepared their national strategies and are keen to move forward,” she said, noting that it\u2019s now up to the support of partners to help accelerate the process. “EXPO 2017 has provided an excellent platform to start.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n