Feasible mitigation actions in developing countries

Energy use is not only crucial for economic development, but is also the main driver of greenhouse-gas emissions. Developing countries can reduce emissions and thrive only if economic growth is disentangled from energy-related emissions. Although possible in theory, the required energy-system transformation would impose considerable costs on developing nations. Developed countries could bear those costs fully, but policy design should avoid a possible 'climate rent curse', that is, a negative impact of financial inflows on recipients' economies. Mitigation measures could meet further resistance because of adverse distributional impacts as well as political economy reasons. Hence, drastically re-orienting development paths towards low-carbon growth in developing countries is not very realistic. Efforts should rather focus on 'feasible mitigation actions' such as fossil-fuel subsidy reform, decentralized modern energy and fuel switching in the power sector

Measuring energy access: Supporting a global target

The provision of modern energy services is recognised as a critical foundation for sustainable development. There are increasing discussions within the international community about establishing an international target for universal access to modern energy services. Such a target would provide a much needed political prioritisation and build on ongoing national activity. To ensure effectiveness, and to underpin delivery and policy formation, will require analytical work on both definitions and measurement. There is considerable precedent in the use of indicators and indices in the development and energy sectors. Drawing on that literature, we outline several options that could inform future work in this area. Such measurement and reporting tools will need to be simple, politically attractive, and analytically robust a difficult balancing act. We propose that annual measurement and reporting at the national level be established in five to seven pilot countries through two composite indices and their respective indicators, and three to five new innovative and complementary metrics