As many as 1.2 billion people - almost the population of India - don't have access toelectricity and 2.8 billion have to rely on wood or other biomass to cook and heat their homes, finds a World Bank report, the first in a series to monitor progress of the three objectives - full energy access, doubling energy efficiency and renewables - of the UN's Sustainable Energy-for-All initiative.
The multi-agency report has called on the public and private sectors to step up energyinvestments by at least $600 billion a year until 2030, more than doubling the current estimated $409 billion.
The additional $600 billion would include $45 billion for electricity expansion, $4.4 billion on modern cooking, $394 billion in energy efficiency, and $174 billion on renewable energy.
