REEEP

Universal energy access the focus of Vienna Energy Forum

Vienna, 23.06.2011 - UNIDO / REEEP International Secretariat

Participants at the Vienna Energy Forum Participants called for bold steps and strategic public-private partnerships to guarantee universal energy access by 2030, including by expanding the use of renewable energy sources. The three-day Vienna Energy Forum in the Hofburg Palace was organized by the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO), the Austrian Federal Ministry for European and International Affairs, and the International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis (IIASA). It brought together over 1,000 participants, including heads of State, ministers, energy experts, representatives of international and non-governmental organizations, academia, civil society and the private sector.

REEEP was present at the Vienna Energy Forum and Director General Marianne Osterkorn moderated Round Table 3 on Role of Energy Efficiency for Productive Uses.

Speaking at the Forum’s opening plenary, former Governor of California Arnold Schwarzenegger said that universal energy access was not “just about lighting a dark room, or cooking on a better stove. It’s about the freedom that energy – and especially renewable energy – gives us. . . .  We don’t have to be slaves to faulty grids. We don’t have to watch our citizens get sick and die from pollution,” he said. Schwarzenegger gave the example of the Austrian city of Güssing, which 15 years ago “couldn’t pay its power bill”, had insufficient jobs, and locals had to rely on outside sources for all of their energy.

“Just 15 years later, their addiction to fossil fuels is completely gone, replaced by clean, renewable energy. There now is a booming economy that’s created more than 50 companies and 1,000 jobs. The government made the first push, but academics, non-profits, and businesses all worked together, and today, they don’t import a single megawatt of energy. Can you imagine that kind of freedom?  That freedom is what this conference is all about,” said Schwarzenegger.

The Director-General of UNIDO, Kandeh K. Yumkella, who also chairs UN-Energy, a United Nations system-wide coordinating mechanism on energy issues, said that the lack of access to affordable, reliable energy services was a fundamental hindrance to human, social, and economic development, adding that “without access to modern forms of energy it is highly unlikely that any of the objectives of the Millennium Development Goals will be achieved”.

Participants pointed to a deep inequity that exists between the rich and poor, saying that, roughly, the poorer three-quarters of the world’s population use only 10 per cent of the world’s energy. About 1.5 billion people still don’t have access to electricity, and around 3 billion people rely on traditional biomass and coal as their primary source of energy. The demand for energy in developing countries is expected to grow dramatically, and the increases in population and improvements in living standards are adding to the scale of the challenges.

The Forum coincided with the pre-launch of the Global Energy Assessment (GEA), the most comprehensive and integrated analysis of the global energy system ever undertaken. Coordinated by IIASA, the GEA involved over 500 energy experts from around the world and uniquely addresses the issues of energy access, equity, climate change, health and gender issues and security and investment simultaneously.

“Close to 3 billion people are without access to modern energy services and by providing universal access up to 2 million lives could be saved annually,” said IIASA Director, Detlof von Winterfeldt.

The GEA estimates that the global investments required are about USD 40 billion annually, a relatively small fraction of the total energy infrastructure investment required by 2030. The magnitude of the resources required makes it evident that the solution is for major public–private partnerships being nurtured by innovative policies such as feed-in-tariffs and other innovative mechanisms.

Johannes Kyrle, Secretary-General for Foreign Affairs of the Austrian Federal Ministry for European and International Affairs said that the Energy Forum was special to Austria because it could draw on the wealth of knowledge and connections of eight international organizations headquartered in and around Vienna who have significant or exclusive energy mandates. “I expect the Vienna Energy Forum to mobilize political support for the energy access agenda, underscoring that energy access is necessary for poverty reduction and that access and climate stabilization can be pursued in mutually re-enforcing ways,” he said.

Suleiman J. Al-Herbish, Director-General, OPEC Fund for International Development, said there was a need for “enhanced willingness and a genuine political will from developed countries to help developing countries” based on a better recognition of what is called the “climate debt”. “That is the massive compensation owed to the poor for suffering from the damage of climate change they have not caused. There is no shortage of good intentions or promises such as the ones made in Cancun in December 2010, however the issue is the implementation on the ground,” he said.

On Wednesday, 22 June, REEEP’s Director General Marianne Osterkorn moderated Round Table 3 on the Role of Energy Efficiency for Productive Uses, which considered three key questions:

• What steps can be taken for a significant acceleration of the uptake of energy efficiency measures?
• How can energy efficiency measures be linked with income generating activities to ensure their sustainability?
• What is the role of international cooperation (including in technology transfer) for reducing energy intensities? 

The panel of experts was comprised of Robert Ayres, Emeritus Professor of Economics and Political Science and Technology Management, INSEAD; Mauro Battocchi, Vice President for International Affairs, ENEL; Mark Hopkins, Energy Efficiency Expert, United Nations Foundation; Ajay Mathur, Director General, Bureau of Energy Efficiency, Ministry of Power, Government of India; Philippe Niyongabo, Head of Energy Division, Department of Infrastructure and Energy, African Commission; Scott Foster, Director, Sustainable Energy Division, UNECE; and Diana Urge-Vorsatz, Professor and Director, Center for Climate Change and Sustainable Energy Policy, Central European University.