Regional Conference on Scaling Up Sustainable Energy Solutions: Role of the Private Sector

PURPOSE The Turkish Ministry of Energy and Natural Resources, the Islamic Development Bank and UNDP are co-hosting a regional conference on the role of the private sector in scaling up sustainable energy solutions. This takes place in the context of the organizers commitments to expand engagements on energy efficiency, renewable energy, and energy access in line with the UN Secretary General’s Initiative on Sustainable Energy for All (SEforALL). The conference will help to leverage new public-private partnerships and investment opportunities in the ECIS region. It will also facilitate the sharing of experiences and success stories on private sector involvement in energy programmes among a broad range of partners, international agencies and private sector actors. The conference will discuss specific actions on how to leverage more private sector investments in sustainable energy solutions across the ECIS region. In order to attract strong private sector participation, a main focus of the conference will be on identifying new investment opportunities and partnerships for companies active in the area of sustainable energy. Opportunities for networking and for identifying new business opportunities will be presented at the conference. The conference will also be used as a platform to present SEforALL National Action Plans from ECIS countries and invite partners to join efforts. The Turkish Government will outline their plans on renewable energy and energy efficiency; IDB will present their strategy on sustainable energy; and UNDP will present a regional baseline study assessing the sustainable energy situation in the ECIS region. UNDP has also recently finalized the thematic “Energy” volume of its success story series. Both reports will be launched at the conference. A key outcome from this conference will be development and (hopefully) announcement of concrete public-private partnerships and specific investments.   BACKGROUND on SEforALL

• UN SG Sustainable Energy for All Initiative launched in 2011 aims at achieving three main objectives by 2030: ensure universal access to energy, double the share of renewable energy in global energy mix and double the rate of improvement in energy efficiency.
• Since its launch, more than 82 Governments from around the world have formally engaged with the initiative, including six from Europe and CIS: Turkey, Kyrgyzstan, Moldova, Montenegro, Armenia, and Tajikistan.
• At the Rio+20 Summit, businesses and investors have committed over $50 billion to achieve the initiative's objectives. Tens of billions of dollars have been committed by other key stakeholders – governments, multilateral development banks, international and civil society organizations – to catalyze action in support of the initiative. However, none of these commitments is specifically directed to this region, which remains largely outside of the business and international community attention and efforts under SEforALL.

  PARTNERSHIPS & PARTICIPANTS The conference will be hosted and organized by The Turkish Government, IDB and UNDP. Approximately 150-200 participants are expected. In addition partners and participants will be approached and invited such as:

• Turkish renewable energy and energy efficiency companies
• IDBs and EC
• Energy companies from ECIS region
• Financial Sector/ Commercial Banks
• Project Developers and ESCOs
• UNDP and IDB Project Managers
• Government Representatives
• SEforALL
• UN Global Compact World Business Council for Sustainable Development and/or World Economic Forum
• UNEP Frankfurt School
• UNECE
• And many more…

  TOPICS OF THE CONFERENCE There will be 4 substantive sessions as follows: Session 1:      Challenges and opportunities for private sector involvement in sustainable energy in the ECIS region Session 2:      Funding and investment perspectives in sustainable energy in the ECIS region Session 3:      Success stories on energy access, energy efficiency and renewable energy in the ECIS region Session 4:      Enabling policy environment for investments in sustainable energy in the ECIS region   EXPECTED RESULTS/OUTCOMES The main outcomes expected from the conference include:

• Development and (hopefully) announcement of, concrete public-private partnerships and specific investments.
• Highlight specific experiences and opportunities on how to leverage more private sector investments in sustainable energy solutions across the ECIS region, with a focus on new specific business opportunities.
• Enhance networking between different sectors such as public institutions, international organizations, financing institutions and private companies that are active in sustainable energy across ECIS.
• Identify high-impact opportunities in sustainable energy solutions for business in the region, beyond just showing existing initiatives