Climate Action 2011-2012

climate policy, governance & finance
energy
Sustainable energy:
a critical element for
the MDGs
additional billion people have only unstable and erratic
electricity supplies.
Business-as-usual approaches to energy access are clearly not
adequate for accelerating the achievement of the MDGs. In
addition to plans for extending electricity grids, decentralised
energy options are urgently needed to reach the poor and
those living ‘beyond the central grids’, along with motorised
power for agricultural and income-producing enterprises.
18 climateactionprogramme.org
© dorothy.voorhees
Cleaner fuels and improved stoves
reduce household air pollution.
By Helen Clark, Administrator, United Nations
Development Programme (UNDP)
At the September 2010 UN General Assembly Summit
to review progress on achieving the Millennium
Development Goals (MDGs), world leaders
acknowledged that, despite significant efforts and
successes, much more needs to be done to reach the
targets by 2015. One of the crucial elements of the
action agenda they adopted was an emphasis on energy
issues: access to affordable energy, energy efficiency, and
sustainability of energy sources and uses.
The challenge
About three billion people continue to meet their cooking,
heating, and other daily needs by burning traditional
biomass fuels (wood, charcoal, agricultural wastes or dung),
and in some areas, pieces of coal. More than 1.4 billion
people still lack any significant access to electricity, and an
ban Ki-moon,
un SecreTary-general:
“Expanding access to affordable, clean
energy is critical for realising the MDGs
and enabling sustainable development
across much of the globe.”
commiTmenT To ‘SuSTainable
energy for all’
In December 2010, the UN General Assembly designated
2012 as the ‘International Year for Sustainable Energy
for All’ (Resolution 65/151). This provides a unique
opportunity to strengthen global commitments and mobilise
collective actions on sustainable energy. The General
Assembly resolution followed recommendations made in
April 2010 by the Secretary-General’s Advisory Group on
Energy and Climate Change. In their report Energy for a
Sustainable Future, the Advisory Group identified two main
priorities for enhanced effort and international co-operation
– achieving universal access to modern energy services and
strengthening energy efficiency.
In a January 2011 speech in Abu Dhabi, United Nations
Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon emphasised the importance
of the International Year for Sustainable Energy for All, and
called for a “global clean energy revolution – a revolution
that makes energy available and affordable for all.”
The initiative calls for achievement of three goals by
2030: achieving universal access to modern energy services;
doubling the rate of improvement in energy efficiency; and
doubling the share of renewable energy in the global energy
mix. Ensuring sustainable energy for all is essential for
meeting two of the most pressing challenges of our time –
reducing poverty and mitigating climate change.
acceleraTing progreSS
TowardS The mdgS
reducing poverTy and hunger (mdg 1)
Productive uses of energy significantly increase people’s
ability to generate income and improve their livelihoods. In
rural areas, electric and mechanical power for irrigation and
agro-processing do improve agricultural productivity and
food security. A survey associated with the UNDP-supported
Multifunctional Platform Programme in Mali showed that
mechanised agro-processing services using engines powered
by diesel or biodiesel contributed to an average income
increase of US$45 per year per beneficiary.