• Natural resource management
• Introduction

Livelihoods and natural resource management

One and a half billion of the world’s people have no access to electricity at all, and three billion people rely on traditional biomass and coal for cooking. This report argues that energy poverty is critically undermining the achievement of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). 

With this report, Practical Action introduces the concept of ‘total energy access' - the minimum standard of access to energy that needs to be in place for essentials such as cooking, lighting, healthcare, livelihoods and education. 

The authors analyse the ways people currently use energy, the constraints on expansion of access to energy, and consider the indicators that can be used to measure progress. To achieve universal access to basic energy services, the report argues that action will be required in three broad areas: policy, financing and capabilities.

Policy: National governments need to give greater priority to energy access, including:

• setting national targets for universal access to energy services by 2030. These could be based around the minimum standards for energy services proposed for Total Energy Access
• formulating and implementing plans to deliver these targets, supported by multilateral organisations, international agencies, the private sector and civil society. Tracking of progress could involve the use of the proposed Energy Access Index
• providing an enabling policy and institutional environment, including clear sectoral policies; this enables all stakeholders to contribute within a widening ecosystem of energy product and service providers
  

Financing: The large gap between the funding currently provided and what will be required to achieve universal energy access, in particular for initial capital investments,should be addressed through a variety of sources of financing, including:

• national budgets
• concessional loans from national and international financial institutions and capital grants, with official development assistance from bilateral and multilateral organisations
• cross-subsidisation and end-user tariffs generating funds within the energy sector
• mobilisation of private investment, including local capital, new funding mechanisms, such as those linked to finance for climate change mitigation and adaptation, or Tobin-tax arrangements
  

Capabilities:  Investment in the capabilities (skills and knowledge) and capacities (resources and institutions) in countries with high energy poverty levels will be essential for energy service development, policy making and monitoring of targets, and also financing, operation and maintenance of energy services, including:

• capacity of public utilities, private enterprises and civil society to design and deliver a variety of energy services, using a range of energy sources and technologies, including the manufacture of essential equipment and supply of fuels. The development of a energy access sector is the long term vision
• the transfer and adoption of technologies at point of need, drawing from knowledge and expertise across the world, and including involvement of universities and research and education institutions in the north and south in long term partnerships
  

 

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