Editorial Klaus Toepfer, United Nations Under-Secretary-General and Executive Director, UNEP, and Corrado Clini, Director General of the Italian Ministry of Environment and former co-Chair of the G8 Task Force on Renewable Energy Key to development Gerhard Schroeder, Chancellor of the Federal Republic of Germany, says that sustainable energy supplies are essential to combat poverty, prevent crises and conflicts and safeguard natural resources The energy challenge Ted Turner, Chairman of the United Nations Foundation, describes the imperatives of tackling energy poverty and climate change – and work done by the UN Foundation to address them Plant power Richard G. Lugar, Chairman of the US Senate Foreign Relations Committee, calls for a new green revolution to combat global warming and reduce world instability Bioenergy: doing well while doing right Timothy E. Wirth, President of the United Nations Foundation; C. Boyden Gray, partner at Wilmer, Cutler & Pickering; John D. Podesta, President of the Center for American Progress, describe the great potential for energy security and the environment in growing one’s own fuel New energy for development M. Kannappan, Minister of Non-Conventional Energy Sources, India, describes India’s programme to bring renewable sources of energy to its villages and to become a world leader in the new technologies People Delivering change Margaret Beckett, Secretary of State for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, United Kingdom, outlines a new initiative to break down barriers to increasing energy efficiency and the use of renewables Benign growth Ma Kai, Minister in Charge of the State Development and Reform Commission, China, describes how China is committed to a sustainable development energy strategy as it doubles consumption in less than two decades Green energy Liu Shuying, Vice Chairperson of Jilin Provincial People’s Congress and National Project Director for Modernized Biomass Energy, China, describes a pioneering project to provide heat and power from waste corn stalks in rural China

At a glance: Energy Sustainable dreams Chin-Chin Gutierrez, award-winning actress and conservationist: interview Brightening the future Leonard Good, CEO and Chairman of the Global Environment Facility, describes increasingly successful worldwide efforts to promote clean energy and power sustainable development Greening oil Philip Watts, Chairman of the Committee of Managing Directors of the Royal Dutch/Shell Group of Companies, describes what his company is doing to reduce its impact on the environment and develop cleaner energy Blue-sky thinking Takeo Fukui, President and CEO of the Honda Motor Co. Ltd, describes how his company seeks its customers’ respect through an aggressive programme of developing green technology Books & products New energy to assault poverty Youba Sokona, Head of Energy Program, ENDA-TM, Senegal, outlines strategies for widening modern energy services to poor nations and people in Africa New energy entrepreneurs Francis Yamba, Director of the Centre for Energy, Environment and Engineering, Zambia, describes a programme which brings sustainable development by supporting businesses pioneering energy solutions in developing countries Time to get serious Eileen Claussen, President of the Pew Center on Global Climate Change, calls for immediate steps to create a strategy for a climate-friendly energy future Breaking the ice Maria Maack, Environmental Manager of Icelandic New Energy, describes the first steps Iceland is taking towards a hydrogen economy In my lifetime – 100 per cent renewable Amaidhi Devaraj, student of Law at the University of Bangalore, South India Extra web-only article: Slimming the waste Shunichi Suzuki, former Minister of the Environment, Japan, describes how Japan is setting out to be a ‘recycling-based society’