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| Author: |
UNDP, 2005-10
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| Title: |
2004 Report on the Thematic Trust Fund on Energy for Sustainable Development |
| Publisher: |
UNDP/BDP Energy and Environment Group, 31 pages
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| Type: |
Reports
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| Country / Region: |
Global
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| Categories: |
Energy Services
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| Themes/Issues: |
Development
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| Date Posted: |
2006-03-31 |
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The energy fund has been instrumental in linking country-level demand for energy services with wider development assistance discussions, expanding public-private partnerships, and better positioning UNDP on energy and the MDGs. This report assesses the fund's outputs and impacts.
Currently, about 1.6 billion people do not have access to electricity and 2.4 billion people rely on traditional sources of energy such as wood, dung and other biomass to meet their cooking and heating needs. This situation significantly compromises the opportunities for economic development and leads to further poverty.
Women and children are disproportionately impacted by smoke from indoor cooking and heating and the burden of gathering traditional fuels. This situation leads to a range of barriers for development such as adverse health conditions, foregone opportunities in education and income generation, gender inequality and environmental degradation. Access to cleaner fuels, mechanical power and electricity is needed for economic productivity and, ultimately, to alleviate poverty.
Although there is no Millennium Development Goal (MDG) on energy, sustainable development and the eradication of poverty are not possible without a significant increase in affordable and accessible modern energy services in developing countries. UNDP has played a significant global role in elevating the importance of energy for sustainable development through its active involvement in global intergovernmental fora such as the Ninth Commission for Sustainable Development (CSD) and the World Summit for Sustainable Development. At these sessions, access to energy was recognized as not only important, but essential to achieving meaningful and far-reaching development impacts. These efforts are complemented by UNDP’s involvement in nearly all Country Offices in the undertaking of energy projects that are yielding poverty reduction outcomes. UNDP has been active in both of these sets of activities in an effort to make wider linkages between energy and development.
The Thematic Trust Fund (TTF) on Energy for Sustainable Development has proven to be a useful vehicle to quickly and efficiently receive and disburse funds for concrete, structured and inclusive activities at the country and global level that lead to optimum development impacts from affordable and accessible energy services. Since its inception in 2001, it has received a total of approximately US$ 15 million in funding commitments and programmed over 40 projects across all of UNDP’s energy priority areas.
The Energy TTF has been instrumental in linking country-level demand for energy services with wider development assistance discussions, expanding public-private partnerships, and better positioning UNDP on energy and the MDGs. These activities will need to be further amplified with the upcoming 2005 World Summit in September 2005 and CSD 14/15 in 2006/7 on energy and other related issues. This report represents the 2004 assessment of the Energy TTF.
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