Leaders from the 23-government Clean Energy Ministerial (CEM) and the UN Secretary-General’s Sustainable Energy for All initiative (SE4All) today outlined specific commitments by participating countries and private sector leaders which will promote improved energy efficiency, renewable energy technologies, and increased energy access around the world.
The commitments build on two years of work by the Clean Energy Ministerial and support the goal of sustainable energy for all by 2030, the primary objective of the Secretary-General’s initiative. Both the CEM and the Sustainable Energy for All initiative seek to improve energy efficiency, increase the share of renewable energy in the global energy mix, and ensure access to energy.
Specific commitments by participating CEM governments in each category are detailed below.
Improving Energy Efficiency
Sixteen governments participating in the Super-efficient Equipment and Appliance Deployment (SEAD) initiative recommitted to working together and with the private sector to accelerate global progress on improving the energy efficiency of equipment and appliances. The Efficient Product Promotion Collaborative is a new public-private partnership that will help better utilize the billions of dollars spent globally on appliance efficiency programs each year, including a new program targeting super-efficient fans in India. A SEAD-facilitated technical exchange also led to India becoming the first country in the world to adopt comprehensive standards for performance, safety, and quality of light-emitting diodes (LEDs) in February 2012. These standards will help keep poorly performing products from spoiling this critical global market for highly efficient lighting.
Earlier this year, SEAD launched the first Global Efficiency Medal competition to recognize and promote the most efficient products, starting with a voluntary flat-panel televisions competition. Televisions account for 6 to 8 percent of global residential electricity consumption. Manufacturers representing a significant portion of the global market have expressed interest in competing, with winners announced this fall. Today, SEAD participating governments also announced the expansion of the competition with the next two award categories, which include motors and computer monitors.
SEAD partners, led by India, in collaboration with the $20-million UN Environment Program’s en.lighten initiative, launched a new effort providing technical cooperation to accelerate adoption of efficient lighting. Shifting to more efficient lighting technologies, such as compact fluorescent lamps and solid state lighting, has the potential to reduce global electricity consumption by approximately 2.5 percent.
Increasing the Share of Renewable Energy in the Global Energy Mix
Denmark, Germany, and Spain released a global renewable resource atlas that maps the potential for solar and wind energy across the world. This includes plans to assess the cost-effectiveness of those resources in different countries, based on energy prices, project finance costs, and available incentives.
The U.S. also launched a beta version of the Global Rooftop PV opportunity map in cooperation with the Clean Energy Solutions Center. The map highlights the potential commercial market for rooftop solar.
Ensuring Universal Energy Access
Italy and the U.S. announced the launch of Lighting India, which will bring modern lighting services to 2 million people by the end of 2015. This builds on the success of the Lighting Africa program, which has already accelerated market-driven delivery of quality off-grid lighting devices to 2.5 million people in Africa. Both of these programs are affiliated with the Global Lighting and Energy Access Partnership (Global LEAP) announced today to promote market-based delivery of low-cost, quality-assured solutions to consumers who currently lack modern energy options. Other Global LEAP partners include the World Bank, the International Finance Corporation, the UN Foundation, the Energy and Resources Institute (TERI), the African Development Bank, the Global Environment Facility, the UN Development Program, and Japan’s Ministry of Economy, Trade & Industry. More than 100 private sector and civil society organizations have expressed support for its principles.
Additional Cross-cutting Initiatives
Several CEM participants are also involved in cross-cutting initiatives, including 11 countries that agreed to bolster the Clean Energy Solutions Center. Launched a year ago at the second CEM, the Solutions Center is a $15 million Internet-based technical assistance project jointly led by Australia and the United States in partnership with UN-Energy. The Solutions Center’s 10,000 users from 150 countries have access to a 1,300 clean energy policy resources, including policy and deployment data, online trainings and webinars, and policy assistance consultations. Senior government officials from more than 20 countries have already requested specific policy consultations.
The ClimateWorks Foundation and its network commit to in-kind support for no-cost technical advice for up to $1M over three years through the Clean Energy Solutions Center.
The Solutions Center, in partnership with Bloomberg New Energy Finance, is also launching a quarterly policy and market briefing as part of its web portal, www.cleanenergysolutions.org. The Government of India also announced its intention to create a detailed database of national and sub-national clean energy policies and incentives, with support from the United States during the design phase.
The U.S. also announced a national Women in Clean Energy program in partnership with the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), as part of its commitment to the Clean Energy Education & Empowerment Initiative (C3E). The program’s three components include more than 20 senior professional women in clean energy serving as “C3E Ambassadors”, an awards program to recognize individuals who have advanced women’s leadership and their accomplishments in clean energy, and a Symposium at MIT this September.
In addition to the CEM announcements, the Sustainable Energy for All initiative released its Action Agenda. The agenda provides a practical roadmap for how the multi-stakeholder initiative can encourage collaborative action by governments, the private sector, and civil society to achieve sustainable energy for all by 2030. The agenda was developed by Sustainable Energy for All’s High Level Group which includes distinguished leaders from government, the private sector and civil society, as well as three CEM ministers including Steven Chu, U.S. Secretary of Energy, Edison Lobão, Brazilian Minister of Mines and Energy and Farooq Abdullah, Minister of New and Renewable Energy of India.