Cape Town - Ensuing universal access to reliable modern energy is under the microscope at the South African International Renewable Energy Conference (SAIREC) as gaining access to universal, reliable, efficient energy services is not easy for some people across the world, especially in hard to reach areas.
The question many people have, especially in light of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development recently adopted by the United Nations General Assembly in September is, are these goals achievable by 2030?
This includes the 17 Sustainable Development Goals, and 169 supporting targets. Would universal access to energy be the reality by 2030 for most people? Climate change would play a critical role in this unfolding story.
Executive Director for the ECOWAS Centre for Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency, Mahama Kappiah, acknowledged this in his keynote address during the session on Monday.
“We all know the challenge – across the globe, an estimated 1.2 billion people are without access to electric, and by extension, excluded from the numerous development benefits it brings,” Kappiah said.
Energy access, he said, “is also an issue of social equity”. In addition, there is a great need to enhance the “policy and regulatory environment for sustainable energy”.
By 2020, there should be measures implemented to ensure energy efficiency, or in a nutshell, sustainable energy for all.
“Expanding access to modern energy services remains an enormous challenge for developing countries, especially the poorest ones,” Kappiah said.
It is one that many policymakers and stakeholders are faced with as they grapple with the daily realities facing millions of people globally, and mapping out how these people can gain access to services that would greatly enhance their quality of life.
Speaking at a side event that was also a panel session during SAIREC, Kappiah went on to paint a picture of how “there is a strong correlation between energy access, economic growth, employment generation, poverty reduction and sustainable development”.
Panelists included Grace Mukasa, regional director, Practical Action Eastern Africa; Koen Peters, executive director Global Off-Grid Lightning Association, Daniel Schroth coordinator SE4All Africa Hub and Robert Aitken, MD Restio Energy.
Mukasa highlighted the importance of including women in the renewable energy conversations.
Kappiah pointed out that according to the Global Status Report 2015, “Africa’s total installed capacity of roughly 147 GW is less than Germany’s power generation capacity”.
He said what makes the adoption of the 2030 Agenda even more significant is how the seventh Sustainable Development Goal focuses on “ensuring access to affordable, reliable, sustainable and modern energy for all”.
Schroth said in looking to the future, it is important to be able to look at areas of renewable energy in different ways” and have a “clear definition of energy access”.
AFRICAN NEWS AGENCY