Last week, GWNET held its fourth knowledge-transfer webinar for participants of the 2/2019 Mentoring Programme, on the topic of Governance in the Energy Sector. We were excited to welcome key speaker Irene Giner-Reichl, an Austrian career diplomat with established expertise in sustainable development, women’s rights, development policy and energy. Irene is also the President of the Global Forum on Sustainable Energy, Vice-President of REN21 and President of GWNET.
Sustainable Energy for All (SEforALL) has three overarching goals to be reached by 2030, mainly:
- Providing access to modern energy services to 1.4 billion people who currently lack these services,
- Doubling the rate of improvement in energy efficiency, and
- Doubling the share of renewables in global energy end-use (which would bring it to around 30%).
These goals are to be achieved by a coalition of actors, including governments, international institutions, private sector entities, and civil society, as well as driven and coordinated by self-selecting leaders and a small secretariat.
During this webinar, Irene explored how stakeholder commitment is needed to not only achieve SDG 7 but SDG 5 as well. She stressed the fact that a unified approach is required to achieve SDG 7 and to integrate gender equality and women’s empowerment (SDG 5) into all energy actions.
Some key insights were delivered on advancing SDG 7 implementation and accelerating transformation, including the importance of:
- Strengthening cooperation at the regional level.
- Promoting transformational investments and transforming human behaviour away from energy-intensive lifestyles.
- Strengthening decision making through better energy data.
- Setting ambitious targets globally, across regions, countries and sectors.
- Supporting local job creation and a just transition.
If you are interested in knowing more about GWNET’s mentoring programmes, this comprehensive article outlines our work in this area.
