{"id":1049,"date":"2012-06-22T16:27:30","date_gmt":"2012-06-22T21:27:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ecpamericas.org\/?p=1049"},"modified":"2020-12-15T16:30:16","modified_gmt":"2020-12-15T21:30:16","slug":"la-iniciativa-energia-sostenible-para-todos-de-la-onu-recibe-un-impulso-a-pesar-de-problemas-en-la-cumbre-de-rio","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ecpamericas.org\/es\/la-iniciativa-energia-sostenible-para-todos-de-la-onu-recibe-un-impulso-a-pesar-de-problemas-en-la-cumbre-de-rio\/","title":{"rendered":"La iniciativa Energ\u00eda Sostenible Para Todos de la ONU recibe un impulso a pesar de problemas en la cumbre de R\u00edo"},"content":{"rendered":"

Ban Ki-moon\u2019s initiative \u201cSustainable Energy for All\u201d (SE4ALL) did not receive a strong endorsement in the final draft of the Rio+20 declaration.\u00a0 It should have.\u00a0 Nevertheless, SE4ALL leaves the summit with something that is arguably better: strong support from governments, the private sector, multilateral development banks, and civil society groups.\u00a0 We should continue to support the initiative so that it survives \u2013 and thrives \u2013 after the summit.<\/p>\n

About SE4ALL
\n<\/strong>SE4ALL, led by UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, has three objectives to be achieved by 2030.
\n1. Ensure universal access to modern energy services.
\n2. Double the global rate of improvement in energy efficiency.
\n3. Double the share of renewable energy in the global energy mix.<\/p>\n

The initiative\u2019s High Level Group, chaired by Kandeh Yumkella (Director-General of the UN Industrial Development Organization) and Charles Holliday (Chairman of Bank of America), has produced a\u00a0Global Action Agenda<\/a>\u00a0to \u201cto guide efforts undertaken in support of achieving the initiative\u2019s three objectives.\u201d Secretary of Energy Steven Chu is the U.S. representative to the group.<\/p>\n

Ban Ki-moon labored for months to put SE4ALL at the center of the Rio agenda.\u00a0 The strategy made sense.\u00a0 Rio was the biggest sustainable development event on the global agenda in the last ten years, and it possibly won\u2019t be duplicated for another ten years.\u00a0 It was the optimal moment to call the world\u2019s attention to the problem of energy poverty.\u00a0 It\u2019s impossible to imagine a fair and effective distribution of global climate mitigation that would be acceptable to the developing world without a robust companion sustainable development agenda.\u00a0 Ban Ki-moon\u2019s process therefore fills a needed gap in the global effort to reconcile climate and development needs.<\/p>\n

Unfortunately, SE4ALL didn\u2019t get much support from the Rio text.\u00a0 In the one paragraph on the initiative, the three specific objectives and target date are not mentioned.\u00a0 The paragraph even provides an out to parties who won\u2019t be able to meet its goals, or who won\u2019t try to accomplish them.<\/p>\n

129. We note the launching of the initiative by the Secretary General on \u201cSustainable Energy for All\u201d, which focus on access to energy, energy efficiency and renewable energies. We are all determined to act to make sustainable energy for all a reality, and through this, help eradicate poverty and lead to sustainable development and global prosperity. We recognize that countries\u2019 activities in broader energy-related issues are of great importance and are prioritized according to their specific challenges, capacities and circumstances, including energy mix.<\/em><\/p>\n

SE4ALL Beyond Rio+20
\n<\/strong>The good news is that the success of SE4ALL does not rely on the Rio text.\u00a0 In fact, the initiative received an impressive boost from many parties at the summit. Timothy Wirth, President of the UN Foundation, believes that the final document \u201cis much, much less important\u201d than a number of initiatives highlighted by the conference, including SE4ALL.\u00a0 He said in the SE4ALL\u00a0press conference<\/a>\u00a0on 21 June 2012: \u201cUN sets norms, but it is a group of public and private actors that are increasingly carrying out the intent of the world. These new public-private partnerships are the dominant theme and the dominant outcome of what\u2019s happening here in Rio.\u201d<\/p>\n

Yumkella then said that when he and his colleagues were drafting the initiative, they had the post-Rio period in mind.\u00a0 \u201cWe were thinking what happens on July 1 after we leave Rio,\u201d he says.\u00a0 The initiative was designed so that there would be \u201creal action on the ground\u201d after the summit.<\/p>\n

Commitments to SE4ALL
\n<\/strong>On 19 June 2012, the six largest multilateral development banks (MDBs)\u00a0committed to the aims of Rio+20<\/a>\u00a0and said they will \u201csupport the Sustainable Energy for All initiative and will participate in targeted efforts to attract and channel public and private financial commitments to meet the three objectives.\u201d\u00a0 The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development alone has pledged $8 billion over the next three years for energy efficiency initiatives in Central Asia and Eastern Europe.\u00a0 Together, the banks have\u00a0pledged over $30 billion<\/a>\u00a0for SE4ALL\u2019s objectives.<\/p>\n

On 21 June 2012,\u00a0Ban Ki-moon announced<\/a>\u00a0that over 50 African, Asian, Small Island States, and Latin American governments are committed to working to achieve the initiative\u2019s objectives.\u00a0 He also announced that investors and corporations pledged over $50 billion and that multilateral development banks, governments, and civil society groups pledged tens of billions.<\/p>\n

Here are some examples of government commitments:<\/p>\n