STRATEGIC ACTION PLAN - Ministry of Mines and Energy

NNAA MMRREEPP
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SSTTRRAATTEEGGI IICC AACCTTI IIOONN PPLLAANN FFOORR TTHHEE IIMMPPLLEEMMEENNTTAATTI
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IIOONN OOFF RREENNEEWWAABBLLEE EENNEERRGGYY
PPOOLLI IICCI IIEESS AASS OOUUTTLLI IINNEEDD IINN I TTHHEE WWHHI IITTEE PPAAPPEERR OONN EENNEERRGGYY PPOOLLI IICCYY
DEVELOPMENT OBJECTIVE 9
SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT
Supporting Statements from the White Paper on Energy Policy:
The Namibian Government is committed to the participation of rural women in the
design of energy appliances, programmes and projects, as well as in awareness raising
activities. The Government is also committed to the empowerment of previously
disadvantaged Namibians in all aspects of the electricity industry. In addition, the
Government will enforce compliance with all relevant environmental legislation and
socioeconomic policies.
Strategic Aim:
Promote empowerment, socio-economic development and environmental protection.
Main Activities:
Co-ordinate institutional cooperation on gender-based energy issues, promote
regionally-based Economic Empowerment, and ensure environmental protection
Women often carry the burden to cater for the energy needs of rural households.
Increasingly greater distances have to be covered to gather fuel for cooking, lighting and
heating. So far, the position of women on energy related issues has hardly been taken
into account. The REEE Institute, together with the responsible line Ministries and civil
society organisations will introduce gender aspects into energy planning, co-ordinate
institutional cooperation on gender-based energy issues and strengthen the energy
planning capacity at national and sub-national levels.
The renewable energy and energy efficiency market is served by a hand-full of mostly
Windhoek-based suppliers and technicians. The large-scale introduction of renewable
energy technologies into rural, off-grid areas is largely hampered by the absence of
support structures and the resulting prohibitive costs related to covering large distances
from Windhoek. The REEE Institute will consider and propose mechanisms that will
facilitate a more even regional distribution of renewable energy suppliers and
technicians. The systems could include the establishment of joint ventures between
centralised and regionally based enterprises, as well as empowerment through local
capacity building initiatives for less-advantaged Namibians.
Increased population pressure results in increased pressure on natural resources as
rural households often have no choice but to rely heavily on wood to meet their energy
needs and the requirement for shelter. This often happens at the expense of
environmental sustainability. For this reason, the REEE Institute will assist in the
establishment of environmental impact assessments that consider energy needs within
a socio-economic framework. The Institute will expand the scope of environmental
impact assessments to consider impacts such as greenhouse gas contribution from
power stations, respiratory diseases from household smoke, etc. within a national, subregional,
regional and global perspective.
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