Geothermal power plant, Iceland

Energy services are essential for sustainable development. However, the way in which these services are produced, distributed, and used affects the social, economic and environmental dimensions of any development. Energy services include lighting, cooking, heating and cooling, water pumping, refrigeration, transportation and communications. These can all be provided through both conventional, fossil fuel-based energy systems and those fuelled by renewable sources of energy. Aligning the global energy system with the principles of sustainable development will require major changes in the way energy is currently delivered and used , including provision of relevant and current information, changes in policy, technology innovation and new investment.

Renewable energy technologies (RETs) are first and foremost the cleanest options for producing energy and eliminating greenhouse gas emissions (GHG). But there are many other advantages. These include energy security, economic security, and environmental security. A sustainable energy path using renewable energy technology can create not only clean energy, but environmental sustainability and regional development as well.

RETs are often the most cost-effective choice for new energy services, but they may not be chosen due to factors such as lack of finance, lack of credible information, and/or lack of integrated planning procedures and guidelines. In particular, credit is an issue, as conventional credit arrangements may not fit well.

Energy services are essential for sustainable development. However, the way in which these services are produced, distributed, and used affects the social, economic and environmental dimensions of any development. Energy services include lighting, cooking, heating and cooling, water pumping, refrigeration, transportation and communications. These can all be provided through both conventional, fossil fuel-based energy systems and those fuelled by renewable sources of energy. Aligning the global energy system with the principles of sustainable development will require major changes in the way energy is currently delivered and used , including provision of relevant and current information, changes in policy, technology innovation and new investment.

Renewable energy technologies (RETs) are first and foremost the cleanest options for producing energy and eliminating greenhouse gas emissions (GHG). But there are many other advantages. These include energy security, economic security, and environmental security. A sustainable energy path using renewable energy technology can create not only clean energy, but environmental sustainability and regional development as well.

RETs are often the most cost-effective choice for new energy services, but they may not be chosen due to factors such as lack of finance, lack of credible information, and/or lack of integrated planning procedures and guidelines. In particular, credit is an issue, as conventional credit arrangements may not fit well.

Solutions

There are no technical, financial, or economic reasons why the nations of the world cannot enjoy the benefits of both a high level of energy service and a better environment. Clearly the combined effects of environmental damage and depleted non-renewable resources will ultimately shift human economies to sustainable energy systems. How soon that shift occurs, however, ultimately depends on what actions are taken now.

Commerce is our most potent element of change, and essential to the shift to renewable energy technologies. This shift will depend, to a large extent, on strong signals from the market that clean energy is a good investment. Governments can best provide these signals through consistent regulations that ensure the market delivers energy services in the most economically, environmentally, and socially responsible manner possible. At the same time, the private sector can play a leading role through internal actions.

The renewable energy work of the UNEP’s Energy Branch is directed primarily at uncovering innovative solutions to these constraints, and nurturing the replication of best practices. This work is necessarily multi-dimensional in scope, involving the coordinated deployment of several interventions including: channeling services and capital resources for investment in small and medium energy enterprises; supporting research and development efforts that enhance knowledge about the environmental and sustainability benefits of investments in renewable energy markets and industries; and building capacity of energy and development policy-makers in the design and deployment of renewables-friendly policies.

Total CO2 emissions from fossil-fuel burning, cement production and gas flaring.

Cartography: SASI Group, University of Sheffield; Mark Newman, University of Michigan, 2006 (updated in 2008), www.worldmapper.org.

Data source: Gregg Marland, Tom Boden, Bob Andres, Oak Ridge National Laboratory. Please note that data for Norway is inaccurate.

The United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), adopted in 1992, divides countries into Annex I (industralized countries and countries with economies in transition) and Non-Annex I parties (mostly developing contries).

Some of them committed to reduce their greenhouse gas emissions by adopting the Kyoto Protocol(1997).

In the image above, brown shading signifies Annex I countries, while green signifies Non-Annex I countries. Taiwan is not a party to the UNFCCC.