Energy experts began preparations for a special section of the IEA's “World Energy Outlook 2011” to be titled “Energy for all: financing access to the poor.” This section will investigate, inter alia: scaling-up successful financing options already adopted in developing countries; gaps in governmental and non-governmental financing; and the current role of private finance and how to create a more enabling environment for increased private financial activity on energy poverty.
18 May 2011: The International Energy Agency (IEA) organized a meeting of 60 energy access experts to begin preparations for a special section titled “Energy for all: financing access to the poor,” to be included in the IEA’s “World Energy Outlook 2011.”
At the expert meeting, Fatih Birol, IEA Chief Economist, underlined the need for US$36 billion per year to bring modern energy services to the world’s poor, noting that this number is currently “far from being reached.” Birol stressed that, although IEA estimates that over 20% of the world’s population currently lacks access to electricity, reducing this percentage to zero would increase global greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by only 1%.
The main aim of the special section on “Energy for all: financing access to the poor” will be to evaluate available and potential sources of financing to reduce energy poverty, as well as to outline a “new architecture for financing universal modern energy access.” The results will be presented at a high-level conference hosted by the Government of Norway in Oslo from 10-11 October 2011.
In particular, the report will investigate: scaling-up successful financing options already adopted in developing countries; gaps in governmental and non-governmental financing; the current role of private finance and how to create a more enabling environment for increased private financial activity on energy poverty; and how to combine the knowledge gained through these analyses into a new financial architecture aimed at achieving universal energy access. [IEA Press Release]