High-Level Conference on “Regional Cooperation to Accelerate Sustainable Energy Innovation and Entrepreneurship in Developing Countries” on 3rd October 2018 in Vienna, Austria

High-Level Conference on Sustainable Energy and Development: “Regional Cooperation to Accelerate Sustainable Energy Innovation and Entrepreneurship in Developing Countries”, 3rd October 2018, Austria Center Vienna (attendance by invitation only)

(The conference took place in conjunction with the Informal Meeting of EU Directors General for Development Cooperation and other energy events between 1st and 5th October)

Under the Austrian Presidency of the Council of the European Union, the Austrian Ministry for Europe, Integration and Foreign Affairs (MFA), the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO) and the Austrian Development Agency (ADA) co-organized the High-Level Conference on Sustainable Energy and Development. The Conference took place on 3rd October 2018 under the guiding theme “Regional Cooperation to Accelerate Sustainable Energy Innovation and Entrepreneurship in Developing Countries”. It was organized under the umbrella of the Global Network of Regional Sustainable Energy Centres (GN-SEC) and in conjunction with the Informal Meeting of the EU Directors General for Development Cooperation. The Conference was accompanied by a series of thrilling energy events between 1st and 5th October 2018.

The conference was organised as a concrete follow-up to the EU Council Conclusion on Energy and Development, adopted on 22 May 2018. The conclusions highlighted three key objectives: addressing the lack of access to affordable, reliable and modern energy services; increasing the use of renewable energy and energy efficiency products and services; and contributing to the global fight against climate change, in line with the Paris Agreement. In this context, the conclusions underline the important role of regional sustainable energy cooperation as follows:

(…) The Council stresses the necessity to strengthen regional and sub-regional cooperation and capacities in the sustainable energy and climate sector. The Council moreover supports efforts towards increasing the cost-effectiveness of the energy sector that are conducive to regional integration, trade and investment such as Regional Sustainable Energy Centers anchored in the regional economic communities.

The Conference aimed to accelerate global efforts to strengthen regional cooperation and integration as a catalyst for scaling up renewable energy and energy efficiency investment, innovation and entrepreneurship in developing countries. Targeted regional cooperation can address some of the barriers for sustainable energy and climate technology markets more effectively and at lower costs than national efforts, create the urgently needed economies of scale and enable more equal progress and spill-over effects between countries.

The Conference therefore presented case studies and lessons learned from the EU, EAC, ECOWAS, SADC, CARICOM, SPC, SICA and the Arab States, and highlighted partnership opportunities with the Global Network of Regional Sustainable Energy Centres (GN-SEC). The potential contribution of regional cooperation to accelerate the implementation of the “Green People´s Energy for Africa Initiative” through enhanced entrepreneurship, civil society engagement and domestic financing was also discussed. Finally, the Conference highlighted the catalytic role of regional programmes and organizations in implementing global efforts and objectives like the Sustainable Development Goals and the climate goals of the Paris Agreement.

The Conference brought together senior officials from EU Member States, selected key players from regional and international organisations, development banks, utilities and regulatory bodies, the private sector and academia with the objective to:

• Present an overview of the current status of regional political and technical sustainable energy cooperation/integration in different parts of the world;
• Create mutual understandings on the benefits and opportunities of a strong regional cooperation in clean energy development;
• Exchange of case studies, best practices, failures and lessons learned from processes, programs and projects in various sub-regions;
• Concrete recommendations to strengthen sub-regional cooperation as a tool to promote SDG-7, SDG-9 and SDG-13;
• Create partnerships on concrete programs/topics to be rolled out on sub-regional level as follow-up.

The conference documentation is attached.

Related side events and energy events between 1st and 5th October 2018:

• The side events “Business Forum Decentralized Energy in Developing Countries” and “Creating Opportunities for Sustainable Energy Investments and Businesses in Developing Countries” took place on 2nd October.
• The 10th Arab-Austrian Economic Forum & Exhibition "Energy Transition – Urban Technology and Sustainable Cities New Opportunities for International Cooperation and Partnerships", took place from 1st to 2nd October 2018. Further information is available at: www.aacc.at
• The SDG Young Scientists‘ SDG & Energy Forum 2018 took place on 3rd October 2018.
• The 2018 International Sustainable Energy Conference (ISEC) “Renewable Heating and Cooling in Integrated Urban and Industrial Energy Systems”, took place from 3rd to 5th October in Graz, Austria. Please visit the website of the organisers: www.aee-intec-events.org.  

If you have further questions, please do not hesitate to contact the conference organisers at: seminar@se4allnetwork.org 

Organisational focal points: Mr. Martin Lugmayr (UNIDO), Mr. Wolfgang Moser (BMeiA), Ms. Cornelia Schenk (ADA)

The photo documentation on the event is available at: https://www.flickr.com/photos/unido/albums/72157700520140561/page1

All presentations held at the conference are available below.