“Going Further, Faster – Together”
The global sustainable energy movement is very diverse and every two years it gathers in the Sustainable Energy for All (SEforALL) Forum. This year, the SEforAll Americas Hub will be joining governments, businesses, civil society and other international organizations at the 3rd SEforAll Forum in New York City between 3-5 April. The Forum will be a marketplace to help broker new partnerships and ideas, spur investment and drive action towards sustainable energy.
The SEforAll initiative is a multi-stakeholder partnership between governments, the private sector, civil society and international organizations. Launched by the UN Secretary-General in 2011. It sets out to achieve three interlinked objectives by 2030: i) energy access: to ensure universal access to modern energy services; ii) energy efficiency: to double the global rate of improvement in energy efficiency; and, iii) renewables: to double the share of renewable energy in the global energy mix.
In 2014, the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) through its Energy Division constituted a regional hub to promote the work of SEforALL in Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC), the SEforAll Americas Hub. The IDB is one of three regional SEforALL Hubs and comprises other partners together with the Latin American Energy Organization (OLADE), the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) and the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC).
LAC is progressing well towards achieving the SEforAll goals but there is still much work to be done. The current electricity coverage in LAC is about 97%; however, 23 million people still lack the service. The region’s electric power generation mix is above 50% based on renewables, although mostly thanks to hydropower. Non-conventional renewable sources have a strong potential, including wind and solar, and their installed capacity is steadily growing in the region. On Energy Efficiency, most countries have implemented energy efficiency programs on labeling, street lighting, and appliance replacement, but there remains a very significant untapped energy efficiency potential in the region.
Specifically, on Energy Efficiency, the IDB and the SEforAll Americas Hub will hold a session at the 3rd SEforAll Forum) that will explore opportunities for overcoming barriers and take forward an energy efficiency first approach across the LAC region. The session “Energy Efficiency Markets in LAC” will aim to advance action by bringing together policy makers and energy efficiency practitioners to share success stories and learnings and to engage new entrants to the sector.
The 3rd SEforALL Forum will be an excellent opportunity to learn about most recent improvements and successful experiences worldwide and we expect fruitful discussions on how to address challenges in the region to achieve SEforAll goals working further, faster and together.
More information available on: http://seforallforum.org/session/increasing-energy-efficiency-markets-latin-america-and-caribbean-lac
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