A few weeks before the 156th Session of the WHO Executive Board, a series of public briefings and policy debates organized by the Geneva Global Health Hub (G2H2) aims to provide spaces for sharing, assessing and debating health policy and governance challenges within and beyond the items covered by the formal agenda of WHO EB, bridging from health policies to people’s realities, addressing determinants of health and promoting democratic governance.
For more information on the G2H2 Policy Debates and the other sessions organized, click here.
The centrality of energy to achieving development has been incapsulated within the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDG 7: “ensure access to affordable, reliable, sustainable and modern energy for all”). However, as we move closer to 2030, it is increasingly evident that the goal will not be achieved, and in fact the gaps, far from reducing, are on the rise. The inability to access energy is a global issue that affects approximately 30% of the world’s population.
There is no universally accepted definition of energy poverty. Across higher income countries, most measures encompass a situation in which a person cannot obtain the necessary energy to keep their home at a comfortable temperature and meet their basic needs because of inadequate resources or living conditions which is measured either subjectively or objectively. The prevalence is higher in cooler European countries with a poor housing stock such as the UK, where approximately 10.3% of households are in energy poverty. However, the problem is not limited to colder countries. Fuel poverty also refers to a situation where individuals cannot afford to cool their home or have a properly cooked meal. Several studies have shown how energy poverty increases morbidity and mortality, a growing problem worldwide.
Energy justice has been defined as the goal of seeking equity in the social and economic participation in the energy system, while at the same time addressing the economic, social and health costs that are borne by those communities or groups that the energy system has traditionally harmed. With our 20st century energy sources and structures, which prove so damaging to people’s and planetary health, can we rapidly build and deploy energy systems that can respect human rights and restore planetary systems? Caring for health within the energy policies should serve as a basis to ensure a just and a climate-friendly development around the world. In fact the two notions – health and energy – are integrated. Equal access to health can only exists through improving the sharing of energy production and drastically optimizing its consumption globally. Neither the planet nor humankind can sustain polluting energy production because of how much it harms people, creating inequalities of life and development.
SID webinar intends to shine a light on some of the neglected areas of engagement to address the conditions needed to ensure that the mooted energy transition is sustainable and equitable, and also to display the human health costs of failure to do so. The quest of energy justice should not be written off as just another liberal entitlement being sought.
Moderators: Passy Amayo Ogolla, Society for International Development (SID)
Kenya’s Compendium of Energy explores the details of today’s energy challenges in one country, using statistical graphs, diagrams and photographs as illustrations.
'Energy for Whom? Scenarios for Eastern Africa' report provides tools to stimulate conversation about the choices our societies face today and anticipate possible future events in order to better respond to them. They can be used by any individual or organisation to test their own plans and choices.
As part of the G2H2 Policy Debates, SID webinar on 22 Jan 2025 intends to shine a light on the WHO debates on the pandemic treaty, One Health and the fight against AMR, taking stock of the research work conducted in this area in past years.
The Society for International Development, in partnership of the Heinrich Boll Foundation and Strathmore Energy Research Centre, invites the public to register and the attend the upcoming hybrid Public Energy Futures Forum, under the theme, 'Nuclear Power Development in Kenya – A Low Carbon Solution or a High-Risk Gamble?' On Tuesday 3, December 2024, 1400 to 1700hrs (EAT Nairobi) at Daystar University, Nairobi Campus.
Join the conversations and insights from the panel of speakers at the continental agency level as we review negotiations of the Pact for the Future and map how those align with the aspirations of the AU Agenda 2063; and contribute to our mapping of what Africa’s future might look like post-Summit of the Future.
On Wednesday 21 August 2024 the Society for International Development (SID), in partnership with Heinrich Boll Foundation, through the Sustainable Energy Futures Project (SEF) hold a virtual Public Energy Futures Forum under the theme: Unpacking Clean Cooking Developments in Kenya - Challenges and opportunities.
