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National High School Model United Nations 2015 HLPF Sustainable Energy for All (SE4All) Due to the inadequate status of the international community currently with regards to global energy access and development, the UN has decided to encourage greater political action by promoting Sustainable Energy for All (SE4All). This initiative intends to raise international awareness and produce greater political commitment to transform global energy systems. 203 The initiative started by declaring 2012 as the International Year of SE4All. During this year, the UN emphasized the importance of ME services in developing countries in reducing poverty, closing the income gap, and improving the living conditions of millions of people. 204 The International Year of SE4All was widely embraced, and following its completion the UN declared the 2014-2024 decade as the Decade of SE4All in an effort to build upon the political support gained in 2012 and guarantee a coherent approach to the energy issue. 205 This decade will focus on encouraging the renewability, universal access, and efficiency of energy by 2030 as UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon proposed. 206 Particularly, this decade “calls upon governments to take further action” and mobilize economic resources, technology, and capacity. 207 This portrays the greater need for enhanced political efforts which promote and execute such initiatives effectively. Additionally, the resolution that declares the Decade of SE4All stresses the need for other stakeholders to get involved and work with governments towards accurate financing and management of modern energy services. Other stakeholders like private companies, NGOs, independent initiatives, and members of the vulnerable communities, should have a say in the construction of ME policies and its later implementation. They should contribute to and enrich the policies with economic resources, technical knowledge, and personal experience accordingly. More recently, on 4 June 2014 the first SE4All Forum took place in New York, US. It assessed the progress on sustainable energy since the Rio+20 Conference in 2012, showing good cases, best practices, and building new commitments for the next decade on ME. 208 During the forum the three goals of the SE4All initiative were reinforced: access, efficiency, and renewability. 209 The forum overall emphasized the need to bring “partners together, looking holistically at energy issues and giving everyone a voice.” 210 The forum especially highlighted the need to establish a durable, “longterm institutional framework for sustainable energy partnerships” and define the legal aspects of it, as well as its financing and endorsement. 211 This forum is an example of a political, action-oriented event that aims to enhance the political drive regarding ME. This type of initiative is ideal for !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 203 Sustainable Energy for All-A Framework for Action (New York: High-Level Group on Sustainable Energy, 2012), accessed 22 April 2014, http://www.se4all.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/09/SE_for_All_-_Framework_for_Action_FINAL.pdf. 204 A/RES/65/151, “International Year of Sustainable Energy for All,” 16 Feb 2011, accessed 22 May 2014, http://www.un.org/en/ga/search/view_doc.asp?symbol=A/RES/65/151. 205 Ibid. 206 Sustainable Energy for All – A Framework for Action. 207 A/RES/65/151. 208 “Sustainable Energy for All Forum,” UN-Energy, 5 May 2014, accessed 26 July 2014, http://www.unenergy.org/stories/10948-sustainable-energy-for-all-forum. 209 Summary of the First Sustainable Energy for All Forum (Winnipeg: International Institute for Sustainable Development, 2014), accessed 3 August 2014, http://www.iisd.ca/download/pdf/sd/crsvol181num7e.pdf. 210 Ibid. 211 Ibid. - 39 -
National High School Model United Nations 2015 HLPF HLPF’s mission since it would increase political commitment to the topic and thus public policies that can promote ME internally in these states. Moreover, it will enhance political action at an international level, which will ultimately stimulate independent partnerships and strategies that will reach a greater number of people. Besides the SE4All initiative, there are a few other developments that demonstrate the relevance of addressing this topic. For instance, the World Energy Outlook 2013 is a comprehensive report developed by the International Energy Agency (IEA) that analyzes the yearly status of energy resources in the world. Last year this report studied how the energy market will evolve, stating that by 2035 the global energy demand will have increased significantly. However, this rate can be modified and influenced by governments and so it is important to address the topic on a national level. 212 Moreover, the report found that traditional and non-renewable sources of energy accounted for USD 544 billion in fossil fuel subsidies in 2012, which is an exorbitant quantity that proves the need for renewable energy sources. 213 Furthermore, according to the IEA, universal access to energy by 2030 could be reached with an increase of only 3% of global investment on energy infrastructure. 214 This evidences how a coordinated effort in addressing energy access could mean a tremendous forward step towards global energy access. 215 Energy for All Along with the growth of international awareness for ME, many independent initiatives have surfaced. These emerging strategies show good practices and set standards for the difficult duty of addressing ME. For instance, there is Energy for All, a partnership founded by energy-related organizations, which aims to support energy access initiatives at all scales. 216 Energy for All believes that energy poverty is one of the most pressing matters in the current era and requires solutions at every level. The partnership endorses “everything from global finance to village-level technologies, acknowledging the importance of all stakeholders.” 217 This partnership was created by the Asian Development Bank in 2008 in order to craft a platform for cooperation, innovation, and project development. 218 It focuses primarily on the Asia-Pacific region, which contains the largest share of people in the world without access to ME. The work of the partnership has been quite impressive. It has gathered a number of key stakeholders in terms of finance, government, and NGOs to “drive action towards providing energy access to 100 million people in Asia and the Pacific by 2015.” 219 This partnership is an example of the type of solutions that ME requires. Since development has to be sustainable, the solutions should promote the development of all sectors, scales, and levels. The Energy for All partnership is well aware of that. It encourages the cooperation and dialogue between all stakeholders from all economic sectors, !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 212 World Energy Outlook 2013 Factsheet. How Will Global Energy Markets Evolve To 2035? (Paris: IEA, 2013), accessed 7 July 2014, http://www.worldenergyoutlook.org/media/weowebsite/factsheets/WEO2013_Factsheets.pdf. 213 Ibid. 214 Sustainable Energy for All – A Framework for Action. 215 Ibid. 216 “Energy for All,” EnergyForAll, accessed 26 July 2014, http://www.energyforall.info/about/energy-for-all. 217 Ibid. 218 Ibid. 219 Ibid. - 40 -
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