UNECE’s work on sustainable energy is designed to improve access to affordable and clean energy for all and help reduce greenhouse gas emissions and the carbon footprint of the energy sector in the region. It promotes international policy dialogue and cooperation among governments, energy industries and other stakeholders. The focus is on energy efficiency, cleaner electricity production from fossil fuels, renewable energy, coal mine methane, gas, classification of energy and mineral reserves and resources, and energy security.
The strategy of the subprogramme is to i) support international policy dialogue and cooperation among Governments, energy industries and other stakeholders to foster sustainable energy development; ii) develop and deploy ECE policy recommendations, norms, standards, guidelines and tools on energy-related issues; and iii) provide capacity-building and assistance to member States, at their request, through training programmes, advisory services and technical cooperation projects.
To contribute to the objective, the subprogramme will:
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Develop normative instruments (e.g., best practices and principles), awareness-raising campaigns and the deployment of ECE tools through workshops, seminars and technical projects to help member States to meet their commitments to the 2030 Agenda and the Paris Agreement with regard to reducing their environmental footprint related to energy, accelerating the deep transformation of the energy sector to meet future needs, ensuring the sustainable management of resources and assessing options to ensure energy for sustainable development;
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Promote policy dialogue and cooperation among member States, regional entities and other partners on sustainable energy issues;
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Provide technical assistance and guidance on energy transitions in the context of sustainable development, disseminate best practices and improve information-sharing;
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Promote collaboration among private and public stakeholders that are key to implementing national and regional policies, including with regard to normative instruments and their deployment and dissemination;
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Coordinate and promote efforts related to energy resilience across the ECE region and to provide an ECE platform on resilient energy systems for inclusive dialogue;
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Explore and increase understanding on energy-related climate financing in the ECE region, including policies and mechanisms for increasing financing for low- and zero-carbon technologies, the critical raw materials needed for low-carbon and low-emissions transformations and sustainable infrastructure projects;
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Support countries across the ECE region in applying the United Nations Framework Classification for Resources and the United Nations Resource Management System to assure sustainable development of their natural resources, including critical raw materials;
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Support ECE member States in enhancing their understanding of the benefits of low-and zero-carbon technology interplay for more resilient energy systems across the ECE region;
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Support ECE member States in broadening and accelerating the deployment of energy efficiency measures across buildings, industry, transport and other end-use sectors while embracing sector-wide digitalization;
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Support and guide ECE member States in their efforts to accurately measure and report methane emissions from the energy sector and the related extractive industries, and to effectively mitigate those emissions by detecting and repairing leaks from the installed infrastructure and by capturing and destroying or utilizing gas from active and abandoned coal mines;
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Explore the notion of “just transition”, being an integrated approach to sustainable development, which brings together social progress, environmental protection and economic success into a framework of democratic governance; and increase ECE member States’ understanding of that concept and its complexity and improve their capacity to plan and implement transformation strategies in accordance with its principles.
The above-mentioned work is expected to contribute to the achievement of Sustainable Development Goals 7, 12 and 13 and result in:
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More effective integration of sustainable energy across national policies and normative frameworks in support of the 2030 Agenda and the Paris Agreement;
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Enhanced dialogue and cooperation among energy actors to boost transformational investment in the energy sector and, consequently, accelerate the modernization of the energy system to meet countries’ sustainable development and climate commitments;
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Improved access of member States to frameworks and tools required for integrated and sustainable resource management that aid the progress towards a more circular economy and contribute to the food-water-energy nexus;
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Improvement in the performance of buildings from a health perspective (e.g., temperatures, comfort, effective air intake and recycling filters), which will improve the protection and resilience of populations;
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Increased understanding and implementation of climate-friendly policies and mechanisms by member States, which are aimed at addressing issues such as financing for low- and zero-carbon technologies and sustainable infrastructure, and critical raw materials needed for such transformations;
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Improved capacity of ECE member States to design and implement policies setting up effective mechanisms for accurate measurement and reporting of methane emissions from the energy sector and the related extractive industries, as well as for their effective mitigation;
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Improved understanding of a “just transition” concept and increased capacity of ECE member States for its effective application of national energy transition strategies, at the planning and implementation stages.