The Energy Transition Track at the 2019 UN Climate Action Summit was co-led by the governments of Denmark and Ethiopia with support from Sustainable Energy for All (SEforALL). Recognizing that the sustainable energy transition is key to curbing both climate change and energy poverty, SEforALL and the co-leads pushed for firm commitments to emerge from the Summit in the areas of decarbonizing shipping, energy efficiency, climate finance and sustainable cooling. As a result, four new coalitions were announced during the Summit devoted to these areas.
The transition to clean and sustainable energy systems is critical to address climate change - and why it is emerging as a core issue at this year’s Climate Action Summit hosted by UN Secretary-General, António Guterres.
The Summit, which will take place at the UN Headquarters in New York City on 23 September 2019, is focused on boosting ambition and accelerating progress towards achieving the objectives of the Paris Agreement and the Sustainable Development Goals. It aims at moving forward initiatives in nine interdependent tracks – including the Energy Transition Track which is led by the governments of Denmark and Ethiopia and supported by Sustainable Energy for All (SEforALL).
The G20 Ministerial Meeting on Energy Transitions and Global Environment for Sustainable Growth took place 15 - 16 June, hosted by the Government of Japan in the city of Karuizawa. Director of Policy and Programs, Glenn Pearce-Oroz, represented SEforALL during the ministerial meeting as well as during the G20 Global Summit on Financing Energy Efficiency, Innovation and Clean Technology that took placein Tokyo a few days earlier. The message delivered at the ministerial meeting was that thanks to the Tracking SDG7 Reports, G20 support to global energy access can and should be better targeted to high deficit countries for both electrification and clean cooking. Pearce-Oroz stressed that 2 out of 5 people on the planet still do not have access to clean cooking.The final G20 Ministerial Meeting Communiqué included the importance of clean cooking and G20’s recognition of its importance for social and economic development. During the G20 Global Summitthat took place in Tokyo, Pearce-Oroz also presented the importance of cooling for all as a necessary part of future energy efficiency discussions. He also launched the “Global ESCO Network” which will be housed at the Copenhagen Centre on Energy Efficiency, SEforALL’s Efficiency Hub. The new network will convey lessons on energy efficiency frameworks and financing innovations across regions and countries.