New York - The United Nations promoted on Thursday energy efficiency as a tool to alleviate poverty, help development and save businesses and consumers as much as 900 billion of dollars a year by 2020.

Energy efficiency is part of negotiations to achieve a new Kyoto Protocol in December when governments meet in Copenhagen. The current protocol will expire in 2012. Its main targets have been to cut greenhouse gas emissions that contribute to global warming.

UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon opened a one-day debate on energy efficiency, energy conservation and renewable sources of energy, saying the world can achieve a great deal by pursuing energy efficiency to fight climate change.

"It is essential that we understand that the pursuit of energy efficiency and the expansion of renewable energy are not an indulgence for wealth nations," Ban said.

"They are a tool for all," he said. "They are a tool for clean development."

The UN said energy efficiency, especially in buildings, is considered the most promising near-term mitigation option in fighting climate change.

It said increased energy efficiency can reduce investment in energy infrastructure, cut fuel costs and improve consumer welfare in the long term. It said using existing technologies to increase energy efficiency can help consumers and businesses save 900 billion dollars a year by 2020.

The European Union said currently 1.6 billion people lack access to electricity, 2.5 billion people depend on traditional biomass for cooking while access to electricity is very low in rural areas.

The EU said access to sustainable sources of energy is a prerequisite for economic growth and social development.

The EU said in the debate on energy efficiency that the world faces the challenge of providing access to energy security and sustainability for all countries, cutting greenhouse gas emissions to the level that they do not cause irreparable damage to climate change and helping poor countries to gain access to modern, affordable and reliable energy services.(dpa)