Case: Policy coherence in general

04-03-2011 Successful student proposal

Last Monday, the 28th of February, the winning group of the Student Symposium, World of Plenty organized by the EVS last November, came to our office in Brussels to present their proposal. The symposium provided different master classes on the topics: water, food, land, energy, biodiversity, minerals and finance. The winning group, which was on renewable energy, won a trip to the European Parliament to present their ideas to MEPs Thijs Berman (S&D) and Bas Eickhout (Greens/EFA) who were very enthusiastic about the ideas and seemed willing to cooperate.

The proposal presented by the group was on sustainable energy production in developing countries, in a way to self-empowerment and development. The idea behind the proposal is that without infrastructure, development is very difficult. To get energy sources also into rural areas in developing countries like many inlands of Africa, solar energy would be the way to go. Bringing initial knowledge to the rural areas will educate local people how to build the solar panels, so that within time these people will be independent of foreign aid.
The request to the European Union was first of all to establish a renewable energy bank which would provide micro finance to local entrepreneurs and communities. Next to this, the EU or the Netherlands should subsidize joint ventures, to stimulate production and marketing of solar cells on developing markets to promote both economically and environmentally friendly policies. Finally, the group recommended that Dutch companies would invest in carbon credits in platforms with African companies to develop solar panels for improving agricultural production and to generate electricity locally.

This proposal was very well taken in by MEPs Thijs Berman (S&D) and Bas Eickhout (Greens/EFA) who gave good feedback and provided additional ideas on how the group could actually implement their ideas. They were positive that this proposal would actually receive more attention on the European level and that there would be finance opportunities and they both seemed willing to follow up on this proposal.

Additionally, MEP Eva Joly (Greens/EFA) raised a few questions towards the Council indicating that energy in developing countries is indeed an important topic. She asked questions on the new Energy Strategy which is being prepared by the World Bank Group (WBG) in which it will reduce poverty by helping developing countries meet their energy needs in the triple bottom line of sustainability: environmentally, socially and economically. She asked how the Council would contribute in an affordable way with renewable energy to the rural poor. The second question is on how the Council will comply with the EUs strategy goals of reducing greenhouse gas emissions. This is where the proposal of the student group could be used to implement the new Energy Strategy in a clean and sustainable way.

Monitor fair: Greens/EFA

Parliamentary questions
O-000019/2011
28 January 2011 
ORAL QUESTION, by Eva Joly (Greens/EFA)

Subject: The World Bank's Energy Strategy for developing countries

The World Bank Group (WBG) is preparing a new Energy Strategy, expected to be finalized in mid-2011. The new WBG Energy Strategy is called upon to fulfil its mandate of poverty reduction by helping developing countries meet their energy needs in a manner that respects the triple bottom line of sustainability: environmentally, socially, and economically.
What are the main actions envisaged by the Council to contribute with renewable energy options to the rural poor in an affordable way?
Finally, and in order to safeguard the coherence with the EUs strategic goals of reducing greenhouse gas emissions, does the Council agree with the recommendation by the European Parliament that the European Investment Bank should adopt a strategy to increase its support for clean energy and phase out its support for fossil fuel projects, with the exception of projects specifically aimed at providing benefits and access to energy for the poor? If so, how does it envisage contributing to this recommendation?