December 2014: The Sustainable Energy for All (SE4ALL) initiative and its “global force of partners from all regions and sectors” are poised to implement a global goal on energy under the Post-2015 development agenda, according to Kandeh Yumkella, SE4ALL CEO and Special Representative of the UN Secretary-General. In a message appearing in the December 2014 SE4ALL newsletter, Yumkella reviews major steps his initiative has taken to meet this goal in 2014 and those it will pursue over the coming year, including the 2nd annual United Nations Sustainable Energy for All Forum.
According to Yumkella, the Forum, to be held in New York, US, from 18-22 May 2015, is one of a host of forthcoming events and actions to build on the “positive momentum” from the Lima Climate Change Conference and UN Secretary-General’s Climate Summit, which, inter alia, concretized combined pledges from the European Commission, individual European countries and the US sufficient to reduce energy poverty by half by 2030.
The message recounts various measures SE4ALL is taking to implement its goals, in particular by building and strengthening a network of hubs to share resources, expertise and best practices. These include: the World Bank Knowledge Hub, which is preparing a second edition of the SE4ALL Global Tracking Framework with the International Energy Agency (IEA); the SE4ALL Renewables Hub under the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA), which has launched the SIDS Lighthouse initiative and the African Clean Energy Corridor; and The Energy and Resources Institute (TERI) Capacity Building Hub, which is building capacity through the ‘Specialized Training, Education and Experiential Resources’ (STEER).
He further notes that over 100 countries, including 85 developing countries, are working to implement Action Agendas and Investment Prospectuses as SE4ALL partners. Other milestones, he writes, include a framework for mobilizing US$120 billion to SE4ALL’s objectives through partnerships among private banks, multilateral and national development banks, and institutional investors; and the conclusion of negotiations under the 2nd Committee of the UN General Assembly on a biennial resolution on ‘Promotion of new and renewable sources of energy.’
The newsletter presenting Yumkellah’s message features a number of in-depth stories as well, including: major SE4ALL announcements at the Climate Summit; the opening of the SE4ALL office in Vienna, Austria; SE4ALL’s Energy Efficiency Hub under the Copenhagen Centre for Energy Efficiency (C2E2); and a commitment from Japan to act as a facilitating hub for sharing technologies and building capacity for energy efficiency. [SE4ALL Newsletter Issue 04, 2014] [IISD RS Story on Launch of Vienna Office] [IISD RS Story on SE4ALL in UNGA Second Committee] [IISD RS Story on EC Pledges] [IISD RS Story on TERI Capacity Building Hub] [IISD RS Story on SE4ALL Forum on Post-2015 Agenda] [IISD RS Story on C2E2 Hub Review]