The missing MDG goal: energy poverty alleviation

First the good news:

Jeffrey Sachs Charts the Way Forward for MDGs Ahead of UN Summit

World-renowned economist calls on leaders to arrive at the New York meeting next month “with the agreed plans, partnerships, and financing to accelerate our progress.”

Professor Jeffrey Sachs has outlined eight “major gaps” which need to be overcome if the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) are to be achieved. These unmet objectives are in smallholder agriculture, education, water and sanitation, health, climate financing, empowering girls and women, infrastructure, and strategies and goals at the local level.

His comments come ahead of the MDG summit, taking place in New York next month. “The MDG Summit this year gives us the opportunity to scale up the best thinking and experience,” the world-renowned economist recently wrote in The Commonwealth Ministers Reference Book 2010. “The world has the crucial opportunity to innovate, by creating new institutions and new ways of doing things, in both the public and private spheres.”

[Published by Commonwealth News and Information Service (London) –  August 25th, 2010]

We are, of course, thrilled that Professor Sachs continues to hang on tight to his mandate as the UN’s SG’s Chief MDG Chearleader. He’s done a tremendous job keeping the spotlight shining on this issue than many others have forgotten. His mission is especially relevant to the hundreds of millions of sub-Saharan Africans who have not seen measurable progress on a number of MDGs compared to other parts of the developing world.

Now the not-so-good news:

We are however sadden that Professor Sachs chose not to make energy efficiency a higher priority on this summit’s agenda. This oversight is especially piercing for the more than 90% of SSA population dependent on biomass as their primary source of fuel. 

This is a glaring omission considering that the UNDP states:

“Energy is central to sustainable development and poverty reduction efforts. It affects all aspects of development — social, economic, and environmental — including livelihoods, access to water, agricultural productivity, health, population levels, education, and gender-related issues. None of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) can be met without major improvement in the quality and quantity of energy services in developing countries.”

The UNDP’s statement above is one important reason why energy poverty alleviation is sometimes called the missing MDG.

In fact, the Opec Fund for International Development has gone so far as to say:

OFID is of the opinion that the alleviation of energy poverty – although not a goal on its own – is central to the achievement of the eight internationally embraced Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). Many of us involved in development cooperation are persuaded that the alleviation of energy poverty is a “missing,” ninth MDG.

[We never thought we’d turn to OPEC for support on this, but there you have it.]

We feel this is a great missed opportunity by Mr. Sachs. Luckily there is still time to redress this oversight.

The Editors

The Charcoal Project