2018 events

This session will gather a number of ministers from various regions of world to share their national experiences with the formulation of strategies for the implementation of the SDGs and the Paris Agreement. The focus will be on describing the challenges that they will face in reaching the goals and the measures that each is taking to address these challenges so as to improve the chances of success.

One of the main challenges facing governments around the world is how to align their policies in a way that builds on the good intentions and aspirations of both the SDGs as well as the Paris Agreement. In the case of the Paris Agreement, ministers will be asked to share the main features of their National Determined Contributions and if relevant, their strategies on the SDGs. How do these strategies adapt the global targets and goals to their individual national contexts? The challenge of striving for integrated and cross-sectoral solutions, rather than silo approaches, will be a main theme of this session. How are each of the countries represented addressing the institutional, financing and capacity building issues associated with the implementation of the goals? There is universal recognition that these three themes are the basis of the formidable challenge that governments have as they move forward in years ahead. The purpose of the session is also to clearly describe the role of government vis-à-vis other key constituencies such as the private sector and civil society, while at the same time emphasizing that this is a joint effort in which each plays a specific complementary role.

This session will look at the role and potential opportunities and challenges of innovative technologies in
achieving the transformation required to implement the SDGs and the climate agenda. Its focus will be
on the pioneering role of innovative technologies for the transition required to achieve affordable,
reliable, sustainable, and modern energy for all, as well as the opportunities those technologies create
beyond the energy sector in support of other SDGs and the climate agenda.

Technological innovation is a central piece of sustainable energy development. Relentless efforts to
develop and improve efficient technologies with lower costs and reduced environmental impact have
spurred the deployment of renewable energy and energy efficient technologies across the globe. They
can enable critical access to modern energy services and improve the efficiency of the existing energy
systems.

Particularly in developing countries, the transition towards low-carbon energy must take place at the
lowest possible cost. At the same time, being an active part of the innovation wave would be beneficial
for the developing world. In this context, in some cases, frugal innovations, which are driven by demand,
imitation and low-cost competition in emerging markets could support progress on providing access to
affordable, clean energy for low-income and middle-income populations.

docum: “Electric Injera Mitad Energy Efficiency Standards & Labeling, Challenges and Prospects , Session Summary

The session will explore innovative, inclusive, and sustainable business models which have the potential
to guarantee best possible use of available financial resources for the energy transition required to
achieve affordable, reliable, sustainable and modern energy for all. The aim is to discuss successful
business models and the approaches for unlocking finance from available sources to support sustainable
energy investments and implementation.

Resource-efficient and innovative financing solutions allow for upscaling of public and private sector
financing for sustainable energy investments. Particularly smaller projects and bottom-of-the-pyramid
solutions often need tailored approaches and multifaceted solutions to make promising projects
bankable.

Sustainable solutions depend on innovative and inclusive business models that can be scaled up,
replicated, and self-sustaining. For instance, business models of frugal energy solutions typically focus
on capacity building and the inclusion of marginalized low-income people. Both the private and the public
sector have an important role in shaping innovative business models.

The private sector holds the potential to seize the market opportunity that clean energy represents and
address scale-up and replication challenges. Private companies, governments and investors can come
together in making business a significant contributor to closing the clean energy access gap.

docum: OeAG Presentation, World Energy Issues Monitor 2017, World Energy Scenarios 2016, World Energy Council Presentation, Session Summary

Please note that this luncheon is by invitation only.

docum: Tania Rödiger-Vorwerk – “German Development Cooperation – Further Together for a Global Energy Transition”

In 2015, the international community came to two significant agreements; 1) aiming to keep global warming well below 2°C through the Paris Agreement at the UN climate change meeting (COP21) in December 2015 and 2) setting the development of the world on a more sustainable track through the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) adopted at the UN Sustainable Development Summit in September 2015. These two agreements will set the development agenda for the coming decades. The two agreements are closely interlinked with each other and already several synergies and trade-offs have been identified.

The goal of Affordable and Clean Energy (SDG 7), can be seen to have linkages to all of the other goals. Energy policies have especially notable impacts on poverty reduction and reducing inequalities (SDGs 1, 10, 5), food security (SDG 2), health issues (SDG 3), water availability (SDG 6), economic growth and employment (SDG 8), industry, innovation and infrastructure (SDG 9) and climate action (SDG 13), in the same way as these dimensions will affect energy policy. Furthermore, reaching the targets of renewable energy employment and energy efficiency of SDG 7 will have a direct impact on climate action under the Paris Agreement.

To maximize synergies between the two global agreements, interactions between energy and climate policies and the SDGs need to be better understood. The research project “Linking Climate and Development Policies – Leveraging International Networks and Knowledge Sharing” (CD-LINKS) brings together a consortium of nineteen leading international research organizations from around the globe to explore national and global climate and energy transformation strategies and their linkages to a range of SDGs. The project is financed by the European Commission’s Horizon 2020 programme.

This event will most clearly contribute to the HLPs I (The Role of Energy in the Post 2015 Development Agenda with a Focus on Poverty), II (The Energy, Food Security, Land Use, Water, and Health Nexus), and IV (Affordable and Clean Energy and SDG 13 Climate Action) of the Vienna Energy Forum 2017.

Limiting climate change to well below 2°C will require unprecedented aggressive decarbonisation of global electricity generation and deployment of demand-side low-carbon energy technologies in the coming decades. But how much do we know about other environmental impacts of these technologies? Will they bring co-benefits or will they cause other unintended environmental or social problems? By how much can the gains from energy efficient technologies be multiplied if combined with decarbonisation of electricity production?

During this launch event, the International Resource Panel will present its new report “Green Technology Choices: The Benefits, Risks and Trade-Offs of Energy Efficient Technologies”, which sheds light on the impacts of a large-scale transformation in energy production and use options, not only on greenhouse gas emissions but also on other environment aspects, human health and natural resource use.

docum: Presentation by Sangwon Suh

This session will explore the 2017 edition of Practical Action’s Poor People’s Energy Outlook.

Demonstrating how to overcome ‘business as usual’ approaches to energy access financing that are currently unable to deliver on our global goals, Poor People’s Energy Outlook (PPEO) 2017 explores the mix of funding needed to realize the people-centred national energy access plans outlined in PPEO 2016; which were based on the energy access priorities expressed by 12 energy-poor communities across Bangladesh, Kenya and Togo. The PPEO 2017 also looks at the mix of technologies and funding required to achieve national and global energy access goals – and the roles of civil society and the private and public sectors in making this a reality. The session will highlight in particular:

The importance of distributed energy systems in providing universal access, and the financial implications of these;

National and global financing requirements for clean cooking fuels and technologies;

The role of finance in promoting gender equity and women’s empowerment across the energy access value chain;

National financing strategies needed to address energy for productive uses beyond the household.

The session will be particularly relevant to those interested in the high-level panel debates on Financing Innovative Business Models and The Role of Energy in the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, with a focus on poverty.

Small hydropower (SHP) is an excellent renewable energy solution to meet the needs of productive uses and to electrify rural areas. It is a mature technology, which can easily be designed, operated and maintained locally. It has the lowest electricity generation prices of all off-grid technologies, and the flexibility to be adapted to various geographical and infrastructural circumstances.

Despite these benefits, the potential of small hydropower particularly in developing countries remains largely untapped.

It is therefore paramount for UNIDO to foster uptake of small hydropower through awareness building, information dissemination, and experience sharing on the use of renewable energy, such as small hydropower, particularly in industries and in small enterprises. This will boost productivity, industrialization and regional economic development.

World Small Hydropower Development Report, (WCHPDR) with the objective of increasing contribution from SHP in countries total energy mix, through strengthening policy on energy planning and guiding investors in this sector.

Towards this objective, UNIDO’s Department of Energy (ENE) collaborated with the International Center on Small Hydro Power (ICSHP) to develop a small hydropower knowledge platform (www.smallhydroworld.org) and produce the World Small Hydropower Development Report. The first report has been already published in 2013 and recently the 2nd report in 2016. It serves as a crucial guide for policymakers and investors.

UNIDO with the support of ICSHP and the Ministry of Water Resources (MWR) China will continue the mission to inform the world on the status and potential of small hydropower development, and encourage stakeholders in the sector to share and disseminate this knowledge.

This event relates to objectives of High-Level Panel I, IV, VI, especially High-Level Panel I.

The session will help identify key catalysts for innovation and explore how existing enabling frameworks
can be adapted or enhanced to promote and sustain innovative technologies, business models and
financing mechanisms for energy investments.

Catalytic enabling framework conditions are critical not only for spurring innovation but also for promoting
the important task of absorbing and adapting innovative technologies, business models, and financing
instruments.

Effective policy and regulatory frameworks, inclusive business policies, and social innovation that
promote new forms of social organisation, capacity building programmes and support for business
development are all essential pieces of the required overall enabling framework.

Dedicated national and regional institutions and the development of regional markets with common
standards that can create economies of scale and local value chains, and help drive inefficient
technology and appliances out of the market.

Panellists will draw from their experiences on good practice examples of catalytic conditions for
innovation to find answers on how local, regional, and global frameworks could evolve to spur clean
energy development.

docum: “Taking a Broader View – A Brief Introduction to DNV GL”, Session Summary

The session will highlight the need for greater flexibility and resilience of local energy systems, as well as
the role of effective partnerships and locally appropriate, low-cost solutions, which are able to do more
and better with less.

Panellists will discuss what is needed to make energy systems more resilient and adaptive to change,
while ensuring that the transition towards clean energy remains affordable, particularly for low-income
populations. The current refugee crisis will be discussed as a case in point of how urgently innovative
energy solutions are required to ensure energy access and reliable energy supply for displaced persons,
and how capacity-building efforts can create new prospects for the future.

Participants will look at the role of frugal, flexible and inclusive innovations in closing the clean energy
gap in developing countries; And how can frugal, flexible and inclusive innovations help address issues
of inequality and gender equality. They will also examine the potential technologies, business models,
financing mechanisms, and enabling policies for enabling a transition towards sustainable energy in
developing and emerging countries at affordable costs; and ways to support innovative and effective
partnerships to prevent and respond to rapidly changing conditions and crisis situations.

docum: Session Summary

The adoption of the Paris Agreement in December 2015 was a major achievement that serves as a path
for addressing climate change in a meaningful way. Energy will be central in this effort. A centerpiece of
the agreement is the commitment of countries around the world to take action, spelled out in the
Intended Nationally Determined Contributions (INDCs). For most if not all of the INDCs, energy appears
as one of the pillars for implementation.

SDG 7 includes references to the need for universal energy access, imrpovement of energy efficiency,
and for a substantial increase in the share of renewable energy in the global energy mix, all by 2030.
SDG 7 also calls for greater international cooperation ‘to facilitate access to clean energy research and
technology’ and ‘to expand infrastructure and upgrade technology for supplying modern and sustainable
energy services for all in developing countries, in particular least developed countries, small island
developing states, and land-locked developing countries.’ These targets either affect or are affected by
climate change.

Participants will discuss ways to take the Paris Agreement forward, focusing on the challenges of
implementation and more specifically on issues related to technology, investments, capacities, and
institutions to help energy play a key role in the fight against poverty and inequality, including gender
inequality.

docum: ADA Presentation, AEA Presentation, Session Summary