South-South development expo on energy, climate change opens in Vienna

The Global South-South Development (GSSD) Expo 2012 opened here on Monday to showcase achievements from the South on expanding access to energy and combating climate change in the process of development. Hosted by the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO), the GSSD Expo 2012 was officially inaugurated at the Hofburg Palace in downtown Vienna. "The thematic focus of the Expo in 2012 will be energy, climate change, and South-South cooperation," said Kandeh K. Yumkella, UNIDO Director-General in a press release on the event. "Globally, South-South interaction have had a proven and remarkable impact on development, with the expectation that by 2030, South-South cooperation will constitute one of the main driving forces in worldwide growth," said Yumkella, who gave a keynote speech at the opening ceremony. The Expo, featuring various forums and exhibitions, focuses on tangile solutions to the problems of energy access and climate change in developing countries and regions. Yiping Zhou, Director of the United Nations Office for South-South Cooperation, formerly known as the Special Unit for South-South Cooperation, said the expo "is designed solely to bring together developing countries and their development partners, including donors, organizations of the United Nations system, and the private-sector and civil society organizations, to methodically and regularly share their evidence-based development solutions." During the five-day event, governments and civil societies from the South will also present and promote innovative solutions to global pandemics and the lack of social protection for vulnerable populations.