Primer on sustainable energy development

The United Nations Conference on the Human Environment (UNCHE) held in Stockholm in 1972 was the first major United Nations conference entirely devoted to environmental issues. At that time, it was recognized that

“the protection and improvement of the human environment is a major issue that affects the well-being of peoples and economic development throughout the world” [1.1]. The outcome of this conference, the Declaration of the UNCHE, known as the Stockholm Declaration, is dominated by the reciprocal concerns about the environmental implications of socioeconomic development and the repercussions of environmental degradation on the development prospects of present and future generations. It concludes with a commitment to respond to the worldwide problem of environmental deterio-ration, setting out the principles, guidelines and recommendations that should guide citizens, communities, and local and national governments in shaping their actions with “a more prudent care for their environmental conse-quences” [1.1].

The energy sector is not explicitly mentioned in the Stockholm Decla-ration, but several items hold messages for energy production and use.

Principle 5 of the document declares that “non-renewable resources of the earth must be employed in such a way as to guard against the danger of their future exhaustion and to ensure that benefits from such employment are shared by all mankind”. This presages the (still unresolved) sustainability dilemma of using non-renewable resources and the equity element of sustainable development. Principle 6 addresses the environmental implica-tions: “The discharge of … substances … in such quantities or concentrations as to exceed the capacity of the environment to render them harmless … must be halted in order to ensure that serious or irreversible damage is not inflicted upon ecosystems.” These are early indications of the critical load concept and the precautionary principle that have become key concerns in the environ-mental dimension of sustainable development.

Much has been accomplished over the past 35 years, but today the world recognizes that protection of the environment has to be linked to social and economic development to secure what has been termed ‘sustainable devel-opment’. The report entitled Our Common Future by the World Commission on Environment and Development [1.2] defines sustainable development as

“development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs”. The report further describes sustainable development “as a process of change in which the exploitation of resources, the direction of investment, the orientation of technological development, and institutional change are all in harmony and enhance both current and future potentials to meet human needs and aspira-tions”.

The Commission’s report describes the challenges involved in meeting these goals and recognizes the importance of energy in sustainable development by devoting one of the six ‘challenges’ sections to this issue.

Starting from the premise that development crucially depends on the long term availability of energy “in increasing quantities from sources that are dependable, safe, and environmentally sound” [1.2], the Commission defines four elements of sustainability for energy use: (i) sufficient growth of supplies to meet human needs, (ii) energy efficiency and measures advancing rational energy use, (iii) public health concerns and (iv) environmental protection (at all scales, from the biosphere to the local level). After investigating resource, economic, environmental and safety aspects of fossil fuels, nuclear energy, wood fuels and sources of renewable energy, and contemplating issues of energy efficiency and energy conservation, the Commission concluded that a

“safe, environmentally sound, and economically viable energy pathway that will sustain human progress into the distant future is clearly imperative” [1.2] .

In 1992, the results of the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development were the adoption of the global programme entitled Agenda 21 and of the Rio Declaration on Environment and Development. Both identify actions to be taken to achieve the objectives of sustainable devel-opment. Neither document mentions energy issues explicitly. Principle 5 of the Rio Declaration asserts that eradicating poverty is an indispensable requirement for sustainable development and that the provision of energy services is a precondition for poverty eradication. Principle 8 calls for eliminating “unsustainable patterns of production and consumption” and has clear implications for energy production and use in developed countries with high energy intensities and in poverty stricken developing countries. Finally, Principle 15 stipulates the wide application of the precautionary approach that is often cited in the context of climate change, where CO₂ emissions from fossil fuels are considered a possible cause of potentially serious or irreversible environmental damage. Fifteen years later, this Principle was given particularly strong support by the Fourth Assessment Report of Working Group I of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change [1.3], in particular:

“Global atmospheric concentrations of carbon dioxide, methane and nitrous oxide have increased markedly as a result of human activities since 1750 … The global increases in carbon dioxide concentration are due primarily to fossil fuel use and land-use change ...

“Most of the observed increase in globally averaged temperatures since the mid-20th century is very likely due to the observed increase in anthro-pogenic greenhouse gas concentrations.

“Continued greenhouse gas emissions at or above current rates would cause further warming and induce many changes in the global climate system during the 21st century that would very likely be larger than those observed during the 20th century.”

The Millennium Summit in 2000 confirmed that progress towards sustainable development and poverty eradication has top priority for the global community. The Millennium Development Goals, derived from agreements and resolutions of relevant United Nations conferences in the post-Rio Declaration years, are rather ambitious. Some goals are only very remotely related to energy provision and use, e.g. Goals 4, 5 and 6 focus on human health concerns. Other goals have important indirect implications for energy devel-opment; access to electricity could foster universal primary education (Goal 2) in many regions of the world. Availability and affordability of commercial energy for cooking would drastically reduce the time and effort needed for

fuelwood collection and thus promote gender equality and empowerment of women (Goal 3).

At the macropolicy level, Goal 7 calls for integrating the principles of sustainable development into country policies and mentions, among others, energy intensity and per capita carbon emissions as indicators for measuring progress. Ample opportunities exist to make progress on this goal and many economists suggest that eliminating subsidies that distort the energy sector in many countries could be a good start. Ironically, some energy related measures aimed at poverty alleviation would likely have a negative effect on the sustain-ability indicators related to energy intensity or emissions in the short term because they would increase energy use per unit of gross domestic product (GDP) (e.g. providing electricity to promote education, increased industriali-zation and urbaniindustriali-zation) and per capita CO₂ emissions (replacing fuelwood with commercial fossil energy in households). However, once these investments in infrastructure and human capital (education, gender equality) start paying off, the energy and carbon intensity indicators should improve as well.

The World Summit on Sustainable Development (WSSD) that convened in Johannesburg in 2002 recognized that, although some progress has been made, major challenges must still be overcome to implement the vision of sustainable development. Paragraph 18 of the Johannesburg Declaration on Sustainable Development lists energy among ‘essential’ needs and suggests rapidly increasing the “access to such basic requirements as clean water, sanitation, adequate shelter, energy, health care, food security and the protection of biodiversity” [1.4]. Point 9 of the Johannesburg Plan of Imple-mentation of the WSSD makes the direct link between access to reliable and affordable energy services and facilitating the Millennium Development Goals in general and eradicating poverty in particular. Actions to this end range from improving access to modern biomass technologies, efficiency improvements, cleaner use of liquid fossil fuels and advanced energy technologies to developing national energy policies and regulatory frameworks and enhancing international financial and technical assistance.

An important outcome of the WSSD that proved to be an effective imple-mentation mechanism is the “non-negotiated partnership” in sustainable development. These partnerships supplement the commitments agreed to by governments through the intergovernmental process. The project presented in this report is an example of such a partnership.

1.1.2. Energy

Energy is generally recognized as a central issue in sustainable devel-opment. Several high level conferences and declarations have confirmed that the provision of adequate energy services at affordable costs, in a secure and environmentally benign manner, and in conformity with social and economic developmental needs is an essential element of sustainable development.

Reliable energy services are the preconditions for investments that bring about economic development. They facilitate the learning and study that are crucial for developing human capital. They also promote equity by giving a chance for the less well off to study and thus provide a possible escape from poverty.

Therefore, energy is vital for alleviating poverty, improving human welfare and raising living standards. However, the provision of energy services also raises other crucial sustainability concerns. The socially optimal depletion of non-renewable energy resources has been at the centre of the sustainability debate for decades. The environmental impacts of different energy forms and their repercussions on society (ranging from the damage imposed on socioeconomic and material assets to risks to human health) can undermine the sustainability of development.

Many current patterns of energy supply and use are unsustainable. About a third of the world’s population relies on the use of non-commercial fuels that have negative impacts on health and the environment. Some 1.6 billion people have no access to electricity. Many regions of the world have no reliable and secure energy supplies, limiting economic development. The challenge is to design and implement sustainable energy development that will support these societies on the long term path of sustainable development.

In 1997, the United Nations General Assembly formally recognized the need for more sustainable energy use and, for the first time, an intergovern-mental process was created to elaborate a common approach to the sustainable energy development agenda. The World Energy Assessment (WEA) [1.5]

thoroughly analyses the relationships among energy, social issues, health and the environment; addresses issues of energy security, resource availability, end use efficiency, and renewable and advanced supply technologies; pays special attention to the fundamental problem of rural energy in developing countries and to the role of energy in economic prosperity; and depicts three energy scenarios for the 21st century. The study pays special attention to unsustainable features of the current energy system: problems related to equity (accessi-bility), reliability and affordability, and environmental impacts. The report concludes that sustainable energy policies should meet overall national sustain-ability goals and should:

— Rely on markets where they function properly and correct market failures by using suitable regulatory mechanisms where possible market failures (monopolies, externalities) and other obstacles (lack of techno-logical knowledge, diverging interests of investors and users) exist;

— Complement measures of energy sector restructuring with regulations that encourage sustainable energy;¹

— Provide incentives for mobilizing additional investments in sustainable energy and technological innovation in transition and developing countries by fostering reliable commercial legislation and regulation;

— Support technological leadership and capacity building in developing countries;

— Encourage enhanced international cooperation.

The development efforts of the international community and most developing countries have increasingly focused on poverty reduction in recent years. The World Bank has distinguished three main domains of poverty reduction strategies (promoting opportunity, facilitating empowerment, enhancing security) and identified a series of actions for implementation [1.6].

In the ‘opportunity’ domain, provision of energy services is among the key factors, with cascading effects in other areas — “improving poor people’s access to energy or transport can increase their access and returns to education” [1.6]. Similarly, providing electricity is a core element of the strategy to get infrastructure and knowledge to poor areas.

In April 2001, the 9th session of the Commission on Sustainable Development (CSD-9) recognized the need for a movement towards sustainable patterns of production, distribution and use of energy. In estab-lishing the multi-year programme of work of the CSD, the special session underscored that, in line with the objectives of Agenda 21, the CSD-9 should

“contribute to a sustainable energy future for all”. The IAEA and the Interna-tional Energy Agency (IEA) presented a preliminary report on Indicators for Sustainable Energy Development as part of the deliberations of CSD-9 [1.7]. In 2005, the IAEA, in cooperation with the United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs (UNDESA), the IEA, the Statistical Office of the European Communities (Eurostat) and the European Environment Agency, published a multiagency report on guidelines and methodologies of Energy Indicators for Sustainable Development (EISD) [1.8]. Table 1.1 presents the

1 The WEA defines sustainable energy as “energy produced and used in ways that support human development over the long term, in all its social, economic, and environ-mental dimensions” [1.5].

list of indicators included in that report. To the extent possible, these indicators are used in this study to characterize Cuba’s past and present energy development and to assess alternative future scenarios and strategies.

Follow-up on energy for sustainable development at the international level took place during the 14thsession of the United Nations Commission on Sustainable Development held in 2006 and continued during the 15th session of the Commission in 2007. The thematic cluster for the 2006/2007 cycle — energy for sustainable development, industrial development, air pollution/atmosphere and climate change — are deemed to be “unparalleled in their importance for achieving sustainable development goals” [1.9]. At its 14th session, the Commission confirmed that access to energy was critical to achieving sustainable development goals and the Millennium Development Goals, in particular the target on poverty reduction. Access to electricity at central points in rural and remote communities (schools, clinics and hospitals) is also important for achieving these goals. The Commission also underlined that, in addition to increasing energy efficiency, “a judicious mix of energy from all sources will be needed in order to meet the rising global energy demand” [1.9].

These issues were further elaborated at the 15th session of the Commission in 2007.

The project presented in this report draws heavily on the concepts, procedures, analytical frameworks and modelling tools of the above activities, especially those of the WEA and the Indicators for Sustainable Energy Development programme of the IAEA. In fact, it represents the first in-depth analysis of Cuba’s energy system within a sustainable development framework.