Human Settlements Review - Parliamentary Monitoring Group

Abstract
Human Settlements Review, Volume 1, Number 1, 2010
National Sustainable Settlements Facility
– opportunities to finance domestic energy
service improvements through climate change
mechanisms and Energy Efficiency and Demand
Side Management (EEDSM) instruments
.
Steve Thorne
SouthSouthNorth Projects (Africa)
The suppressed demand for energy services of the poor manifests in lack of access to modern
energy infrastructures and unfulfilled energy service requirements. Typically emissions and
electricity demand savings from the poor are small and un-interesting from a GHG mitigation
perspective. However, if development occurs, the poor will increase their consumption of
goods and services, that is include their use include modern fossil fuelled energy services,
subsequently increasing their Greenhouse Gas (GHG) emissions. To predict future emissions,
through primary behavioural research and subsequent modelling, will make GHG mitigation
projects amongst the poor more interesting now. The application of suppressed demand in
the development of baselines (for both GHGs and EEDSM) in poor parts of the world, and
notably Africa, could leverage infrastructural development that involves a once off leap-frog
to cleaner energy technologies at the time of first access, diminishing the need for unlearning
dirty habits later.
The paper presents the case of Kuyasa - a low cost housing area in South Africa where the
above rationale has been applied to a project that is the first CDM project to be registered
in Africa. The same rationale is currently being applied to the development of a Clean
Development Mechanism programme (National Sustainable Settlements Facility) under the
Development Bank of Southern Africa in new and existing settlements projects throughout
South Africa.
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