Report of the
3rd Session of UN-Energy
Washington, DC,
15 March 2005
The third
session of UN-Energy took place in Washington, DC on 15 March 2005
on the side of the World Bank’s Energy Week and the participants
thanked the World Bank for hosting the session. The insightful
discussions undertaken on a range of energy topics relevant to WSSD
follow-up at Energy Week provided a welcome background for the
UN-Energy session. Many members actively participated in
Energy Week and made use of the opportunity to interact with non-UN
stakeholders active in the area of energy.
This session of UN-Energy provided a venue for members to
engage in an in-depth discussion on how to improve co-operation and
co-ordination on United Nations activities, projects and programmes
aimed at achieving Agenda 21, CSD-9 and JPOI objectives in the area
of energy. It was noted that donor funding would increase if
effective cooperation by UN entities, agencies and programmes were
enhanced. It was also noted that achievements/outputs could be
increased from synergies created by effective cooperation.
It was decided to devote time during the next meeting to discuss the
work programmes of a select number of UN-Energy members to to enable
peer reflections with a view toward increasing opportunities for
cooperation.
1. Work
Programme
It was noted that
the UN-Energy work programme is designed to be flexible and
action-oriented. Additions and suggestions for modification to
the work programme are welcome.
Inputs to the Intergovernmental
Processes
DESA provided
clarification on the upcoming deliberations by the General Assembly
on the World Solar Programme and renewable energy.
Clarification was made on the nature of the GA deliberations
and it was noted that it will consider the issue of renewable energy
in general. In fact, the World Solar Programme did not focus
exclusively on solar energy but covered a range of renewable energy
technologies. The Programme will end in 2005 so the GA
deliberations may provide direction for future work by the UN on
renewable energy. DESA is currently gathering information for
the Secretary General’s report on the Promotion of new and renewable
sources of energy, including the implementation of the World Solar
Programme, 1996-2005, and welcomed contributions by UN agencies and
programmes.
The
forthcoming GA session will also review progress made on achieving
the Millennium Development Goals and a discussion was held on how an
effective contribution by UN-Energy could be made. It was
decided to prepare a UN-Energy paper for the Millennium Summit that
would be brief, focused and action-oriented. The World Bank and UNDP would facilitate the preparation of
the document for the Millennium Summit.
Consideration of an appropriate input to CSD14 was also
undertaken, and it was decided UN-Energy would work together on a
flagship publication based on a proposal by DESA, UNDP and
UNEP. The publication would be case studies on various energy
issues selected from CSD-9 and WSSD energy-related decisions, with a
brief introduction of each issue that would highlight lessons
learned from the case studies. A lead agency will be
determined to co-ordinate the drafting for each issue and that
agency will be responsible for gathering relevant case studies and
drafting the introduction. The publication will complement the
SG’s report on energy for CSD14 by providing details on lessons
learned and best practices. DESA was requested to elaborate
further on the proposed outline and seek volunteers to take the lead
on specific issues.
Energy
Access
It was agreed
that cooperating on activities promoting access to energy is
important for the group given its emphasis in the JPOI and since it
is a prerequisite for achieving many of the MDGs. As a first
step in determing the best way to undertake joint activities in this
area, it was decided to undertake a “mapping” of UN energy work
currently in progress and/or planned on access to energy.
Each agency was requested to draft a short paper.
DESA and UNDP were requested to conduct the
mapping exercise and report on it at the 4th session of
UN-Energy.
UN-Energy Africa is also working on access to energy in
Africa, and a concept paper will be submitted
by UNIDO for consideration at the next meeting.
Renewable Energy and Energy
Efficiency
A revised
concept paper on renewable energy was introduced by UNESCO and
comments were made on its ambitiousness and on the use of its
outputs. It was noted that it would fill gaps in information
and provide tools for capacity building. It was suggested that
before undertaking the activity, it would be useful to determine if
the demand for the tools and capacity building exists. Since
considerable work is being undertaken by other UN agencies as well
as non-UN institutions, it was also suggested that a mapping
exercise be undertaken on renewable energy activities to ensure that
duplication of effort does not exist. UNESCO agreed to
undertake the mapping exercise and revise the concept paper based on
it as well as issues raised during the discussion.
The detailed
paper on bioenergy was presented by FAO. ECLAC, UNEP, UNDP and UNIDO
offered to cooperate on the activity. DESA offered to
cooperate on the policy, security and trade aspects.
It was agreed the bioenergy activity to be
facilitated by FAO would proceed as outlined in the
paper.
A gap in the
work programme was noted on energy efficiency. Some
members indicated a willingness to work on energy efficiency and
they were encouraged to present a concept paper at the next session
of UN-Energy.
Policy
Guidance, Capacity Building and Awareness
UNDP
agreed to submit an expanded version of the concept paper on
toolkits designed to integrate energy into other policy agendas at
the national level at the next meeting.
IAEA
provided an update on toolkits for policy integration at the
national level noting that a steering committee had been established
that had decided on how to proceed on implementation. Various
aspects of the activity were discussed including on methodology used
to select participating countries. Two countries will be
selected to test models to measuring the effects of increased
renewable energy use. UNDP noted importance of consultation with the
country authorities and the UN country teams before making
decisions, and indicated the willingness of its country offices to
assist once text countries are selected. IAEA indicated
that the intention is to change the title of the activity. The
group thanked IEA for the status report and for progress made so far
on the activity.
The
regional commissions indicated that they are working on a revised
concept paper on capacity building.
Information and Knowledge
Management
DESA
indicated that it had received some comments on the test UN-Energy
website and that the site is now ready to be posted for public
access. It also contains a protected page that will be used
for international communications and circulation of draft papers. It
can also be used for internal discussions on topics of
interest. It was noted that the success of the public site
depends on updated information and “news” to be provided by
UN-Energy members to DESA on a regular basis.
The mapping
exercises on UN activities to be undertaken for the next meeting can
be a first step to developing the knowledge management
activity. The material gathered will be posted on the
UN-Energy website.
2.
Strategy for Cooperation with non-UN
partners
UN-Energy
members are encouraged to work with non-UN partners on specific
activities whenever appropriate, and many agencies and programmes
work with NGOs, the private sector, research institutions and
governments on a regular basis. Since many of the UN-Energy
meetings have been held on the sidelines of relevant energy
meetings, they have also provided an good opportunity for
interaction with non-UN partners. However, since some
organizations have requested more formal contact with UN-Energy,
additional modes of interaction should be
considered.
3. UN-Energy
meetings and work schedule
The next
meeting of UN-Energy will be held on the sidelines of the Global
Forum on Sustainable Energy to be held in Vienna, 11-13 May
2005.
