New global effort launched to accelerate ending energy poverty for the most marginalized

People-Centered Accelerator brings together over 40 organizations to work together to advance equality across sustainable energy sector

BONN, Nov 14, 2017: Sustainable Energy for All (SEforALL) and partners today launch the new People-Centered Accelerator - a voluntary partnership led initiative that aims to advance social inclusion, gender equality and women’s empowerment in sustainable energy.

Announced on Gender Day at COP23, in Bonn, Germany, the People-Centered Accelerator has been developed with over 40 organizations from across government, civil society, private sector, finance and non-government organizations.

The Accelerator aims to gain and improve clean energy access for those who will not be reached by business as usual approaches. The Accelerator will focus on unlocking finance, both private and public, strengthening collaboration and connections between stakeholders concerned with energy, gender and social justice, and increasing women’s full participation in sustainable energy solutions.

Speaking at the launch, Rachel Kyte, Special Representative of the UN Secretary-General and CEO, Sustainable Energy for All, said: “Part of the ambition of the Paris Agreement was to “leave no one behind”. The world has committed to leave no one behind. To keep this promise as we move through a clean energy transition, we need to think differently about how we deliver affordable, reliable and modern energy services to those who are most marginalized. By promoting the inclusion of women and the most marginalized in society, in efforts to achieve universal energy access, the energy transition can truly be for all.”

Through gender-responsive and socially inclusive approaches, the People-Centered Accelerator will also complement ongoing efforts to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals and the Paris Agreement. Patricia Espinosa, Executive Secretary, United Nations Framework for Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), said: “We know that gender equality and the empowerment of women and girls is key to the successful implementation of the Paris Agreement, climate change solutions and the Sustainable Development Goals. I believe that when we talk about a topic as significant as climate change and sustainable energy, women who are working in this field as well as those who are potential beneficiaries, are provided an equal opportunity to share their knowledge, perspectives and needs.”

Chelsea Clinton, Vice-Chair of the Clinton Foundation, a partner of the People-Centered Accelerator, said: "Across the globe, women leaders are playing critical roles in combatting climate change and in creating the clean energy transition our world needs. Through our work at the Clinton Foundation’s Women in Renewable Energy (WIRE) Network, we're grateful to have had the chance to support and empower women in the sustainable energy sector. We’re proud now to support the launch of the Sustainable Energy for All (SEforALL) People-Centered Accelerator at COP23 to share best practices and speed up the pace of progress for gender equality, social inclusion, and a more resilient future for all of us."

Ajaita Shah, CEO and Founder, Frontier Markets, a founding Accelerator partner that supports clean energy solutions in rural India, said: “We must place women at the centre of energy access to achieve deeper, wider impact. Investing in women is crucial not only for economic development, it is the key to productive household change to combat the barriers to energy access, sustainability, and scale.”

To coincide with the launch of the Accelerator, a new report - Opening Doors: Mapping the Landscape for Sustainable Energy, Gender Diversity and Social Inclusion - was also released.

The report maps the global landscape of support for women and marginalized groups in sustainable energy across organizations, programs and policy that is already underway, including a focus on the 45 countries that are critical to meet SDG 7 targets. The landscape shows an active –but very fragmented–agenda that provides an important foundation to grow and accelerate action on gender and social inclusion in sustainable energy. To support this, the report provides immediate recommendations that philanthropic donors and development finance institutions can take to enhance the integration of these issues. More details can be found on the SEforALL website here, with the full report online here, and the executive summary here.

Dr. Ellen Dorsey, Executive Director of the Wallace Global Fund, who funded and helped catalyze the Opening Doors report, said: "Donors are uniquely equipped to help advance a truly transformative agenda for women’s rights by rapidly accelerating access to sustainable energy. Grants and impact investments can build women’s leadership, champion powerful policies, seed new technologies, and scale women-led businesses. When women have access to clean and affordable energy, their families are healthier, safer, and more productive. As the world seeks to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals and uphold the Paris Climate Agreement, there is no other single strategy more effective than investing in women and sustainable energy."

The findings from the Opening Doors report will support the ongoing development of the Accelerator and its core workstreams: demonstrate and help scale-up sustainable access pathways for the most vulnerable and hardest to reach people; direct capital to gender-responsive and socially inclusive energy businesses to support faster delivery of sustainable access solutions; and empower women engaged in energy service delivery to achieve autonomy, authority, and decision-making power at work.

More details on the background and framework of the Accelerator, can be found here. For further information and a full list of partners, please see below or visit our website at SEforALL.org/AllEqual

People-Centered Accelerator partners

The Accelerator is supported formally by the following organizations;

In Bonn at the COP23? Join us at our side activities;

• COP23 side-event: People-Centered Accelerator (Nov. 15)
• COP23 side-event: Why Wait? Energizing Finance to Seize the Energy Access Dividend (Nov. 16)

Find out more about what SEforALL announcements and activity at COP23 here, and follow us on Twitter - @SEforALLorg - for the latest updates.

Contact

For further details on the announcement or any interview requests, please contact; Beth Woodthorpe-Evans, Sustainable Energy for All: Beth@SEforALL.org | +1 202 390 1042