12 December 2014: The goal of universal energy access by 2030 is “ambitious but achievable,” according to a side event at the Lima Climate Change Conference organized by the UN Foundation (UNF) and Women Environmental Programme (WEP) Nigeria. The event, titled ‘Achieving Universal Energy Access: A Development Imperative in Addressing Climate Change,’ outlined key issues around energy access and highlighted UNF efforts on the UN Secretary-General’s Sustainable Energy for All (SE4ALL) initiative.

Discussing what is needed to “make universal energy access happen,” Simon Trace, Practical Action, cautioned against replicating traditional grid-based energy planning policies in the renewables sector, characterizing them as “anti-poor.” He advocated a transformative, “whole ecosystem” perspective that: recognizes energy needs across home, work and community; measures energy services and not merely energy supply; prioritizes and adequately finances decentralized solutions; and acknowledges the roles of government, private sector and civil society in achieving “total energy access.”

Arthur Laurent, Microsol, discussed how the social enterprise is leveraging climate finance for sustainable universal access in Latin America. Describing some results of the Qori Q’Oncha programme in Peru, he said 106,000 households were equipped with certified improved cookstoves and almost 500,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide (CO2) were avoided between 2008 and 2013.

Paul Winkel, PowerMundo, discussed how the company sources, imports, distributes and raises community awareness on clean energy technologies. He identified finance, rather than technology, as the main barrier to scaling up access, stressing the importance of facilitating access to credit along the entire distribution chain through “Pay As You Go” mechanisms.

Bahijjahtu Abubakar, Nigerian Federal Ministry of Environment, described the Rural Women Energy Security Initiative (RUWES) as a practical response that has introduced a sustainable, rural business enterprise model to provide clean cooking, lighting and energy solutions. She highlighted the main goals as: training five million rural women in running energy enterprises and providing finance and technical support; disseminating two million cookstoves annually; and gaining policy support for clean energy initiatives. Priscilla Achakpa, WEP Nigeria, added that RUWES aims to reduce the estimated 100,000 deaths a year caused by smoke inhalation and mitigate forest depletion caused by demand for fuelwood by 90 million households.

Panelists highlighted that promoting market-based solutions, such as feed-in tariffs and tax breaks are important, but public funding is necessary to achieve universal access and that policy needs to move from output to outcome indicators to enable results-based financing. [IISD RS ENBOTS Coverage] [IISD RS Coverage of Lima Climate Change Conference] [Event Announcement] [UN Foundation Energy and Climate Webpage] [WEP Website]