The main objective of GENUS is to promote sustainable energy access with particular focus on the urban poor. Under the theme “Pro-poor Access to Urban Energy Services”, this is to be achieved through:

• Contribution to slum electrification;
• Access to sustainable cooking and heating/cooling systems;
• Appropriate renewable energy solutions (e.g. for lighting, water pumping, heating, drying);
• Energy efficiency measures in urban areas;
• Sustainable mobility; and,
• Pro-poor energy policies, financing, design, planning and capacity building options

The aforementioned core theme is aligned to the UN “Sustainable Energy for All” initiative as it includes: Energy Access; Energy Efficiency; and Renewable Energy.

By facilitating sharing of information through a global base of knowledge on energy related topics, with a special focus on the urban poor, GENUS hopes to foster commitment and interest in the application of new and improved energy-access policies, and increase the number of local authorities active in the area of improving access to clean modern energy services, including those for the urban poor.