Climate Action 2016-2017

energy access to poor communities through
new models that are commercially viable. Just
one of them, the Kenyan company M-KOPA,
has connected more than 375,000 homes in
Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda to solar power,
and is adding over 550 new homes every day.
Its pay-as-you-go model, using mobile phone
technology, allows even very low-income rural
households to rent and then own their own
solar power systems.
These new business models, combined with
the falling price of renewables, offer distributed
solutions that can be developed and financed
alongside grid improvements and large-scale
generation projects – all as part of a unified
energy transition plan.
Third, we need coherent policy frameworks
that give renewable energy the level playing field
it needs and deserves. Finance and policy need
to catch up with the technological advances that
have slashed the cost of renewables. Figures from
the International Renewable Energy Agency show
that prices for solar photovoltaic modules have
fallen by around 80 per cent since 2009, and wind
turbines by 30-40 per cent. Renewable energy
producers recently won more than a 50 per cent
share of Chile’s latest power tender. Jamaica is now
doing deals at 8 cents per kilowatt hour for solar.
In Zambia, it’s 6 cents; in Mexico, 3.5 cents; in the
United Arab Emirates, 2.99.
When renewable energy is cost-competitive
with, or even cheaper than fossil fuel alternatives,
the regulatory frameworks need to be designed
with that in mind. We need to end subsidies
on fossil fuels, put a price on carbon, set stable
and predictable investment climates, deal with
uncertainty in the regulation of distributed
power, and set clear performance standards for
efficiency in buildings, appliances and vehicles.
Commitments by companies to buy power
from only renewable sources create a longterm
corporate off-take. Under The Climate
Group’s phenomenal ‘RE100’ initiative, 53
companies, including worldwide household
names such as BMW, IKEA and Nestlé, have
already signed up to work towards 100 per
cent renewable power, and on average they
are already halfway there.
FINANCING NEEDS
The agreements in Paris on markets and carbon
pricing were essential building blocks in the
necessary transition. Economic decision-making
has to internalise this challenge, and we need
long-term signals that the political will exists to
drive us faster in this direction.
The financing needs for this transition remain
huge. SEforALL estimates that more than US$1
trillion in investment from the public and private
"We want to bring
together leaders who
may not normally talk to
each other, and create
space where questions
can be aired and
solutions explored."
sectors – a tripling of current levels – will be
needed every year between now and 2030 if we
are to meet our objectives on energy access,
efficiency and renewables.
Yet the longer we wait to put in place the policies
and financing we need for our infrastructure and
land use, the more expensive and disruptive the
transition will be. We cannot afford to lock ourselves
into carbon-intensive options that are risky and
more expensive in the long run.
DOING IT TOGETHER
There’s an old African proverb: “If you want to
go quickly, go alone. If you want to go far, go
together.”
To deliver on the promises of Paris and
the Sustainable Development Goals, we need
to work hand in hand, both by leveraging
existing alliances and by forging new
relationships. SEforALL is there to help make
those handshakes happen: to help broker new
partnerships and unlock the financing that
will drive the kind of action on renewables,
energy productivity and access that we need
to counter climate change while lifting over a
billion people out of poverty.
As a global, multi-stakeholder platform, we
are there to lift up the great work of others.
We are marshalling evidence, benchmarking
"Energy is central to
nearly every major
challenge and
opportunity the world
faces today."
progress, amplifying the voices of our partners
and telling stories of success. We want to
bring together leaders who may not normally
talk to each other, and create space where
questions can be aired and solutions explored,
so that better choices on energy policy and
action can be made. And we will ensure that
the voices of the energy-poor are heard,
and that women are full participants and
beneficiaries in the energy transition.
The Charter of the United Nations begins with
the words: “We the peoples of the United Nations
…” That’s not just the fortunate few – the ones
with reliable and affordable access to food and
shelter and clean drinking water and education
and health services and energy. ‘We the peoples’
means everyone. That’s why we are called
Sustainable Energy for ALL.
Because there are over a billion people today
who still have little or no access to energy.
There are some three billion people who still
rely on wood, coal, charcoal or animal waste
for cooking and heating. Energy is central to
nearly every major challenge and opportunity
the world faces today. Be it for jobs, security,
climate change, food production or increasing
incomes, access to energy for all is essential.
Sustainable Energy for All is dedicated to
securing that access for millions of the world’s
most vulnerable people. ‘We the peoples’
deserve access to affordable, clean and reliable
energy. And ‘we the peoples’ know that the time
for action is right now.
It will not be easy. But it can – and it must
– be done. The transition to a clean energy
future that leaves no-one behind will take less
talk and more action. And together, we will go
further and faster to secure a better world – not
for just the few, but for all.
Rachel Kyte is CEO of Sustainable Energy for All
(SEforALL) and Special Representative of the UN
Secretary-General. She drives SEforALL’s work
to mobilise action towards its 2030 goals on
universal energy access, energy efficiency and
renewables, as well as the new global energy
goal. She is a leading advocate for sustainable
development and recipient of many awards, Her
previous roles have included World Bank Group
Special Envoy for Climate Change.
Sustainable Energy for All (SEforALL) is
a global, multi-stakeholder platform that
empowers leaders to broker partnerships and
unlock finance to achieve universal access
to sustainable energy, as a contribution to a
cleaner, just and prosperous world for all.
ENERGY
www.climateactionprogramme.org 71