The Chair welcomed participants to the sixth session of UN-Energy and thanked the Economic Commission for Africa for hosting the meeting that was held in the margins of the African Regional Implementation Meeting for CSD14 and in conjunction with UN-Energy Africa. He noted that the recent activities and results of UN-Energy included the report of UN-Energy entitled The Energy Challenge for Achieving the Millennium Development Goals and its launch on the occasion of the fifth session of UN-Energy, as well as UN-Energy participation in a number of international energy meetings addressing JPOI energy issues. The Chair indicated that he received positive feedback when reporting on UN-Energy results to the High Level Committee on Programming (HLCP) of the Chief Executive Board (CEB) and invited comments on a two-page matrix on UN-Energy progress that was distributed. The importance of communications about the nature and objectives of UN-Energy as well as delivering on commitments are critical to the success of this inter-agency collaboration. HLCP indicated that the approach taken so far by UN-Energy was on track and look forward to results of the work programme.
The outcome of the 2005 World Summit was discussed and its highlight of sustainable development issues including energy was viewed as a positive endorsement for United Nations work on energy for sustainable development by UN-Energy members. While the JPOI remains the basis for UN-Energy work on energy, the fact that the Summit highlighted its importance with respect to climate change and of meeting energy needs reinforces the role of the United Nations on energy issues. Along with Agenda 21 and the JPOI, the 2005 Summit Outcome should be a guide for our work, and some members noted that it could provide an opportunity to better define and clarify gaps and challenges relating to energy for sustainable development as well as for continuing the examination of the linkages among energy and the MDGs. The Chair noted that there will be follow-up mechanisms as indicated in the SGs report on Implementation of decisions from the 2005 World Summit Outcome for action by the Secretary-General (A/60/430), including roles for the United Nations Development Group (UNDG) and DESA, and that the CEB would be meeting on 28-29 October 2005 in part to discuss the way forward.
DESA reported on the first meeting of the CSD-14 Bureau indicating that preparations on the organization of CSD-14 have begun, and notes on that meeting are available at www.un.org/esa/sustdev/csd/review.htm. On the SGs report, inputs from major groups and national inputs have been received but very few inputs from UN agencies, programmes and regional commissions have been received to date. UN-Energy members were urged to submit their inputs as soon as possible. Based on feedback received by CSD participants, including UN entities, an increased focus on the inter-linkages among the four CSD-14 themes, energy for sustainable development, air pollution/atmosphere, climate change and industrial development is being undertaken, and UN-Energy members were requested for ideas on addressing these inter-linkages.
Preparations for CSD-14 also include efforts to incorporate relevant energy-related activities in its sessions, including the World Bank Energy Week. It was noted that, along with the Regional Implementation Meetings, relevant meetings for CSD include the forthcoming Beijing meeting on renewable energy and UNEP’s Governing Council which will consider energy and tourism. A complete list of meetings and activities relevant for CSD-14 can be found at www.un.org/esa/susdev/calendar/calendar.htm. CSD-14 will include as part of its regular sessions a Partnership Fair, a Learning Centre as well as side events, all of which hold potential for participation by UN-Energy members.
The World Bank Energy Week, to be held In Washington, DC, 6-8 March 2006, will focus on CSD-related topics of clean energy, climate change, energy security, energy access and energy services in Africa. There will be opportunities for side events and a communiqué will be issued as an input to CSD-14. UN-Energy members are invited to comment on the concept note that provides details on its organization, and are of course invited to the event.
A Development Marketplace event is planned, focusing on innovation in the areas of energy and water. Further information is available on the World Bank website.
Based on the decision taken at the fifth session of UN-Energy, the lead organizations working on the UN-Energy flagship report, UNEP, UNDP and DESA, have identified resources for it and a consultant to assist in preparing the publication. A time line for work with a March/April 2006 final publication date will be distributed. UN-Energy members will soon receive an elaborated format for short contributions and the consultant will work on following up on details submitted and consolidating the contributions into a final product through its publication and launching. It is envisioned that the final report will be a concise portrayal of interesting UN work. highlighting cross-institutional activities and illuminated by one or two projects from which lessons can be drawn.
Summaries of the mapping exercises were distributed and it was noted that more detailed matrices would be distributed. Work is underway to make the matrix user-friendly in an electronic format. It was noted that not all UN-Energy members had contributed and those missing were urged to submit information on their activities. It was suggested that work undertaken in collaboration with other UN-Energy members could be highlighted perhaps color-coded on the electronic format. Members were requested to comment on the content and format of the matrix, including on how the information is organized.
While progress has been made on this activity, future work will be impacted by the reorganization of FAO currently underway and a reformulation of the work schedule will be made in November. However, it is expected that a draft report on work-in-progress will be available for CSD-14 and that it will be finalized by CSD-15.
A number of positive developments include the commitment by the government of Italy on establishing a global partnership on bio-energy and new interest has been expressed by Ecuador, Estonia, Mexico and Costa Rica along with continued work by others including Brazil, China and Thailand. In addition the recently held week of renewable energy technologies in Rome attracted strong participation by the private sector, and other non-UN agencies including OLADE and the Tropical Agricultural Research and Higher Education Center (CATIE) of Costa Rica which are also interested in the activity. GEF recently organized a meeting on bio-energy to discuss guidelines for selection of liquid fuels projects, and UNCTAD launched an initiative on bio-energy in July that could be included in the UN-Energy work.
IAEA reported that work is underway in Ghana with the National Energy Commission (NEC) to gather data and ensure data consistency for use in the model and would encourage the dissemination of results in Ghana. In China, the model will be applied in Sichuan Province rather than Zheijiang Province since it has a larger renewable base, and Tsinghhua University is cooperating on gathering and processing data needed for the application of the model. This phase is expected to be completed soon, and the analysis of model’s results will be completed on schedule.
UNDP presented this concept note indicating that it follows from the UN-Energy report on the Energy Challenges for Achieving the Millennium Development Goals as well as work undertaken by the Millennium Project on the importance of energy for achieving the MDGs. The note proposes work an examination of key interventions and comparative policy experiences or approaches to providing energy for the poor with a view to ensuring that energy is an integral facet of national development plans and strategies. Three key areas are identified, namely cooking systems, rural electrification and mechanical power in rural areas, and members were asked for comments on these areas and other aspects of the concept note. The note was favorably received and a number of members expressed interest in working on this activity. The work was approved for the UN-Energy work programme with UNDP as the lead agency, and the concept note will be revised to include comments and suggestions by members. Comments on the concept note should be made directly to UNDP. The revised note will be circulated to confirm.
ESCWA indicated that it would take comments by regional commissions and other interested members on a concept note presented earlier and which will be re-circulated for ease of reference. It was noted that the topic of capacity building is a vast issue, and the regional commissions may wish to focus how regional commissions can best contribute. The conclusion of the Regional Implementation Meetings may offer an opportunity to reflect on how to effectively proceed on this topic.
The UN-Energy secretariat noted that the website is updated on a continuous basis and members were encouraged to keep submitting information for it. It was suggested to create links to other energy organization websites. Members were strongly encouraged to use the E-forum page, open to members only, for internal communications, while the secretariat would continue to send important announcements by email.
ECA reported work undertaken by UN-Energy Africa based on a work programme approved at the second session of UN-Energy meeting held in Nordwijk. Details of recent work were presented in matrix that is attached in Annex A. Recent work has included providing advice on the development and implementation of a recently approved GEF project on mini-micro hydropower that is aimed at improving capacities and to attract investment. UN-Energy Africa is a member of the steering committee set up to oversee the project which covers 11 countries and is expected to amount to $47 million with funds from participating countries and the African Development Bank leveraged with the GEF funds. UN-Energy Africa is also undertaking an assessment on power sector reform in Africa to draw lessons from recent experiences with a special emphasis on social implications and environmental aspects of power sector reforms. A stakeholder forum with key decision makers and the regional banks as well as the World Bank to assess the implications of the results is scheduled for November. Other activities underway and under initiation include capacity building and training for energy power sector planning and support to NEPAD and the African Energy Commission (AFREC).
UN-Energy members noted the progress on UN-Energy Africa work since its establishment. UN-Energy Africa was requested to provide a one-page briefing note on the various technical and policy oriented organizations working on energy in Africa.
A discussion on how best to highlight its potential for support to the recently established the Forum of Energy Ministers of Africa (FEMA) and as a catalyst for cooperation on energy activities and projects was held. It was noted that donor countries, the World Bank and others are expected to invest heavily in the African energy projects sector and coordination at the regional level and effective leadership at the highest levels are extremely important to ensure the optimal use of funds. Ways to encourage interaction and cooperation among the many organizations and entities dealing with energy in Africa should be sought with support from the highest levels, including at the African RIM for CSD-14. Members were encouraged to raise this issue at the highest level of their own organizations.
Possible venues for the next UN-Energy meeting include the UNEP Governing Council meeting to be held in Dubai, 6-8 February 2006 and the World Bank’s Energy Week scheduled for 6-8 March 2006.
In closing the meeting the Chair noted that 2005 Summit Outcome may have been influenced by the higher level of dialogue on energy promoted by many, including UN-Energy. He thanked members for their efforts to date on implementing various aspects and moving forward on the work programme but stressed the importance of delivering on commitments by CSD14. Members were urged to submit inputs to the CSD14 SGs report as soon as possible. CSD14 and CSD 15 provide an opportunity to assess progress made on energy goals and to further implementation of the JPOI but UN-Energy must make meaningful contributions to make the most of this opportunity. The World Bank’s 2006 Energy Week will be a closely related forum in which UN-Energy and individual members can participate and highlight barriers and constraints in meeting energy goals. Along with the results of CSD-14, the topics highlighted in the UN-Energy work programme, namely energy access, renewable energy, energy efficiency and knowledge management can guide us as we move from the CSD-14 review and analysis to policy deliberations of CSD-15 on how to best implement energy goals.