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Whilst oil and gas prices continue to soar, 2.4 billion people remain without access to modern energy services, says UNDP and partners

12 May, New York – Amid constant international hand-wringing over fuel prices and energy-security concerns, high-level officials at the 14th Session of the Commission on Sustainable Development yesterday zeroed in on a less visible but indisputably dire crisis: the plight of the 2.4 billion people worldwide who lack any access to modern energy services.

In parts of the developing world the simple tasks of preparing a meal or warming a home are laced with health risks. Each year, 1.4 million people die from respiratory diseases related to breathing in smoky air caused by burning biomass fuels.

“Higher oil prices are making news around the world, but we must also look beyond the headlines to focus on the crisis of energy poverty,” said Ad Melkert, Associate Administrator of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), which houses the largest energy portfolio of the UN agencies. “Universal access to modern energy services is essential to halve poverty by 2015, and we need to underline today that it is both financially and environmentally feasible,” he said.
 
Melkert was speaking at a ministerial-level meeting hosted by UNDP, the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), and the Governments of Austria, France, the Netherlands and Norway. He was joined by Dr. Mohamed Ibn Chambas, Executive Secretary of ECOWAS, who cited access to modern energy services for the poor as ‘the catalyst’ in fighting poverty and building sustainable development. The panelists warned of the devastating effect that a lack of access to energy services has on achieving the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs).

Access to energy services for all is ‘affordable and achievable’

While much of the world focuses on the expense of fueling its cars and jet aircraft, the discussion yesterday offered perspective on the energy crisis in developing nations, a crisis with greater human impact. Worldwide, 1.6 billion people lack electricity at home. For many, cooking a meal over a smoky three-stone fire in a poorly lit and ventilated kitchen and spending an hour each day collecting firewood is a constant reality.

Changing this reality, however, is both feasible and affordable. According to the recent report Energy Services for the Millennium Development Goals (UN Millennium Project, UNDP, World Bank), it would cost approximately US$15 to US$20 per person per year to provide access to modern energy services to enable the poor to meet fundamental human needs. Furthermore, the participants noted, providing basic cooking, heating and lighting services would not significantly impact climate change: for example, international estimates suggest that providing cleaner cooking fuels for 2.4 billion people would lead to additional greenhouse-gas emissions of about 3%.

Speaking at the meeting, the Netherlands Minister for Development Cooperation, Agnes van Ardenne-van der Hoeven, stressed that providing access to modern energy services to the poor to meet their basic human needs is achievable, and noted that the Netherlands has committed to providing 10 million people in developing countries with modern energy before the year 2015, the first country to set such a target.

“But the commitment of the Netherlands alone will not be enough to reach the MDGs… so I would encourage the other major players to follow with similarly clear commitments,” she said. “UNDP is a major player in the energy field, especially in the area of capacity building and in assisting developing countries to integrate energy concerns in their MDG-based development strategies,” she added.

Norway’s Minister of International Development, Erik Solheim, underlined the importance of energy in his Government’s development policy: “We have looked at what our comparative advantages are and where we can make a difference, and we have responded to increased demand from partner countries for Norwegian competence and experience in the energy sector. As a result, last year we launched the Oil for Development Initiative and we are now developing a new initiative for renewable energy, focusing on hydropower,” he said. The Minister added that Norway will increase cooperation with UN agencies, such as UNDP, on energy access and other environmental issues.

‘Political commitment must be strengthened’

All speakers stressed that universal access to energy services would not be achieved without increased international political cooperation. Irene Freudenschuss-Reichl, Director General for Development Cooperation from Austria, called for strengthened international partnership to tackle the crisis, especially targeting sub Saharan Africa. Professor Abul Barkat from Bangladesh agreed, emphasizing that unless governments make the political commitment to providing essential energy services to the poor, inequality and social divides will widen.

UNDP’s Ad Melkert commended the commitment of ECOWAS to equality of access at the regional level. Through the establishment of a regional policy on expanding energy access for rural and peri-urban populations, ECOWAS has taken the lead in integrating the energy-access agenda into its strategic-development frameworks, clearly defining the energy needs of the poor and setting time-bound regional targets necessary to achieve the MDGs. This regional policy compliments the West African Power Pool initiative aimed at expanding electricity to support economic growth. Over half the population of ECOWAS states live on less than a dollar a day.

Carbon financing will play an increasingly important role for developing countries – especially emerging economies, noted the participants, with the potential to bring in significant additional resources. UNDP is in the process of establishing a MDG Carbon Facility to bridge the worlds of climate and the MDGs to increase access to carbon finance for a broader range of developing countries.