Minister of Petroleum and Mineral Resources Eng. Ali bin Ibrahim Al-Naimi participated here today in the Business Climate Summit. The following is the full text of Al-Naimi's speech: "Dear Panelists, Ladies and Gentlemen, The question before us is how the climate agenda can be incorporated into the goal of global economic growth in a sustainable manner. I have 60-plus years of experience working in the energy business, and three things are clear to me. First, access to energy has helped create economic powerhouses in Europe, including here in France, and the United States. It has improved lives immeasurably. In the developed world, people's lifestyles have changed dramatically over the past 100 years. The way people live, the way they travel, the way they eat, and their methods of farming - all these things have evolved. All of it has resulted in higher energy demand. Second, these changes have helped set high aspirations for people in the developing world. And thanks to fossil fuels, developing nations are making strong economic progress. But third, we must remember not to be complacent. According to the United Nations, worldwide there are about 1.2 billion people without access to electricity and 1 billion people more have access only to unreliable electricity networks. So our priority must be access to energy for all. And by this I mean access to all forms of energy. Our challenge is to make this energy accessible, reliable, affordable, and climate friendly." --More 20:28 LOCAL TIME 17:28 GMT تغريد
