Pressure is mounting to finalise position papers for the fourth and final preparatory committee meeting for the World Summit on Sustainable Development, to be held in Johannesburg in August.
A proposed position paper on energy issues is currently circulating among civil society in South Africa to establish a level of local consensus, before being sent out internationally. A central element of the position is the vision of 20% of energy being generated from renewable resources by the year 2020, with a differentiation of the target for developed/industrialised countries and developing countries. A higher share would be possible at current consumption levels, but the other major element is the halving of energy poverty within 10 years, with a view to universal access by 2020.
South Africa has the benefit of being classified as a developing country, despite having a large ecological footprint (a measure of local and global impact on ecosystems – including humanity) for its share of the world population. Our energy-intensive economy does not currently benefit all of our population, but our developing country status is a considerable advantage for local business, especially Eskom. Also, Southern Africa is being hailed as a mecca for minerals beneficiation industries such as aluminium smelters, which consume as much electricity as our largest cities.
Northern-based environmental organisations want to see at least 20% of primary energy (that is all energy, including for transport) derived from renewable resources by 2020. In the South there is more emphasis on the right to electricity and on how best to provide energy services. South Africa can and must achieve 20% of electricity generation from renewables, but this will be harder for poor countries. With only 10% of Africa’s population having access to “modern energy”, achieving a global target requires developed countries to do a lot better than the average.
There is widespread recognition of the growing divide between rich and poor, both globally and within South and Southern Africa. The world summit is supposed to address this in the domains of social, environmental and economic affairs. In adopting positions on energy, there is a tension between providing access to modern and affordable energy services, and providing energy services in a sustainable manner – that is, by harnessing renewable energy resources (wind, solar and biomass) and using energy more efficiently.
The position paper, which will be promoted at a press conference next week, seeks to balance the two imperatives, with targets for renewable energy deployment that allow for achieving access to energy through technologies that are not in themselves sustainable.
An essential component of the profound shift that is necessary in the energy sector is a just transition to sustainable energy that allows for redeployment of workers in fossil-fuel industries and does not perpetuate energy poverty. The beauty of renewable energy technologies, from a developmental if not an investor’s perspective, is that they are not only clean and harness a free and effectively infinite resource, they also provide more jobs and allow for small-scale development with local participation and ownership of resources.
The biggest challenge for a just transition to sustainable energy is the mobilisation of capital in a global economy where investment in fossil fuels is encouraged by subsidies. Position papers on energy typically devote considerable space to reform of subsidies and the promotion of principles and targets for financing through export credit agencies and international financial institutions. The technologies and resources exist, but it will take political will and binding resolutions to ensure a just transition.
The marriage of access and sustainability goals is also currently under discussion at the Services for All conference, with the Soweto electricity crisis committee highlighting the short-lived benefits and ensuing debt and darkness that many are experiencing under South Africa’s electrification programme. Access itself must be sustainable, which requires different tariffs for different household circumstances, but privatisation threatens to sweep aside measures to ensure social benefits. The Department of Minerals and Energy Affairs has made some very positive moves, announcing a “poverty tariff” and commitment to universal access in South Africa by 2010. We must also ensure that achieving access to energy does not involve a net loss of wealth for communities.
Vigorous implementation of energy efficiency measures, from best orientation and insulation of homes to regular maintenance of industrial steam and air-pressure systems, can defer the need for new power stations, while having a net economic return over a short period and also freeing up energy supply to increase access. Mobilising investment in the best available energy technologies is more of a challenge and will require international coordination and binding commitments to avoid competition for foreign direct investment through cheap and dirty energy supply. Achieving a “20/20 vision” for energy will involve putting collective benefit before short-term gain and universal acceptance that the average price for energy, as for natural resources generally, should be higher.
Big business has refused to align itself with the idea of sustainable energy, choosing instead to talk of energy for sustainable development. However, NGOs and academics have developed indicators of energy sustainability and are preparing reports for at least six Southern African countries, to inform decision-making. The policies and measures required to achieve a decisive redirection of investment have been developed and are being evaluated for application according to national circumstances.
If the world summit is to be the needed watershed, negotiators must be prepared to enter agreements for empowerment of the poor and institutionalise arrangements to make corporations and financing institutions more accountable and responsive to social dynamics. Rather than grandstanding partnership agreements with no accountability, we need full reporting against the “triple bottom line” costs and benefits in social, environmental and economic terms, with economic impacts recorded not just in terms of gross domestic product but also local value creation.
The draft position paper proposes targets and measures that can be attained without radical upheaval of the global economy and allow time for big business players to realign themselves to serve a progressive political consensus. Some groups prefer the approach of coming to the summit with demands that leave room for negotiation – since horse-trading has become so common at big United Nations meetings. The approach of the “20/20 vision” for energy is to establish targets that are a bottom line for the world summit.
Richard Worthington is project coordinator of the Sustainable Energy and Climate Change Partnership, a project of Earthlife Africa Johannesburg