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BRASILIA, Brazil, October 26, 2005 (Refocus Weekly) Two global partnerships will work together to promote clean energy systems.
The Global Village Energy Partnership and the Renewable Energy & Energy Efficiency Partnership were both formed at the World Summit for Sustainable Development in South Africa. GVEP works to facilitate access to energy for the rural and urban poor, while REEEP focuses on support for legislative and regulatory frameworks which accelerate the market for renewables and energy efficiency.
“We realized that there are a lot of synergies between our two partnerships and, with limited public funding for sustainable energy, it makes sense to work together to avoid duplication,” says Marianne Osterkorn of REEEP.
The formal agreement commits both groups to cooperate in order to promote clean energy systems, while leveraging their respective delivery infrastructure. “The result is that two WSSD type 2 partnerships are now more formally engaged and they have identified synergies where the two programmes can leverage impact.”
“Closer cooperation between GVEP and REEEP should make it possible for us to harness energy for poverty reduction at a much faster rate,” says Abeeku Brew-Hammond of GVEP. “By working with REEEP to increase access to renewable energy sources and increasing energy efficiency, we will increase the options available on the 'full menu' which GVEP uses.”
GVEP’s technical secretariat will work closely with REEEP regional secretariats in reaching out to GVEP country focal points with 850 registered partner organizations around the world. Much of its current work is in Brazil, Senegal, Cameroon and southeast Asia. REEEP has funded 58 projects on policy or financial models that can be replicated by governments and project developers, and its partners include 30 governments, including all G8 countries with the exception of Russia.
In some regions of the world, key players are members of both GVEP and REEEP.
“Working in collaboration will allow both partnerships to affect change more rapidly and with greater coordination,” says Mark Lambrides of the REEEP Secretariat in Latin America and the Caribbean, and a GVEP Partner. “In central America, there are several opportunities where GVEP can provide immediate technical assistance at the project level and where REEEP can provide financing models at the state levels.”
Improving access to energy for the rural poor is critical for sustainable development and for attaining the Millennium Development Goals, say both groups. “Clean energy is also a route towards energy security and emissions reduction, increasing the independence of a country and working to mitigate climate change; the signing of this MoU will make a significant contribution.”
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