ECREEE invited to a Side Event at the margins of the SE4ALL Launch in New York

The Executive Director of ECREEE has been invited to participate at the high-level side event "Regional Sustainable Energy Partnerships to Promote Inclusive and Sustainable Industrial Development (ISID) and SE4ALL in the Post-2015 Development Agenda”. The event organized by UNIDO and the Austrian Government, is schedule to take place on the 4^th of June 2014, at the margins of the SE4ALL launching in New York. The side event will serve as an avenue to inform participants on the status of UNIDO´s Global Network of Regional Sustainable Energy Centres and the role it could play to achieve the objectives of the Sustainable Energy for All (SE4ALL) Initiative.

The panelists include:

• Mr. Vijay Modi, Professor at Columbia University, Member of the Secretary-General´s High-Level Group on Sustainable Energy For All (SE4ALL),

• Mr. Nebojsa Nakicenovic, Deputy Director of the International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis (IIASA).

•  H.E. Martin Sajdik, Permanent Representative of Austria to the UN in New York, Seventieth President of the United Nations Economic and Social Council.

• Mr. Pradeep Monga, Director of the UNIDO Energy and Climate Change Branch.

• Mr. Mahama Kappiah, Executive Director of the ECOWAS Centre for Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency (ECREEE)

• H.E. Jesca Eriyo, Deputy Secretary General of the East African Community (EAC).

• H.E. Vince Henderson, Permanent Representative of Dominica to the UN, Chairman of the SIDS DOCK.

Background

In September 2011, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon shared his vision for making sustainable energy for all a reality by 2030. He launched Sustainable Energy for All (SE4ALL) as a global initiative that would mobilize action from all sectors of the society in support of three interlinked objectives: providing universal access to modern energy services; doubling the global rate of improvement in energy efficiency; and doubling the share of renewable energy in the global energy mix. In December 2012, the United Nations General Assembly declared the decade 2014-2024 as the United Nations Decade of Sustainable Energy for All, underscoring the importance of energy issues for sustainable development and for the elaboration of the post-2015 development agenda.

As a response to the post-2015 challenges, UNIDO is promoting Inclusive and Sustainable Industrial Development (ISID) to harness the full potential of industry’s contribution to the achievement of sustainable development, and lasting prosperity for all. On 2 December 2013 the UNIDO Member States adopted the Lima Declaration which gives ISID a crucial role in the long-term development agenda beyond 2015. The importance for promoting cleaner and resource efficient pathways to production, and the de-coupling of economic growth from environmental degradation, cannot be emphasized strongly enough. Renewable Energy and energy efficiency play a crucial role in mitigating the footprint of industrialization.

In its recent report the UN System Taskforce on the Post-2015 UN Development Agenda called for a “renewed global partnership for development”. The creation of innovative south-south, north-south and triangular multi-stakeholder partnerships under each thematic area and across global, regional and national levels was recommended. Multi-stakeholder partnerships in the energy sector are crucial for effectively managing the transformation towards inclusive and sustainable industrial development.

In this context the side event will discuss the role and added value of regional sustainable energy partnerships to complement national efforts to address barriers hindering renewable energy and energy efficiency markets and investments. As examples for such innovations the Global Network of Regional Sustainable Energy Centres and the GEF Strategic Program for West Africa (GEF-SPWA) will be presented by UNIDO. The regional centres fulfill an important role in promoting Inclusive and Sustainable Industrial Development (ISID) and Sustainable Energy For All (SE4ALL) at the same time. The event will bring together senior officials from governments, regional organizations, UN Agencies and multi-stakeholder initiatives.

For further information please contact: Mr. Martin Lugmayr, Sustainable Energy Expert, UNIDO Energy and Climate Change Branch, m.lugmayr@unido.org