Modern Energy Access: Synergies & Tradeoffs with Climate Mitigation and other SDGs

The post-2015 sustainable development agenda adopted by UN Member States in September 2015 include 17 aspirational goals to be achieved by 2030. Achieving these goals will require reducing existing inequalities and deprivations while simultaneously addressing the growing environmental footprints of rising prosperity. This presentation will specifically discusses potential synergies and tradeoffs between Goal #7 - "ensure access to affordable, reliable, sustainable, and modern energy for all" that aims to reduce energy poverty and inequalities globally, and goal #13 - "take urgent action to combat climate change and its impacts" that calls for decarbonizing our societies and adapting to unavoidable climate change. While achieving both goals will encourage transformations towards sustainability, little is understood about the interlinkages, complementarities, and tensions between the goals. What are the emissions consequences of providing universal access to modern energy services? Do climate mitigation policies retard the transition to modern energy services? What is the impact on the energy poor, and on human health? The talk will present results of recent research that aim to answer some of these questions and provide insights for policy on how potential synergies among the goals can be realized.

Speaker: Dr. Shonali Pachauri, International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis