Renewable Energy

Review of SDGs implementation: SDG 7 – Ensure access to affordable, reliable, sustainable and modern energy for all

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Organized by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), the meeting took place in the form of an interactive workshop on capacity building of realizing SDG 7, “Ensure access to affordable, reliable, sustainable and modern energy for all”. Representatives from the IAEA shared their experiences and product when it comes to energy planning and capacity building across sectors.

Mrs Escobar first illustrated the key elements of formulating capacity building frameworks, which mainly depend on country development priorities since the focus of national policies between developing and developed countries could vary to a large extent. Universal access to energy services and renewable energy technologies are considered critical when it comes to building capacity of energy planning. At the same time, development of human resources along value chains and institutional capacities are imperative to an effective framework.

The meeting then turned to discuss details of energy planning process to achieve SDG 7. Mr Shrosphire explained how to establish a clear yet adaptable energy policy by using systemic energy planning process with clear stakeholder roles. It is vital to acknowledge technological advancements, such as electric cars and smart appliances, to facilitate long-term energy planning. For countries who consider nuclear power as an alternative energy source, a hundred-year plan is advised to be mapped in light of its complexity and plausible impact. Mrs Escobar added that principal objectives of energy planning should include information, decision-making as well as implementation. Effective communication is also needed among relevant parties. Data analysis, in addition, is crucial in energy planning to show possible consequences of decisions making and assisting policymakers to make well-informed decisions.

Meeting: High-Level Political Forum on Sustainable Development  – Review of SDGs implementation: SDG 7 – Ensure access to affordable, reliable, sustainable and modern energy for all

Date/Location: Conference Room 5, UNHQ NYC; 15:00-18:00; July 10th 2018

Speakers: Mr. David Shrosphire (Section Head of Planning and Economic Studies Section, Division of Planning, Information and Knowledge Management, Department of Nuclear Energy, International Atomic Energy Agency [IAEA]), Mrs Ilse Berdellans Escobar (Energy Systems Analyst, Planning and Economic Studies Section, Division of Planning, Information and Knowledge Management, Department of Nuclear Energy, IAEA)

Written By: WIT representative, Rosalind Cheung

General Meeting of the NGO Committee on Sustainable Development

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image18_866Ms. Reagan introduced the Sustainable Energy for All Forum that will take place this upcoming May at the United Nations. The main objectives of the forum are to address universal access to energy, doubling the global rate of improvement in energy efficiency, and doubling the share of renewable energy. Mr. Sciarratta then discussed ecotourism and some of his involvement with FAF. Through his work, youth interested in activist movements and policy have been able to synthesize and join together through cultural experiences. Mr. Jordan touched upon groups like the International Ecotourism Society that work to unite communities and promote eco-friendly tourism. He stated that people must respect the systems of foreign lands. He used the example of an American throwing away a film wrapper in a small Indian town. This one action can have ripple effects, as the foreign land may not be equipped to further break down that material. In order to pursue sustainable livelihoods, individuals must develop platforms for educational purposes on fair trade, a mindset of less consumption, and land preservation. Dr. Kohona gave a historical presentation on Sri Lanka, which included information about its creation, the purpose of the Cultural Triangle, Buddhism, endemic species, and a multitude of artifacts. Sri Lanka has worked hard to retain the natural beauty of its land. Currently, 22% of land mass is maintained forests, and the government is working to raise this percentage to 30%. Ms. Flake discussed the endeavors of Honduras and its support of sustainable tourism, as 80% of Honduras’s economy is in the tourism sector. Honduras has a diverse ecosystem that includes the largest tropical forest in Central America, coral reefs, canyons, caves, parks, and protected areas. To uphold such rich biodiversity, Ms. Flake stated that the government must create a strategy instilling tourism sustainability.

Meeting: NGO Committee on Sustainable Development General Meeting
Date and Location: 25 February 2015; UN Church Center, New York.
Speakers: Ms. Margo LaZaro and Ms. Yvonne O’Neal, Co-chairs; Mr. Modou Cham, Secretary; Ms. Ornesha Reagan, Special Consultant for the UN Executive Office of the Secretary- General Sustainable Energy for All initiative- SE4ALL Forum and Independent Development Researcher on Eco-tourism; H.E. Dr. Palitha T.B. Kohona, Ambassador and Permanent Representative of Sri Lanka to the UN; H.E. Ms. Mary Flores Flake, Ambassador and Permanent Representative of Honduras to the UN; Mr. Patrick Sciarratta, Executive Director of Friendship Ambassadors Foundation, Advisor to the Permanent Mission of Sao Tome and Principe; Mr. Richard Jordan, Representative of the Royal Academy of Science International Trust at the UN
Written by WIT Representative: Paige Stokols
Edited by WIT Representative: Philip Bracey

Acceleration Sustainable Energy Deployment through Support for Energy Innovation

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On the first day of the Sustainable Energy for All Forum, the second session focused on catalysing investment through innovative business models.

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Mr. Zindler, a representative of the Bloomberg team, started by introducing his field, which focuses on new energy technologies and investment in clean energy. Mr Zindler highlighted the current challenges for policymakers, especially in developing countries. Firstly, it is difficult to find the appropriate level of support for renewables, given the uncertainty over costs. Allocating support costs equitably, integrating renewables into the grid and preparing for cost parity are equally difficult. Therefore, he would like to come up with ideas about promoting innovation for policies and financials, efficiently in the near future.

Mr. Sarkar followed by highlighting the current challenges in terms of energy efficiency implementation in the developing world since different countries use different financial instruments. Therefore, he introduced three implementation models to tackle the challenges and financing gap categorized under the Energy Efficiency Fund (EE Fund), namely the public model, private model and public private partnerships (PPPs). He emphasized that PPPs has a possibility of bringing in new sources of financing for funding public infrastructure and service needs. Some countries like Romania, Bulgaria, Korea and India are already implementing the EE Fund. This fund would be able to support energy efficiency, renewable energy and promote economic development and energy security.

Mr. Roders, who moderated the meeting, concluded the session with an example – introducing the innovative programming for climate change, which is a performance-based financing for projects and sectors. One of the advantages of this programming is that it catalyses the engagement of the private sector, including PPS, risk-mitigation and structured financing tools, global certification, standards programs and SME Small Grant Program.

 

Meeting Title: Accelerating Sustainable Energy Deployment through Support for Innovation
Speakers: David Rodgers, Senior Climate Change Specialist, Climate and Chemicals, GEF; Ethan Zindler, Head of Policy Analysis, Bloomberg New Energy Finance ; Ashok Sarkar, Senior Energy Specialist, World Bank
Location: UN Headquarters, Trusteeship Council
Date: 4 June 2014
Written By WIT representative: Samantha Kong
Edited by WIT representative: Sophia Griffiths-Mark 

 

Water-Energy-Food Nexus

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At the ‘Sustainable Energy for All Forums’ there was a panel discussion on the Water-Energy-Food Nexus, which highlighted interlinkages in the energy and water sector. Tania Rodiger-Vorwerk (Deputy Director General-Directorate 31, German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development) began the discussion, by stating that this was the very first public discussion on the HIO nexus. The demand for natural resources is consistently increasing and it is anticipated that the there will be severe shortages of natural resources if we don’t control and manage our resources effectively. Thus the aim of the nexus is to find intersectoral solutions designed to increase efficiency.
NEXUS News image 1.0.ashxRodiger also highlighted that Germany has been involved in the nexus through supporting regional dialogues through the high level African dialogue on Water-Food-Energy nexus in Nairobi in 2012 and supporting educational management. The main objectives of the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development for the nexus are: collect and develop resources for nexus challenges; exchange information concerning practical experiences; integrate nexus perspective on policy level; promote nexus in other related sectors such as agriculture, irrigation etc.; and ensure HIO policy coherence.

Olivier Dubois (the Senior Natural Resources Officer and Coordinator, Energy Programme, FAO) added that nexus contributes phenomenally to sustainability, through three dimensions: resource efficiency; tradeoffs; and linking tradeoffs to opportunities. He highlighted that we are at the initial stages of building the nexus and thus need to develop nexus assessment and cost effective tools approach.Martin Hiller (Director General, REEEP) shared REEP’s contribution and initiatives, for instance a very simple technology of solar water pumps was converted into a private business in Kenya.

Anna Delgado (Water Unit, World Bank) noted that it is important to integrate energy-water planning at local and international level. The Thirsty Energy Initiative works to ensure governments integrate across the food, water and energy sectors. REEEP is in dialogue with China, as their water resources required energy expansion plans. She concluded by saying that the nexus requires a methodological approach, driven by demand and we should quantify tradeoffs.

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Meeting Title: Water-Energy-Food Nexus HIO, Sustainable Energy for All Forums
Speakers: Tania Rodiger-Vorwerk, Deputy Director General-Directorate 31, German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development; Olivier Dubois, Senior Natural Resources Officer and Coordinator, Energy Programme, FAO; Anna Delgado, Water Unit, World Bank; Martin Hiller, Director General, REEEP; Klaus Rudischhauser, Deputy Director General, EuropeAid, European Commission.
Location: United Nations HQ; Conference Room B, New York
Written By WIT representative: Aslesha Kaur Dhillon

Together we’ve got the Power

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Why SE4ALL Needs Civil Society

The first annual Sustainable Energy for All Forum was held at the headquarters of United Nations, New York. This session, moderated by Mr. Bros, the director of the Global Business & Biodiversity Programme of IUCN, reiterated the needs for civil society in charting the way forward to reach goals and targets on renewables and energy efficiency.

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The first speaker, Ms. Leopold, discussed capacity building, access to information were challenges faced during the mobilization of actions by Civil Society Organization (CSO). Clear commitment and transparent guidelines agreed among governments, United Nations, multilateral development banks to CSO participation, capacity building of CSO through inclusive participation and access to timely and meaningful information were three key pointers she raised to achieve a more meaningful participation by civil society.

Mr. Riley from WWF pointed out that there was a lack of social structure to promote civil society engagement, which impeded goals and energy policies from achieving. Right now, CSO had started to puttogether platforms in engaging all stakeholders by means of toolkits and roadmaps, so that messages can be shared and negotiated.

Ms. Zuniga carried on by saying that civil society was the voice representing local population, and it had the power to bring their own learning and experiences into discussion. Ms. Edjekumhene, executive director of KITE, cited an example of Guana being the first country to develop a CSO engagement action plan to identify energy use objectives.

The last speaker, Ms. Allam, believed sustainability was all about providing an enabling environment, but prior to that, required poverty reduction, energy and resources management. She emphasised that people need to change their norms to eradicate poverty and create a zero-carbon environment. Lastly, she envisioned a sustainable world where different genders, ethnic groups and marginalised communities can have affordable and reliable access for energy.

Meeting Title: Together we’ve got the power: why SE4ALL needs civil society
Speakers: Mr. Gerard Bros, Director, Global Business & Biodiversity Programme, ICUN; Mr. Aaron Leopold, Global Energy Advocate for Practical Action, Mr. Dan Riley, Lead Specialist Renewable Energy Policy of WWF US; Ms. Mariam Mohamed Adballah Abdelhafiz Allam, Arab Youth Climate Movement/IndyACT; Ms. Lizeth Zuniga, Director of Renewables Association; Ms Ishmael Edjekumhene, Executive Director of KITE
Location: United Nations HQ, Trusteeship Council
Date: 5 June 2014
Written by WIT representative: Tracy Lau

Private and Public Sector Collaboration for Renewable Energy Solutions

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During the Sustainable Energy For All Forum a side event was held on forming partnerships between the private and public sector in order to find renewable energy solutions. Beginning the discussion, Ms. Eibs-Singer spoke about opportunities for the public and private sector to collaborate using public sector instruments at the policy level and private sector investment at the market level in order to invest in renewable energy.

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A more direct integration of the public and private sector is necessary for successful renewable energy projects to take off. However, Ms. Eibs-Singer pointed out that a potential problem in working together is how much slower progress can occur in the public sphere than in the private , and that the two need to reconcile this problem in order to effectively work together.

Mr. Ford, the Managing Director of Accenture (one of the world’s largest consulting and technology companies), then spoke about Accenture’s nexus with civil society, corporations, and donors, and how these partnerships can be used to find renewable energy solutions. Mr. Ford also mentioned Accenture’s work in renewable energy, and how this relates to education, health, and capacity building for development.

The Rockefeller Foundation gave a statement about the need to build resilience for disadvantaged communities and cities, and to make economies more inclusive; allowing more opportunities for participation. The key to this, he said, is energy access from renewable sources. Access to energy is necessary for withstanding climate change, health pandemics, and for having access to information, and is also fundamental for participation in the modern economy. Government capacity, the skills of the private sector, as well as money from funders is needed to find renewable energy solutions.

Mr. Fast then followed up this statement with an example of Accenture’s project in Northern Uganda, which helps local villagers use solar energy more efficiently. Accenture created this project with the help of local schools and businesses. To close, Mr. Rubin a professor at University of Pennsylvania, talked about his project in Zimbabwe, which, with the help from universities, private sector donations, and public sector infrastructure, produced an innovative solution to efficiently refrigerate vaccines for children by using the electric infrastructure from already existing cell phone towers to power the refrigerators.

Meeting: Energy Access for Development Impact: How Can the Private and Public Sector Collaborate on Renewable Energy Solutions?
Speakers: Ms. Christine Eibs-Singer; Senior Advisor, SE4ALL; Mr. Roger Ford, Managing Director, Accenture Development Partnerships; Mr. Zia Khan, Vice President for Initiatives and Strategy, The Rockefeller Foundation; Mr. Scott Fast, Executive Director, Accenture Foundation; Mr. Harvey Rubin, Professor of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania and Director, Energize the Chain
Location: United Nations HQ, New York, Conference Room A
Date: 4 June 2014
Written By WIT representative: Marli Kasdan