The UN Secretary General declared the year 2012 as the International Year for Sustainable Energy for Allpresenting the opportunity to leaders from business, government, international organisations and civil society to develop and launch a global energy initiative. The initiative seeks to achieve the goal of Sustainable Energy for All (SE4All) by meeting three interlinked global targets by 2030:
• Ensuring 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
Fuel used to meet the energy requirements for cooking and heating in village is juxtaposed with modern solar photo voltaic panels to provide light. The panels in the foreground are meant for charging solar lanterns, while the one in the middle is used to operate a micro-grid in the village and meets the lighting requirement of 40 households. This micro grid was set up in village Bhulbhawanipur in UP’s Hardoi district under UNDP’s Access to Clean Energy project.
According to the Government of India’s 2011 Census, an estimated 75 million rural households i.e. 45 per cent of total rural households do not have electricity. An estimated 142 million rural households, almost 85 per cent of total rural households, are dependent on traditional biomass fuel for cooking.
The health impact of using traditional biomass and animal dung based fuel warrants transition to cleaner and sustainable forms of energy to achieve a minimum standard of living. The spread of these advanced and efficient forms of distributed energy supplies that are locally managed will have several positive effects leading to all round development through improved health conditions, education, and livelihood generation among rural household that lack access to modern services.
Convened by the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO Regional Office) in India, 12 organisations including APCTT, FAO,IFAD, ILO, UNDP, UNESCO, UNFPA, UNHABITAT, UNICEF, UNWOMEN and WHO are working together to develop a UN platform for offering solutions to localized problems on energy access.
UN Public Lecture on Climate Change and Sustainable Energy for All on 28 June
Dr. Rajendra K Pachauri, Director-General, The Energy and Resources Institute and Chairman of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) will deliver the UN Public Lecture on Saturday, 28 June at the India Habitat Centre, New Delhi.
Towards Accessibility, Availability, Affordability and Accountability
Sustainable Energy for All in India
Focusing on the four ‘As’ – Accessibility, Availability, Affordability and Accountability, the Task Team on Sustainable Energy for All led by UNIDO highlights key issues for sustainable energy in India.
Sustainable Energy for All: Compendium of the Work of UN Agencies in India
In response to the urgent need to address energy issues in India and with a view to support the UN Secretary General’s global initiative, 12 UN agencies in India led by the United Nations Industrial Development Organisation (UNIDO) have come together to identify key issues and map their work in the country.
A joint partnership between UNDP and the Ministry of Steel, Government of India and Global Environment Facility is helping energy-intensive steel sector save up to 40 percent on energy consumption enabling entrepreneurs to reap greater profits.
IFAD and the Odisha Tribal Empowerment and Livelihood Programme have partnered to improve food and livelihood security for one of India’s most primitive tribes, the Bonda in Odisha. The change has been inspirational. For a community which rarely ventured out after sunset, a solar lamp microenterprise set up tribal women is improving incomes and the quality of life for many in the remote village. Children are able to study after dark, women can engage in income generating activities even after they return from the field, and there is more money for healthcare, education and household amenities.
A Cleaner Air to Breathe: Improving Lives of Tribal Women in Odisha
Since 2004, the International Fund for Agricultural Development has been supporting the Odisha Tribal Empowerment and Livelihoods Programme to improve women’s health and reduce dependence on natural resources. Enabling the use of smokeless cooking stoves has made a huge difference to the lives of women, reducing the burden of searching for firewood, reducing the environmental impact of indoor pollution and ensuring better health for women and their families who now have a cleaner air to breathe.
Saving Energy in the Tea Sector
A UNDP partnership with the Ministry of Commerce, Government of India is demonstrating that in the small tea processing sector in South India, energy conservation can help the sector improve profitability, remain environment-friendly and continue to support employment for the large numbers of people depending on the Nilgiri Hills in the South for their livelihoods.
Bioenergy for Rural India
Supported by UNDP, the book narrates the implementation of a unique energy project that focused on power generation using biomass gasification technology. BERI or Biomass Energy for Rural India project was implemented in Tumkur district of Karnataka between 2001 and 2012.
Energy Efficient Steel Re-rolling
Supported by UNDP, the book narrates the story of how technology innovations were made in the steel re-rolling mills (SRRMs) making them more energy efficient primarily by making the Re-Heating Furnace – which consumes as much as 40 per cent of the total energy consumption in a mill – redundant.
Global Tracking Framework
A new multi-agency study, led by the World Bank and the International Energy Agency, was presented at the Vienna Energy Forum 2013. The Global Tracking Framework report charts the course to achieve universal energy access, double the use of renewable energy and improve energy efficiency.
UN-Energy Knowledge Network
At the World Summit on Sustainable Development (WSSD), held in Johannesburg in 2002, it became clear to delegates that poverty reduction, access to energy, energy security and climate change mitigation were all interlinked issues requiring a coordinated response from the development community. UN-Energy, the United Nations’ mechanism for inter-agency collaboration in the field of energy, was established in 2004 to help ensure coherence in the United Nations system’s multidisciplinary response to the WSSD, and to support countries in their transition to sustainable energy. The core fields of access to energy, renewable energy and energy efficiency – UN-Energy’s clusters – have garnered major attention and experienced rapid growth in investments and policy-related focus with an ever-growing number and variety of players involved.
Global Network on Energy for Sustainable Development
The Global Network on Energy for Sustainable Development (GNESD), a south-south knowledge network facilitated by UNEP, works to promote energy access in developing countries and to establish synergistic opportunities between energy access and development. With the launch of the SSE4All initiative by the UN Secretary General in 2012, the GNESD network with its 10 member centers from across three continents has been contributing to the call for making sustainable energy a reality by 2030.
United Nations Sustainable Development Knowledge Platform
The United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development, or Rio+20, resulted in a focused political outcome document which contains clear and practical measures for implementing sustainable development. The UN Sustainable Development Knowledge Platform is an important resource including on sustainable energy.
Addressing the Delhi Sustainable Development Summit 2015 via videoconference, United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon called for countries to take a low-carbon approach to development in the coming years.
Ban Ki-moon, The United Nations Secretary-General Message on World Environment Day, 5 June 2014
World Environment Day 2014 falls during the International Year of Small Island Developing States, declared by the United Nations General Assembly to raise awareness of the special needs of this diverse coalition as part of the global discussion on how to achieve a sustainable future for all.
Capacity building for energy access
Leena Srivastava says investing in capacity building at all levels of society is crucial to ensuring sustainable energy for all
Ayumi Fujino, UNIDO Representative for India and Regional Director for South Asia outlines the 4 As — accessibility, availability, affordability and accountability – which are crucial for India in achieving sustainable energy for all.
World Environment Day 2014
UNEP Executive Director Achim Steiner encourages everyone, everywhere to join this year’s WED celebrations.
UN Secretary-General on Sustainable Energy For All
The UN Secretary General Ban Ki Moon says we need new ideas to fill the world’s energy gap.
Power to the People: The story of BERI
Supported by UNDP and other partners, the BERI or Biomass Energy for Rural India project operates sub-megawatt biomass power generation plants that have transformed villagers from mere consumers to producers and distributors of power.
Direct Rolling – Driving Indian Steel Re-rolling Forward
Supported by UNDP, the film provides an overview of the revolutionary Direct Rolling technology and also discusses the enormous cost savings and GHG emission reductions enabled by it.
Renewable Energy Entrepreneurship for Development
In India, an estimated 400 million people live without electricity. This translates into lesser opportunities for a decent standard of living and entrepreneurship for the poor. Renewable energy technologies, besides being environment-friendly, have the potential to generate employment in rural areas. In view of this, as part of UNDP’s partnership with the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy, pilots demonstrating the use of renewable energy sources to generate electricity in rural areas have been set up across the country. This film documents six such models from different parts of the country.
Voices on Sustainable Energy for All
The United Nations in India in partnership with World Comics India uses the power of comics to tell stories from across India, across communities, and across languages. Through workshops held in the country, young people, women, men and children who are poor and from marginalized communities find expression through comics.
Modi embraces the dollar to help spur an Indian solar power boom
[Date: 30 June 2015, Source: The Times of India]
TN government, Adani likely to sign solar deal today
[Date: 30 June 2015, Source: The Times of India]
Solar option yet to shine
[Date: 19 June 2015, Source: The Hindu]
Better access to recycled water
[Date: 19 June 2015, Source: Deccan Herald]
Evolve sustainable development models, youths told
[Date: 19 June 2015, Source: The Hindu]
#GreenRevolution Part 2: India Will Become One Of The World’s Largest Solar Energy Producers By 2022
[Date: 19 June 2015, Source: indiatimes]
Over a dozen naxal-hit villages in MP powered by solar energy
[Date: 19 June 2015, Source: Business Standard]