Energy economy begins at home: Towards a reconciliation of energy policies and human settlement policies

Abstract

The countries of Europe and North America that are members of the UN Economic Commission for Europe contain only 25 per cent of the world's population, but account for 75 per cent of world energy use. About 40 per cent of the world total is used in the human settlements of the ECE region, mainly to heat or cool homes and other buildings, or in transportation. The ECE Ottawa seminar on the impact of energy considerations on the planning and development of human settlements in October 1977 was therefore important in a global resource mangement context.