Summary
On the third and final day of the Forum, the daily Wake-Up Call challenged panelists to consider universal energy access in the context of sustainability, suggesting achievement of the SDGs will force trade-offs in an uneven playing field. During the session on Marshalling the Evidence, panelists provided practical and inspirational examples that showcased the tangible benefits of energy, and H.R.H. Princess Abze Djigma, Founder and CEO of AbzeSola, and Ambassador of Burkina Faso for Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency, noted the importance of women’s empowerment in accelerating progress. In the session on putting Knowledge into Action, leaders highlighted how energy services help generate jobs, improve education and health, enable businesses to grow, and create new markets.
During the lunch-time Deep Dive sessions, leaders focused on: leveling the playing field by addressing issues of affordability; unlocking the opportunities at the bottom of the pyramid in low-income countries; and increasing productivity through decentralized solutions.
During the afternoon, the Partner Working Sessions showcased: the SHINE initiative – investing in energy access for all; integrating sustainable energy into humanitarian relief as an opportunity for local markets and SEforAll goals; developing partnerships to integrate energy resources and last-mile access for income generation; a People-centered Accelerator to advance gender equality, social inclusion and women’s empowerment in the sustainable energy sector; making the case for greater investment in health facility electrification; and the role of off-grid solar solutions in meeting the needs of underserved households.
The Forum closed with UNGA President Peter Thomson and SEforAll CEO Rachel Kyte providing concluding remarks.
IISD Reporting Services, through its ENB+ Meeting Coverage, provided daily web coverage and a summary report from the 3rd SEforAll Forum. In addition, IISD Reporting Services has produced a summary report of the Forum in HTML and PDF.
Photos by IISD/ENB | Diego Noguera
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The Wake-Up Call
(L-R): Steve Howard, Co-Chair of We Mean Business, Campaigner, Business Leader, and Former Chief Sustainability Officer, IKEA Group; Laura Tuck, Vice President, Sustainable Development, World Bank; Thomas Gass, Assistant Secretary-General for Policy Coordination and Inter-Agency Affairs, UN Department of Economic and Social Affairs (UN DESA); and Martin Shearman, Ambassador for Development and Human Rights, United Kingdom (UK)
Steve Howard, Co-Chair of We Mean Business, Campaigner, Business Leader, and Former Chief Sustainability Officer, IKEA Group
Laura Tuck, Vice President, Sustainable Development, World Bank
Thomas Gass, Assistant Secretary-General for Policy Coordination and Inter-Agency Affairs, UN DESA
Martin Shearman, Ambassador for Development and Human Rights, UK
Marshalling the Evidence
Participants watched an introductory video about the event
(L-R): Riccardo Puliti, Senior Director, Energy and Extractives, World Bank; Princess Abze Djigma, Founder and CEO, AbzeSolar S.A., and Ambassador of Burkina Faso for Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency; Aaron Leopold, Global Energy Representative, Practical Action; Martin Kariongi Ole Sanago, Founder, Institute for Orkonerei Pastoralists Advancement (IOPA); Anish Thakkar, Co-Founder, Greenlight Planet Inc.; and Niru Shrestha, ENERGIA’s Women Entrepreneur 2017, Nepal
Princess Abze Djigma, Founder and CEO, AbzeSolar S.A., and Ambassador of Burkina Faso for Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency
Riccardo Puliti, Senior Director, Energy and Extractives, World Bank
Aaron Leopold, Global Energy Representative, Practical Action
Martin Kariongi, Community Leader, Terrat Village, Tanzania - Smart Villages
Anish Thakkar, Co-Founder, Greenlight Planet Inc.
Niru Shrestha, ENERGIA’s Women Entrepreneur 2017, Nepal
Participants listen to panelists
Knowledge into Action
(L-R): Roberto Ridolfi, Director, European Commission for Sustainable Growth and Development; Chitalu Chilufya, Minister of Health, Zambia; Ana Hajduka, CEO, African Green Co; Philippe Scholtès, Managing Director, Programme Development and Technical Cooperation, UN Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO); Nicola Armacost, Managing Director, Arc Finance, Ltd.; and Saadia Madsbjerg, Managing Director, The Rockefeller Foundation
Roberto Ridolfi, Director, European Commission for Sustainable Growth and Development
Ana Hajduka, CEO, African Green Co
Chitalu Chilufya, Minister of Health, Zambia
Nicola Armacost, Managing Director, Arc Finance, Ltd.
Philippe Scholtès, Managing Director, Programme Development and Technical Cooperation, UNIDO
Saadia Madsbjerg, Managing Director, The Rockefeller Foundation
Disruptive Voices
Steve Howard, Co-Chair of We Mean Business, Campaigner, Business Leader, and Former Chief Sustainability Officer, IKEA Group
Media Briefing - SHINE Investing in Energy Access for All
(L-R): Rachel Kyte, CEO, SEforAll, and Special Representative of the UN Secretary-General for Sustainable Energy for All; Mary Robinson, President, Mary Robinson Foundation; Ellen Dorsey, Executive Director, Wallace Global Fund; John Kioli, Chairman, Kenya Climate Change Working Group; and Archbishop emeritus Anders Wejryd, Europe President, World Council of Churches
The Deep Dive: Leaving No One Behind
(L-R): Rachel Kyte, CEO, SEforAll, and Special Representative of the UN Secretary-General for Sustainable Energy for All; Clare Shakya, Director, International Institute for Environment and Development (IIED); Mary Robinson, President, Mary Robinson Foundation; Ilmi Granoff, Director, Sustainable Finance ClimateWorks Foundation; and Sheila Oparaocha, Energia
The Deep Dive: Off Grid - On Target
(L-R): Fletcher Harper, Executive Director, GreenFaith; Faris Hasan, Director of Strategic Planning and Economic Services, OPEC Fund for International Development (OFID); Vijay Modi, Director, Quadracci Sustainable Engineering Lab, Columbia University; Allison Archambault, President, Earthspark International; Gareth Martin, Head of Sustainable Energy, Climate and Environment, DFID; and Sarah Best, Senior Researcher, Shaping Sustainable Markets, IIED
The Deep Dive: The New Market
(L-R): Nawal Al-Hosany, Executive Director, Masdar, and Director of the Zayed Future Energy Prize; Mayank Bhargava, Founding Partner and CEO, NextGen Solar; Neha Misra, Chief Collaboration Officer and Co-Founder, Solar Sister; Paul Needham, Simpa Networks; Ali Ozair Alshafar, Permanent Representative of the United Arab Emirates to the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA); Hugh Whalan CEO, PEG Africa; and John Holmes, Smart Villages
SHINE - Investing in Energy Access for All
(L-R): Aniket Shah, Program Leader, Financing for Sustainable Development Initiative, Sustainable Development Solutions Network; Neha Misra, Chief Collaboration Officer and Co-Founder, Solar Sister; Archbishop emeritus Anders Wejryd, Europe President, World Council of Churches; Sarah Butler-Sloss, Founder Director, Ashden Awards; Sarah Wykes, Catholic Agency for Overseas Development (CAFOD); and Fletcher Harper, Executive Director, GreenFaith
Voices from the Village – Are you Listening to What We Really Want?
(L-R): Gregory Etienne, Mayor of Pilate, Haiti; Martin Kariongi, Community Leader, Terrat Village, Tanzania - Smart Villages; Alfonso Guevara Chota, District Mayor, Napo, Peru; Molly Hurley-Dépret, Smart Villages Initiative; Tri Mumpuni (Puni), Co-Founder, IBEKA; Marc Antoine Archer, Observatoire Haitien de l’Energie-Observer; and Jessica Olivares Magill, Acciona Microenergy, Peru
Partnerships to Integrate Energy Resources and Last-mile Access for Income Generation
(L-R): Daniel Schroth, SEforALL Africa Hub Coordinator, African Development Bank (AfDB); Faris Hasan, Director of Strategic Planning and Economic Services, OFID; Ariel Yepez, Chief, Energy Division, Inter-American Development Bank (IDB); Jean-Marc Fontaine, Vice President, Social Business and Societal, Total; William Landuyt, Energy Advisor, ExxonMobil Corporation; Jay Taneja, Assistant Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering, UMASS-Amherst; and Vijay Modi, Director, Quadracci Sustainable Engineering Lab, Columbia University
Integrating Sustainable Energy into Humanitarian Relief: An Opportunity for Local Markets and SEforAll Goals
(L-R): Glada Lahn, Chatham House; Ben Good, CEO, Energy 4 Impact; Shanti Kleiman, Mercy Corps; and Olivier Lompo, UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR)
A People-Centered Accelerator to Advance Gender Equality, Social Inclusion and Women’s Empowerment in the Sustainable Energy Sector
(L-R): Ana Rojas, International Union for Conservation of Nature, IUCN; Sheila Oparaocha, Energia; Harish Hande, Managing Director, SELCO India; Mary Robinson, President, Mary Robinson Foundation; Nawal Al-Hosany, Executive Director, Masdar, and Director of the Zayed Future Energy Prize; Rachel Kyte, CEO, SEforAll, and Special Representative of the UN Secretary-General for Sustainable Energy for All; Nicola Armacost, Managing Director, Arc Finance, Ltd.; Susan Gibbs, Wallace Global Fund; Linda Davis, Director of Partnerships, wPOWER Hub; Nathalie Weisman, ECOWAS Regional Centre for Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency (ECREEE); and Sarah Butler-Sloss, Founder Director, Ashden Awards
Turning the Power on for 1.1 Billion People: The Role of Off-grid Solar Solutions in Meeting the Needs of Underserved Households
(L-R): John Foye, Fenix International; Jacob Lewandowski, Senior Manager, Platform, d.light; Tom Derksen, Managing Director, SNV Netherlands Development Organisation; Johanna Diecker, Global Off-Grid Lighting Association (GOGLA); Arne Jacobson, Director, Schatz Energy Research Center; and Grace Horwitz, Blue Haven Initiative
Powering Healthcare: Making the Case for Greater Investment in Health Facility Electrification
(L-R): Will Zeck, Chief of Health and Nutrition, UNICEF; Guy Rino Meyers, Senior Advisor for Procurement and Supply Management, UN Development Programme (UNDP); Gareth Martin, Head of Sustainable Energy, Climate and Environment, DFID; Nawa Raj Dhakal, Director, Alternative Energy Promotion Centre, Nepal; Chitalu Chilufya, Minister of Health, Zambia; and Jem Porcaro, Senior Director of Energy Access, UN Foundation
Going Further, Faster - Together
Participants watch a video on energy access
Peter Thomson, President of the 71st Session of the UN General Assembly (UNGA), during the closing of the 3rd SEforAll Forum
Peter Thomson, President of the 71st Session of the UNGA
Peter Thomson, President of the 71st Session of the UNGA, and Rachel Kyte, CEO, SEforAll, and Special Representative of the UN Secretary-General for Sustainable Energy for All
Participants at the end of the Forum
(L-R): Miquel Muñoz Cabré, IISD Reporting Services; Diego Noguera, IISD Reporting Services; Rachel Kyte, CEO, SEforAll, and Special Representative of the UN Secretary-General for Sustainable Energy for All; Suzi Malan, IISD Reporting Services; and David D. Sussman, IISD Reporting Services