The Sixth Meeting of the Global Forum on Sustainable Energy (GFSE-6) was held from 29 November - 1 December 2006 at the Diplomatic Academy of Vienna, Austria. The meeting convened under the theme “Africa is energizing itself” and focused on sustainable energy in the African continent, with particular attention to sub-regional issues, biofuels, hydropower, the Clean Development Mechanism (CDM), and financing.

GFSE-6 was organized by the Global Forum on Sustainable Energy in collaboration with the Austrian Development Cooperation at the Federal Ministry for Foreign Affairs, the Austrian Energy Agency and the Austrian Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry, Environment and Water Management.

The meeting brought together 181 representatives from African and European governments, agencies, UN bodies and international organizations, academia, business and industry, civil society and financing institutions to identify ways and means of supporting African aspirations at the 15th session of the UN Commission on Sustainable Development (CSD-15) to be held in New York in May 2007, and to exchange views on key topics in this area.

Participants at GFSE-6 met in nine plenary sessions to hear presentations and engage in discussions on a variety of relevant topics, including: the “African regional landscape on energy”; a regional focus on western, southern, eastern and central Africa; biofuels and hydropower; CDM opportunities in Africa; how GFSE can contribute to CSD-15; financial engineering for energy in Africa; and the way forward.

Participants attending GFSE-6 also had the opportunity to attend side events on monitoring and evaluation for energy and development, biofuels in sub-Saharan Africa, and capacity development for expanding energy access in Africa. In addition, participants visited a biodiesel plant in Vienna and a hydropower plant in Freudenau. More information.