OREANDA-NEWS. December 7, 2012. In New York, during the first meeting of the Leadership Council of Sustainable Development Solutions Network (SDSN), directed by Professor Jeffrey D. Sachs, Eni was appointed as the head of Energy for All in Sub-Saharan Africa, an initiative to find solutions for energy access in sub-Saharan Africa and to present these solutions to governments and international decision makers.

The Sustainable Development Solutions Network (SDSN), launched on August 9 by the Secretary General of the United Nations, Ban Ki-moon, is a network of academics and research departments, the private sector and the public, created to help find practical solutions for sustainable development.

Eni is a member of the highest governance body responsible for the strategic decisions of the Network, the Leadership Council. Eni chief executive, Paolo Scaroni, was invited to join by Professor Jeffrey D. Sachs’s, director of the Network and of the Earth Institute at Columbia University. Energy for All in Sub-Saharan Africa is supported by a scientific research team led by Professor Vijay Modi of Columbia University, taking guidance and co-ordination with the principles of Sustainable Energy For All (SEFA) of the United Nations, in which Eni is actively involved.

The SDSN has important objectives such as consultation and support for international processes on development policies post-2015 (the deadline for the achievement of the United Nations’ Millennium Development Goals launched in 2000); organizing groups of experts worldwide around specific themes to identify and promote solutions that can drastically accelerate progress on sustainable development, providing innovative solutions in technological, institutional, political-managerial and business expertise and building a global "Knowledge Center".

Professors and scientists are involved to the SDSN of the Earth Institute academic network, with the support of eight Columbia University centers around the world.

The SDSN is on track to achieve the goals set out at Rio +20, the Rio de Janeiro sustainable development conference that took place in June and works closely with United Nations Agencies, financial institutions and other international organizations.

Among the future challenges that the SDSN will face, SDSN will give content to the Thematic Groups of the Network, including: global sustainable growth, poverty reduction and peace-building in fragile regions, gender equality, social inclusion, Human Rights, sustainable rural development, fair energy resources management and sustainable business development.