Project overview

Activities

European launch of the UN Year of Sustainable Energy for All

The Stockholm Environment Institute (SEI), Practical Action and the United Nations Foundation (UNF) in cooperation with the European Commission and European Parliament, launched the UN Year of Sustainable Energy for All on February 8, 2012. 

The event brought together private sector and civil society stakeholders, policy experts, academics, and government representatives to discuss scaling up sustainable energy access and specific opportunities for public and private sector engagement.

Representatives from the United Nations, European Commission, European Parliament, private sector and civil society included:
• Kandeh Yumkella, Director General of UNIDO (keynote)
• Andris Piebalgs, Development Commissioner, European Commission (keynote)
• Norbert Neuser (sponsoring MEP)
• Stephen Leonard, CEO, IBM UK and Ireland
• Grace Mukasa, East African Director, Practical Action
• Måns Nilsson, Research Director, Stockholm Environment Institute

Civil Society Call

A diverse group of civil society organisations from Europe and Sub-Saharan Africa have united to call on EU leaders to commit to eradicating energy poverty and achieving universal energy access by 2030.

MEP visit to Kenya

In September 2011, three Members of the European Parliament (MEPs) travelled to Kenya to see the reality of energy poverty, and the impact of energy access, first hand,

Expected results

• Political commitment to actively support the prioritisation of energy access at local level in sub Saharan Africa
• Public awareness of the urgent need for greater support of energy access for development
• Policy dialogue between African and European partners to promote a coordinated approach to enhancing energy access

Resources

The project has produced a series of articles and briefs aimed at policy and decision makers to raise awareness of the importance of energy access as a means of achieving sustainable development.  

Partners

The Energy Access for All project has three European project partners working together to maximise resources and increase awareness regarding universal energy access. In this section we have articles and multimedia material material relating to energy access in our project partners native country languages (Swedish, Spanish /Catalan and Czech) as well as in English.

Stockholm Environment Institute (SEI)- Sweden: An independent international research institute. We have been engaged in environment and development issues at local, national, regional and global policy levels for more than 20 years.  SEI's goal is to bring about change for sustainable development by bridging science and policy. We do this by providing integrated analysis that supports decision makers.

Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya, BarcelonaTech (UPC)- Catalonia: is a university with a consolidated worldwide reputation and an international vision that generates technological innovation and attracts talent.

EDUCON- Czech Republic:  EDUCON is a non-governmental, non-political, non-profit association of citizens. The mandate of EDUCON is to facilitate sharing of know-how, information and experience from various areas of the Czech Republic economy, including providing technical assistance to developing and transition countries. Its goal is to improve the level of knowledge and know-how of managers and specialists from institutions, educational organisations, non-governmental and private sector from the Czech Republic and from developing and transition countries.

Project Duration:
April 2010 to March 2013

Articles and media outputs from the Energy Access for All project

Blog on the Guardian Newspaper website

This discusses the current momentum and drive to acknowledge energy access as a vital component in sustainable development. The blog also discusses the issues with finance and the need to focus upon small-scale local solutions.

Renewable Energy Use in the Developing World

Humanity is still essentially reliant on fossil fuel energy, but as we all know the greenhouse gases produced by industry are having a devastating effect on our climate. International policy is still a long way off creating a framework for how the big polluting nations de-carbonise, but what about the 1.6 billion people who have no access to modern energy at all, and the 30% of the global population without electricity?

This article looks at the issues and potential solutions to providing access to clean renewable energy to help mitigate climate change and promote sustainable development

Sustainable Energy: Win-win Solution for Climate and Development

This article by project partner the Stockholm Environment Institute, looks at how supporting developing countries to scale-up access to sustainable energy for cooking will not only bring positive effects for climate change but also improve the health and economy of the world’s most vulnerable households. What’s more, the cost of achieving universal energy access in the coming decades is surprisingly low.

Africa-Europe Energy Partnership (AEEP)

The Africa-Europe Energy Partnership (AEEP) is a long-term framework for structured political dialogue and co-operation between Africa and the EU on energy issues of strategic importance, reflecting African and European needs. Through the Partnership, Africa and Europe work together to develop a shared vision and common policy answers, and to stimulate specific actions that address the energy challenges of the 21st century. AEEP initiatives contribute to existing national, regional and continental energy objectives and strategies in Africa, and will take into account the necessary social and environmental standards.