UNIDO in partnership with ECREEE, RCREEE, EACREEE, SACREEE, PCREEE and CCREEE is organising the workshop "Partnership opportunities in the scope of the Global Network of Regional Sustainable Energy Centers (GN-SEC)" as part of the International Sustainable Energy Conference 2018 "Renewable Heating and Cooling in Integrated Urban and Industrial Energy Systems" on 4th October 2018 in Graz, Austria.
Background:
In order to implement the Paris Climate Agreement an almost complete phasing out of fossil energy supply is required by 2050. This presents enormous challenges for society, but also offers a lot of opportunities for research and industry to make a global contribution to this change. The International Sustainable Energy Conference - ISEC 2018, organized by AEE INTEC, sees itself as a promoter of innovative ideas in the areas of renewable energy systems and resource efficiency, and is intended to be a forum for research, industry and energy policy.
All kind of innovations are required, when looking at the very moderate growth rates of sustainable energy and climate technology (SECT) markets in many developing countries. It becomes obvious that SDG-7, SDG-9 and SDG-13 cannot be attained by 2030 in business-as-usual scenarios.
Sub-regional partnerships, cooperation and integration between countries, private sector and civil society can be a powerful tool to address some of the existing demand and supply barriers for SECTs more effectively. Integrated markets, which follow joint standards and a common framework, are an important prerequisite for the reduction of investment risks and the enhancement of trade with SECTs products and services. However, for several reasons, the sub-regional level is ignored and remains a missing link in the international sustainable energy and climate cooperation. It is not used systematically as a (cost-)effective tool to promote equal progress, coordination and economies of scales.
To make sub-regional sustainable energy and climate cooperation/integration a priority, UNIDO launched the Global Network of Regional Sustainable Energy Centers (GN-SEC) Program. Under a common framework, UNIDO assists regional organisations in the creation and operation of sustainable energy centers. The gradually expanding program comprises a sub-network of centers for the African and the Arab region (in cooperation with the EAC, SADC, ECOWAS, and the Arab League) and a sub-network for Small Island Developing States (in cooperation with SIDS DOCK, CARICOM, and SPC). Currently, the network is expanding to Central America, Central Asia and the Himalaya-Hindukush region. The program receives financial support from the Governments of Austria, Spain and other international partners.
The regional centres aim to accelerate the energy and climate transformation by creating economies of scales, equal progress and spill-over effects between countries. They provide regional organisations with the urgently needed technical capacities to coordinate and monitor the implementation of sub-regional energy and climate policies/regulations on national level. In partnership with Member States and other sub-regional players (e.g. power pools, utility organisations, regulatory authorities, regional banks), the centres work towards the creation of integrated regional markets for SECT products and services by setting targets, policies, standards and incentives, as well as de-risking of investments through the provision of reliable data, analytics, bundling of projects and convening power.
Through cross-border approaches and methodologies, the centres complement and accelerate national efforts in the areas of policy and regulation, capacity development, knowledge and data management, awareness raising, as well as the promotion of investment, innovation and entrepreneurship. The GN-SEC centers play also an important role in setting domestic priorities, contribute to donor harmonisation and coordination, as well as ensuring the sustainability and availability of results and deliverables after project closure. The centres serve as a hub for all kind of domestic and international partnerships.
Objectives:
The workshop provides a "maker-space" to initiate and discuss potential partnerships between academia, industry and senior experts of the regional sustainable energy centers. The GN-SEC representatives will provide an overview on the status and growth perspectives of sustainable energy and climate technology markets in Sub Sahara Africa, the Arab region, as well as small islands in Africa, the Caribbean and Pacific. A number of flag-ship programs will be presented. A follow-up for the most promising identified partnerships will be organised after the workshop.
Further information is available at: https://www.aee-intec-events.org/isec2018/index.php/en/program/workshops
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