Climate Action 2011-2012

Figure 1. Households that gained access 1990-2000.
the energy
which over a billion people have gained access to electricity
(See Figure 1) – most of these in China and a small number
of middle income developing countries. So the good news is
that things are happening and expanding access even further
is indeed possible.
With population growth, however, and continued unequal
economic development between and within countries, the
number of people without electricity access and relying on
traditional fuels for cooking has remained almost constant.
Projections by the International Energy Agency (IEA, 2010)
show that unless dedicated international and national efforts
are made, the situation in 2030 will be almost unchanged.
The bad news, therefore, is that the challenge of making
clean, modern forms of energy available to all people
remains enormous. It is compounded by the fact that action
is required in a large number of smaller and generally poorer
countries, many of them located in sub-Saharan Africa.
buildinG PolitiCal momentum
The appreciation of energy’s crucial role in poverty
eradication and achievement of the Millennium
Development Goals (MDGs) has gradually emerged over the
last decade; reflecting this enhanced understanding the UN
Secretary-General in 2009 established an Advisory Group
on Energy and Climate Change (AGECC). AGECC’s work
culminated in specific recommendations for the UN system
Source: AGECC 2010
and member states, and was instrumental in a decision by
the United Nations General Assembly to designate 2012 as
the ‘International Year of Sustainable Energy for All’.
To support the global push, on September 20th 2011,
the UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon launched an
energy access initiative and a High-Level Group to give
it momentum. The initiative seeks to achieve the goal of
Sustainable Energy for All by 2030 by meeting the three
interlinked global targets. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon
has invited leaders from business, government, international
organisations and civil society to come together to form
new public-private partnerships to implement this global
energy initiative, as a stepping stone to the United Nations
Conference on Sustainable Development (UNCSD), known
as Rio+20, in June 2012 in Brazil.
Ban Ki-moon said he was launching the initiative with
the aim, “…to catalyse action at all levels. It will bring
together leaders from government, finance, business and civil
society and establish partnerships that will make sustainable
energy for all a reality. Energy is critical for human progress
– for health, education, job generation and economic
competitiveness. For the developing world, energy poverty
is devastating. Taken together, energy poverty is jeopardising
the achievement of the Millennium Development Goals.”
the PolitiCal oPPortunities
In the coming months two major international political
processes can provide momentum to the initiative and its
specific goals.
With the UNFCCC process achieving stepwise progress
rather than a grandiose global agreement, the South African
Government hosting COP17 in Durban has indicated that
support for enhanced access to clean energy and energy
services in the UNFCCC context could be an option that
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