SEforALL Chief Executive proposes three "Creative Coalitions" to transform the world’s energy system

NEW DELHI, 6 February 2014 – The Secretary-General's Special Representative  for Sustainable Energy for All and Chief Executive of the Sustainable Energy for All Initiative, Kandeh K. Yumkella, today proposed  the establishment of  three "Creative Coalitions" during a keynote address titled "Rethinking Development" at the 2014 Delhi Sustainable Development Summit hosted by The Energy and Resources Institute (TERI).   Yumkella's coalitions' will focus  on accelerating continued cost reductions for renewable energy technologies, forging a deal on energy efficiency among the twenty three highest green-house-gas emitters, and supporting a group of progressive developing countries to deepen energy sector reforms to attract investments in distributive energy systems and sustainable infrastructure.   Describing the first coalition as the Solar Coalition for Increased Cost Reduction, CEO Yumkella noted that accelerating massive cost reductions in renewable energy technologies is essential. "We need a group of countries to come together and agree to radically drive down the cost of renewable energy within a decade. Though there are already some locations where wind and solar power have reached grid parity with fossil generated electricity, the key is to make renewable energy universally as cheap as, or cheaper than, current centralized-fossil-based power generation," he said.   The second coalition, the Energy Efficiency Coalition will comprise the 23 members of the Clean Energy Ministerial (CEM) who account for about 80 percent of global energy demand and  80 percent of greenhouse gas emissions.  "They must agree to act collectively to achieve the doubling of the rate of energy efficiency in their economies and small actions such as energy-saving bulbs can reduce a household's total electricity consumption by up to 15% and could save Europe 40 billion kilowatt-hours a year," he said.   Noting that African countries embraced mobile telephony more rapidly than other regions, Yumkella's third coalition – the Coalition of Progressive Transformers would allow the BASIC countries (Brazil, South Africa, India and China) to lead the coalition and help many least developed countries leap -frog into the energy internet.  "The developing countries can ride the green energy wave into the energy internet by beginning to unbundle the power sector, reforming the governance of their power utilities to make them more transparent and profitable, and by establishing robust institutions, and longer-term predictable policies to crowd-in investment into the sector."   Yumkella's proposals are in keeping with the three interlinked targets of  the initiative on sustainable energy including increasing access to energy, improving energy efficiency and increasing the use of renewables by the year 2030 and  an effort to achieve a dedicated goal on "securing sustainable energy for all" in the post -2015 development agenda.