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Recent Meetings

Sustainable Development

April 2008

ASIA-PACIFIC COUNTRIES APPROVE RENEWABLE ENERGY PLAN
Countries from the Asia-Pacific region have agreed to cooperate on the development of renewable energy as part of efforts to improve energy security. The decision was agreed at the annual 2008 meeting of the UN Economic and Social Commission for Asia and Pacific (ESCAP), which took place from 24-30 April in Bangkok, Thailand. Approximately 50 countries agreed to share experiences in developing renewable energy technologies and to “rapidly disseminate such technologies to developing countries.” Under the decision, ESCAP will cooperate with multilateral funding agencies, sub-regional organizations, research institutes, and public-private partnerships. Energy security and sustainable development was the key focus of the 2008 ESCAP annual meeting, which also adopted decisions on the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), disaster reliance, and transportation issues. The focus of the 2009 session will be “sustainable agriculture and food security.”

Links to further information
ESCAP news release, 1 May 2008
ESCAP 2008 official meeting website

AFRICAN MINISTERS ADOPT RENEWABLE ENERGY DECLARATION
African ministers have agreed to a plan to scale-up renewable energy. The agreement was reached at the International Conference on Renewable Energy in Africa, which was held in Dakar, Senegal, from 16-18 April 2008. The Conference focused on the theme “making renewable energy markets work for Africa: policies, industries and finance for scaling up,” and was jointly organized by the Government of Senegal, African Union (AU), German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development and UN Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO). The Conference aimed to provide visible leadership and commitment to a common strategy for market-based scaling up of renewable energies in Africa. Delegates developed a Plan of Action on Scaling Up Renewables in Africa, which was endorsed by ministers and other high-level officials in a “Dakar Declaration on Scaling Up Renewables in Africa.” The Declaration agrees to an African continental target for governments, with support from development partners, to scale up annual renewable energy investments to US$10 billion between 2009-2014. The Declaration also recommends setting up a ministerial-level policy advocacy group, supported by a coordination unit.

Link to further information
IISD RS coverage

WORLD BANK/IMF DISCUSS RISING FOOD AND ENERGY PRICES
The annual World Bank Group (WBG) and International Monetary Fund (IMF) Spring Meetings took place on 12-13 April 2008, in Washington DC, US. At the joint Development Committee, countries reviewed progress toward the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), as reflected in the fifth Global Monitoring Report, and urged donors to increase their support for the poorest countries’ own development priorities. They highlighted the issue of rising food and energy prices and their impact in developing countries and welcomed the call by the World Bank President to the world community to combat hunger and malnutrition through a “New Deal for Global Food Policy,” combining immediate assistance with medium and long-term efforts to boost agricultural productivity in developing countries.

Regarding the Concept and Issues Note on the Strategic Framework on Climate Change and Development (SFCCD) for the World Bank Group, participants asked for the SFCCD to elaborate further on the additional financing needs for addressing climate change, the mobilization of private sector funding and the complementarities between existing and new financing mechanisms, as well as the proposed role of the WBG under a division of labor vis-à-vis the UN, and other key international players, including the private sector.

Countries also recognized that access to energy remains key to development, and supported WBG goals of promoting clean technology and renewable energy deployment, technology transfer, and research and development. They acknowledged the work underway on the design, governance, and financing of the new Climate Investment Funds, including the Clean Technology Fund, and welcomed the ongoing consultative process for developing a client-oriented SFCCD and looked forward to discussing it at their next meeting.

Links to further information
Spring meetings website
Development Committee Communiqué
Civil Society Policy Forum