This year, we have all demonstrated resilience and adaptability by working remotely and fully embracing digital communication tools. Travel is still limited due to a mutating virus and the third wave of the pandemic in many parts of the world, but the ACCESS team was in Ghana in early March in a multi-country and multi-stakeholder workshop to support the West Africa node develop a regional strategy.
In this issue, we provide our readers with highlights of the activities we have undertaken this quarter and a preview of the annual priorities for ACCESS for the year. We also welcome our Programme Officer, Grace Ronoh, who will support us in member engagement.
We would love to hear from you and request you to give us any announcements and stories that you may have on email to communications@access-coalition.org.
We wish you safe vaccination!
From the ACCESS Secretariat,
Jacqueline, Anne & Grace
ACCESS SECRETARIAT HIGHLIGHTS FOR JANUARY TO MARCH 2021
ACCESS Southern Africa Node Recruited
Action 24, an organization based in Zimbabwe, is the regional node for ACCESS in Southern Africa! Six organizations from Malawi, Zambia and Zimbabwe expressed interest in the role, and after a rigorous selection process, the recruiting panel settled on Action 24. The organization is involved in climate change, renewable energy, youth empowerment, community development and public policy advocacy and is led by Arhieford Chemhere. We look forward to working with them to deliver SDG 7 in the region! ACCESS now has three regional nodes in Sub Saharan Africa.
ACCESS Coalition sits in a Technical Working Group for the High-level Dialogue on Energy
ACCESS Coalition was invited by UN DESA to sit in the Technical Working Group on Energy Access for the High-Level Dialogue on Energy (HLDE). The Technical working Group(TWG) is one of five that have been formed to steer preparations for the Dialogue and will address the need and means for accelerated actions towards universal access to electricity and clean cooking, as well as heating/cooling and other energy services.ACCESS Coordinator, Ms. Jacqueline Kimeu sits in the Technical Working Group. We also make special mention of ACCESS members who sit in the TWG on Energy ACCESS, Ms. Sheila Oparaocha, Coordinator of ENERGIA and Lead for ACCESS SDG 7 Working Group, and two founder members of ACCESS, Dr. Davida Wood, Lead for Energy Access & Energy Governance Practice, WRI and Dr. Hafeez Rehman, Director India, VITO; CEO, VITO Arabia LLC & formerly of TERI.
The first meeting of the Energy Access Technical Working Group was held on 24 February 2021 and deliberations from the meeting can be accessed here. ACCESS provided inputs in the Concept note on the Energy Access theme.
Sign up to receive regular monthly updates from UN DESA. The latest update can be accessed here.
ACCESS Side Event at the Africa Regional Forum for Sustainable Development
On 1 March 2021, ACCESS held a Side Event on the sidelines of the Africa Regional Forum for Sustainable Development. The event, which had over 60 participants, was on the theme "a just energy transition is key to delivering climate action in Africa". Panelists engaged on key elements of a just energy transition in Africa, recommending key actions. You can read more about the event here.
Virtual Annual ACCESS Members Meeting and Annual Priorities
On 18 February, 2021, ACCESS held a meeting of members to develop annual priorities for the coalition for 2021. Over 40 ACCESS members from various regions were in attendance. During the meeting, a poll was administered to members who indicated that they would most prefer to be involved in advocacy on the implementation of SDG 7. The annual priorities can be accessed here.
The secretariat invites members interested in collaborating in any of the activities to reach out to us.
West Africa Advocacy Strategy Workshop
The ACCESS Regional Node for West Africa, Strategic Youth Network for Development, held a workshop on 4th and 5th March 2021, in Accra, Ghana to develop engagement strategies for accelerating achievement of SDG 7- on universal access to affordable, reliable, sustainable and modern energy for all. Strategic Youth Network for Development (SYND) hosted the two-day workshop which also culminated in the development of an advocacy strategy for engagement in the region. The Strategy will be unveiled in the second quarter of 2021. Read more about the event here.
Consultative Meeting of ACCESS Members in Tanzania, Uganda and Kenya
The consultative meeting of ACCESS members from Tanzania, Uganda and Kenya came up with a list of advocacy priorities for the region in line with the three workstreams of ACCESS. Together with the Regional Node, ACCESS is rolling out identified research and influencing activities in the region, some together with the EAC Centre of Excellence for Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency.
ACCESS at the 6th ARE Energy Access Investment Forum
ACCESS Coordinator, Jacqueline Kimeu, sat in a panel during the just concluded 6th ARE Energy Access Investment Forum. The panel titled "Green People's Energy session: Partnerships as a pillar to support off-grid renewable energy solutions in rural communities" was held on 17 March 2021. Almost 1,400 participants from 105 countries attended the flagship event that included public and private sector financiers, project developers and decision makers. Read the Press Release for more.
WORKING GROUPS
ACCESS continues to receive support from the Working Groups which have adopted strategies and held several meetings in the past quarter. The Working Group leads are listed below:
SDG 7 Working Group - Sheila Oparaocha from ENERGIA/Hivos
Learning Group Co-Leads - Kevin Johnstone from IIED & Ranisha Basnet from Energypedia
World Bank/ AfDB Working Group - Jason Farr from Oxfam America
The Learning Group welcomed two new members from TANGSEN & CAN Tanzania, Thabit Mikidadi and Jophillene Bejumula respectively.
Members who would like to join any of these Working Groups can send an email to communications@access-coalition.org.
ORGANIZATIONS THAT HAVE EXPRESSED INTEREST TO JOIN ACCESS
The regional nodes have been networking and engaging African CSOs in the energy access space and nexus sectors in collaboration with the secretariat. Below is a list of organizations that expressed interest to join the Coalition. Their applications are currently being reviewed.
AbibiNsroma Foundation, Ghana
Bargny Coast Waterkeeper, Senegal
Center for Environment and Rural Development (CERD), Nigeria
Centre for Communities Education and Youth Development (CCEYD), Ghana
Connected Advocacy (CODE), Nigeria
Dream Renewables, Ghana
Eco Phi Renewables Engineering GmbH, Germany
Inclusive Climate Change Adaptation for a Sustainable Africa (ICCASA), Kenya
Juhudi Community Support Centre, Kenya
Kejibaus Youth Development Initiative, Nigeria
Lekeh Development Foundation (LEDEF), Nigeria
Neema Charity Foundation, Kenya
Sahelians Youth Climate Network, Burkina Faso
Sustainable Earth and Research Foundation, Ghana
Sustainable Environmental Development Watch Network (SusWatch), Kenya
Transformational Empowerment and Rural integration in Africa (TERIA), Ghana
Upper Land Trades and Construction Ltd/BIBA Transformations, Ghana
Young Volunteers for the Environment, Togo
SECTOR NEWS
Assessment of Energy Financing since signing of the Paris Accord Which public banks are funding climate change? A new report by Big Shift Coalition examines spending on fossil fuels vs renewable energy by public development banks. The report shows an increase in spending on renewable energy and a drop in financing for fossil fuels in the period 2018-2020, however, more than $3 billion was still directed by MDBs to fossil fuel projects in 2020 alone.
Civil Society Groups call on the World Bank to end all support for all fossil fuels Read the open letter addressed to the World Bank’s President, David Malpass, in which NGOs and individuals call on the World Bank Group to immediately adopt a commitment to end all types of support for all fossil fuels.
Canada and African Development Bank sign CAD 133 million gender lens Climate Fund for Africa As a concessional facility, CACF resources will be deployed in innovative low-carbon technologies, renewable energy, climate-smart agriculture, sustainable forestry, water management, and climate-resilience projects. The fund will finance climate change related projects in the African Development Bank’s regional member countries, including those that demonstrate a strong gender equality focus. The empowerment of women and girls will be an objective across all concessional financing of the CACF, aiming at direct, measurable gender equality outcomes. Read the press release.
The Energy Policy tracker shows public monetary commitments to energy Since the beginning of the COVID19 pandemic in early 2020, governments in G20 countries have committed at least USD 584.49 billion to supporting different energy types through new or amended policies, according to official government sources and other publicly available information. The energy policy tracker highlights the public money commitments to fossil fuels, clean and other energy in recovery packages as of 10 March 2021 here.
SeforALL launches the 'Be Bold' Campaign Be Bold is a global campaign developed by Sustainable Energy for All (SEforALL) calling on everyone - citizens, governments, businesses, financial institutions and development organizations - to be part of a movement for Sustainable Development Goal 7 (SDG7). The movement welcomes anyone committed to the idea of a clean, equitable energy transition. Learn more and/or sign up here.
PUBLICATIONS & RESOURCES
Clean cooking companies raised more capital in 2019 than in any year since the Clean Cooking Alliance (CCA) began tracking investment in the industry. According to CCA’s 2021 Industry Snapshot report (“Snapshot”), clean cooking companies tracked by CCA raised USD $70 million, a 63% increase compared to 2018. However, despite the surge in private sector investment, total investment remains far short of what is required to achieve universal access to clean cooking solutions by 2030.
ESMAP launched its first online course on clean cooking – The Hidden Side of Energy Access: Understanding Clean Cooking – exploring the state of access to modern energy cooking solutions (MECS). Learners will uncover that four billion people lack access to clean, efficient, affordable, convenient, reliable, and safe cooking solutions.
Alliance for Rural Electrification launched the Clean Energy Mini-Grid Policy Development Guide. The Clean Energy Mini-Grid Policy Development Guide, developed in partnership by ARE, AMDA, UNIDO, INENSUS and the AfDB Green Mini-Grid Help Desk, outlines the various forms and models that public-private cooperation could take and reflects on the outcomes of policy decisions on mini-grid deployment.
This diagnostic on access to clean energy is a collaboration between the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and the United Nations Capital Development Fund (UNCDF) to jointly address UNDP’s Signature Solution 5 that seeks to work with countries to close the energy access gap. The study provides insight into the potential to develop the market for and promote access to cleaner off-grid energy solutions in SADC countries https://buff.ly/3d1fZLw#SDG7
IIEDlaunched an online training webinar which sets out the steps local institutions can take to access climate finance, as well as the good practices donors can follow to make sure they can get money to where it matters.
Read about a new framework for counting energy access covered in the PowerforAll website. The framework distinguishes between two aspects of access: the quality of power supply and the circumstances of the end-user.
BLOG
Chibeze Ezekiel’s Long Road to the Goldman Prize: We interviewed Chibeze Ezekiel, winner of the Goldman Environmental Prize – 2020 & the leader of Strategic Youth Network for Development, the ACCESS Regional Node for West Africa.
We know that our members have powerful photos and stories to share and we would like to publish these on the ACCESS website and amplify them on social media. Write to us.
Want to share any upcoming event, publication or announcement with other ACCESS members? Please write to us on communications@access-coalition.org.
ACCESS is hosted by the Kenya Climate Change Working Group.
Our offices are located at the National Water Harvesting and Storage Authority plaza, Dunga Rd., in Nairobi, Kenya. You can reach us on +254 (720 739 775).
