6 February 2015: The Division for Sustainable Development (DSD) of the UN Department of Economic and Social Affairs (DESA) organized a workshop for Latin American countries on integrating energy-related sustainable development goals (SDGs), targets and indicators into national statistical programmes.

The workshop sought to increase awareness of the energy SDG and corresponding targets being proposed by the Open Working Group (OWG) on SDGs of the UN General Assembly, as well as indicators for assessing and monitoring progress towards the goal of sustainable energy for all. The organization of the event was prompted by the perceived need to start developing country-specific programmes on energy goals, targets and indicators, and previous work by UN-DESA on the formulation of Energy Indicators for Sustainable Development.

The workshop aimed to develop national capacities in assessing energy statistics and indicators programmes in the context of the SDGs effort. In relation to the proposed energy SDG, targets and indicators, the event aimed to build capacity in: addressing the needs for support; assessing the need for adapting these to national circumstances; and defining a plan of action for their incorporation into national programmes.

Presentations held during the workshop covered, inter alia: energy indicators for sustainable development; the Sustainable Energy for All (SE4ALL) Global Tracking Framework; the International Energy Agency (IEA) programme on indicators and general statistics; economic, environmental and social concepts and indicators related to sustainable development; national statistical programmes and statistic needs; means of implementation; and the nexus of energy with water, food security, gender, education, poverty, health and other development factors.

Participants in the workshop, which was held from 4-6 February 2015 in Panama City, Panama, included representatives from Brazil, Costa Rica, Cuba, Ecuador, Guatemala, Panama, UN-DESA, World Bank, SE4ALL, UN Statistics Division and IEA.

The workshop was organized by DSD in cooperation with the UN Statistics Division (UNSD), the World Bank, UN-Energy, Sustainable Energy for All (SE4ALL), the International Energy Agency (IEA), and the UN Regional Centre for Latin America and the Caribbean, United Nations Development Programme (UNDP). [UN Workshop Webpage] [Workshop Concept Note] [Workshop Agenda] [Workshop List of Participants]