26 March 2015
Civil Society Calls for Ambitious Targets and Indicators for SDG on Energy
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A policy brief representing the views of 28 civil society organizations (CSOs), companies and umbrella organizations outlines targets and indicators to support the proposed Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) on energy.

Produced by Practical Action, Catholic Agency For Overseas Development (CAFOD) and the World Wildlife Fund (WWF), the brief calls for robust indicators and clear milestones.

measuring_what_matters23 March 2015: A policy brief representing the views of 28 civil society organizations (CSOs), companies and umbrella organizations outlines targets and indicators to support the proposed Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) on energy. Produced by Practical Action, Catholic Agency For Overseas Development (CAFOD) and the World Wildlife Fund (WWF), the brief calls for robust indicators and clear milestones.

Titled ‘Measuring What Matters in the Energy SDG,’ the policy brief, launched on 23 March, argues that the targets included in the proposed energy SDG—on energy access, renewable energy and energy intensity—need to be sufficiently ambitious so as to ensure meaningful change. It also calls for related indicators to be robust, fit for purpose and include clear milestones to enable tracking of progress.

On the proposed target to ensure universal access to affordable, reliable and modern energy services by 2030, the brief stresses the need for “new ways of defining and measuring energy access,” and calls for the target to support the adoption of the multi-tier approach of the Global Tracking Framework, developed for the Sustainable Energy for All (SE4ALL) initiative.

On the proposed target to increase substantially the share of renewable energy in the global energy mix by 2030, the paper calls for targets that incentivize sufficient action on climate change and for inclusive, low-carbon development, proposing an indicator that measures the annual rate of change in the share of renewable energy in the total final energy consumption.

On means of implementation targets and indicators, the organizations call for the removal of a reference to “cleaner fossil fuel technology,” and propose, inter alia, indicators on total global investment, and total international development and climate finance going to renewable energy and energy efficiency.

The policy brief is intended to feed into negotiations on the SDG indicators being undertaken as part of the Third Intergovernmental Negotiation on the Post-2015 Development Agenda, taking place in New York, US, from 23-27 March 2015. In this context, Aaron Leopold, Global Energy Representative, Practical Action, stressed the need to “work together to ensure such important development goals are supported by robust and appropriate targets and indicators.” [Practical Action Publication Webpage] [Publication: Measuring What Matters in the Energy SDG] [IISD RS Coverage of the Third Intergovernmental Negotiation on the Post-2015 Development Agenda]


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