Civil Society Call: Energy for All 2030

By Practical Action

A diverse group of 71 civil society organizations from Europe and Sub-Saharan Africa, have united to call on EU leaders to commit to eradicating energy poverty and achieving universal energy access by 2030.

With a particular focus on Sub-Saharan Africa, as the region most acutely affected, we call for increased political will to deliver energy for all and the quantity and quality of EU funding to make this a reality.

The civil society representatives call on the EU to:

- Endorse the UN objective of achieving universal access to modern energy services by
2030, and to commit its fair share of the necessary resources to achieve this goal

- Make energy access a key objective ahead of the Rio+20 Earth Summit

- Ensure provision for universal energy access is incorporated into the new Multi-annual Financial Framework

- Champion energy access in dialogue with Sub-Saharan African governments, as a
catalyst for community, national and regional development

- Use the pro-poor ACP-EU Energy Facility as a model for EU and global energy
financing mechanisms and commit to a long-term, scaled-up Energy Facility beyond
2014

- Adopt an action plan for EU contributions to universal energy access from now until
2030, including targets for annual financial contributions and regular evaluation of
progress

- Ensure that the Africa EU Energy Partnership prioritises energy access for the poor in its political targets and cooperation programmes and advocates investment in
small-scale infrastructure and enhanced civil society engagement

- Ensure the integration of energy access perspectives in its climate financing

The key principles underpinning the above demands are:

- Increased quantity and quality of finance for energy access

- Focus on poverty reduction and sustainable development as objectives central to energy delivery

- Effective participation and consultation of local communities and civil society

- Active consideration of the full range of energy services – including cooking, heating,cooling, access to information and communications, and energy for income generation

- Harmonisation and coherence of goals and strategies of all relevant EU financing
instruments and policies

Read the Civil Society Call: Energy for All 2030 from here