Disclaimer: The following blog refers a lot from the Catalog of the Ministerial Conference and the 8th International Forum on Energy for Sustainable Development
Why the conference?
Energy is vital in delivering a high-quality life but it is responsible for 65% of total global greenhouse gas emissions. The conference is a platform for countries to attain the energy-related SDGs in their national contexts. Ministers participating are expected to commit to accelerate their countries' achievement of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.
The Ministerial Conference
The Ministerial Conference was held on 11 June. As its name mentioned, it is a conference for ministers around the world to gather and meet the objectives of:
- Raise the importance of the regional context in attaining sustainable energy goals;
- Solidify the understanding of the role of fossil fuels in future energy systems;
- Explore plausible pathways for countries to attain sustainable energy;
- Bring the voices of Central Asia and the Caucasus to the energy and climate discussions;
- Adopt Ministerial Declaration with the participating ministers.
You can refer to the Ministerial Declaration here.
As I wasn't around for the Ministerial Conference, I couldn't comment much about it but giving you a glimpse of the introduction. However, I managed to partially attend one of the sessions in the 8th International Forum on Energy for Sustainable Development (I have other tasks at hand during that time).
UN Day Dialogues on Energy for Sustainable Development
I headed over to the session after I managed to finish my work on hand. I will only be sharing my experience here (which is less than half of the whole session). The panelists for the dialogue were from different UN agencies, sharing their work in helping countries achieving sustainable energy.
The dialogue noted the important role of energy in achieving the SDGs.
For example:
- It is safer to send kids to school in cars instead of walking because they will be less exposed to risks and pollution;
- Vaccines need energy to be produced and distributed.
They highlighted the integrating nature of the SDGs, noting that solving the energy questions will solve other problems.
Agriculture was mentioned because there is a direct correlation between energy and food security (energy is needed for stable food production). If we remain the status quo, by 2050 we will need 50% more food and 50% more energy to produce that food (from FAO's study). The current food production chain consumes 30% of total energy, and 70% of that energy is used in processes after food leaves the farm (from FAO's study). The need of climate smart agriculture technology was mentioned.
As I entered late, the panel ended there and proceeded into the Q&A sessions. I did my best in tracking it down, but this is not the exact transcript. I have noted the speaker for the content at the end of their sharing with the respective number.
1 - Dr. Osman Benchikh, UN-Energy, UNESCO and the International Sustainable Energy Development Center (ISEDC)
2 - Huang Wei, IAEA Director
3 - Natalia Alexeeva, UNEP Central Asia
4 - Fiachra McAsey, UNICEF
5 - Kairat Nazhimeddinov (I couldn't find the agency he represents online)
The first question was about the role of women in energy and how can women better involve in future energy. The panel started by reiterating their agencies' commitment to recruiting women (2). One of the panelists mentioned that in developing countries, women are the ones running household energy. Therefore, women are bringing many ideas in green energy to free themselves from the tedious household tasks. As they free themselves from household tasks, they are free to search for job opportunities. Renewable energy generates more jobs for women (3). A specific result of accessible energy is the number of children attending school (100% of the increase in students are girls) (1). The lack of energy affects children and women because they are more involved in the household. They mentioned on Project Lumiere that brings LED lights to communities, creating an immediate effect in learning (4).
The second question was for the panelists to identify the most important issue to address in order to start the acceleration of green energy. The moderator himself mentioned that there is a lacking in global trackers for green energy. The technology is available but the main challenge is in policy making. Although countries could actually afford the technology, decisions need to be made (1). The current NDCs will not save our planet. We will need to get the private sector to engage in green energy and civil society to pressure the governments because the current level of commitment is not enough (3).
1 - Dr. Osman Benchikh, UN-Energy, UNESCO and the International Sustainable Energy Development Center (ISEDC)
2 - Huang Wei, IAEA Director
3 - Natalia Alexeeva, UNEP Central Asia
4 - Fiachra McAsey, UNICEF
5 - Kairat Nazhimeddinov (I couldn't find the agency he represents online)
The first question was about the role of women in energy and how can women better involve in future energy. The panel started by reiterating their agencies' commitment to recruiting women (2). One of the panelists mentioned that in developing countries, women are the ones running household energy. Therefore, women are bringing many ideas in green energy to free themselves from the tedious household tasks. As they free themselves from household tasks, they are free to search for job opportunities. Renewable energy generates more jobs for women (3). A specific result of accessible energy is the number of children attending school (100% of the increase in students are girls) (1). The lack of energy affects children and women because they are more involved in the household. They mentioned on Project Lumiere that brings LED lights to communities, creating an immediate effect in learning (4).
The second question was for the panelists to identify the most important issue to address in order to start the acceleration of green energy. The moderator himself mentioned that there is a lacking in global trackers for green energy. The technology is available but the main challenge is in policy making. Although countries could actually afford the technology, decisions need to be made (1). The current NDCs will not save our planet. We will need to get the private sector to engage in green energy and civil society to pressure the governments because the current level of commitment is not enough (3).
The question after that was on the investment in green energy. Since World Bank was seeking billion of loans for green energy, the question was asking about the distribution channel and mechanism of that money. The money committed under the Climate Green Fund is in the form of loan and fund, operated by the UNFCCC. Generally speaking, grants are for adaptation and loans+grants are for mitigation. The amount of the funds has not been confirmed yet as they are still considering private funding (3). The moderator then adds on the vast majority of the fund must come from the private sector. He also stated that it is more important to utilize the USD 100 billion to trigger more investment.
The last question was a more localized one directed to Huang Wei on the reason why Kazakhstan has adopted a nuclear program although having a lot of other resources, barriers to nuclear programs in Kazakhstan. Huang Wei stated that the first question is unanswerable. And that the IAEA is working hard to reduce the probability of accidents in nuclear programs.
The session ended as the moderator concluded that we have so much good information to convince policy making but we are not seeing it yet.
The last question was a more localized one directed to Huang Wei on the reason why Kazakhstan has adopted a nuclear program although having a lot of other resources, barriers to nuclear programs in Kazakhstan. Huang Wei stated that the first question is unanswerable. And that the IAEA is working hard to reduce the probability of accidents in nuclear programs.
The session ended as the moderator concluded that we have so much good information to convince policy making but we are not seeing it yet.
