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Delhi Clean Energy Conference Advances Clean Energy Cooperation among Developing Countries

25 Feb 2013

Panelists Onno Ruhl, Country Director-India, World Bank; Dr. Farooq Abdullah, Union Minister for New & Renewable Energy, Government of India; and Suresh Prabhu, Former Union Minister and Director, Shakti Sustainable Energy Foundation.
Showcasing clean energy progress under way in Brazil, South Africa, India, and China (the “BASIC” countries), and in Mexico, Indonesia, and South Korea (the “MIS” countries) was a key focus of the Delhi Clean Energy Conference, held 11–12 December 2012 in Delhi, India. Hosted by the government of India in partnership with the World Bank, The Energy and Resources Institute (TERI), and the Shakti Foundation, the conference also sought to foster clean energy cooperation among these developing countries and develop a roadmap for scaling up progress. 

The conference featured presentations on ongoing clean energy activities and panel discussions assessing innovative solutions to scaling up broad-based clean energy market transformation in developing countries through networking, knowledge transfer, and partnerships. Highlighted activities included South Africa’s solar applications, Brazil’s hydropower and biofuels programs, Korea’s appliance efficiency standards and labeling initiatives, and India’s appliance and building efficiency programs. 

Participants included representatives from government, industry, and international organizations. Esteemed panelists included Dr. Farooq Abdullah, India’s Minister of New and Renewable Energy; Suresh Prabhu, Former Minister and Director of Shakti Sustainable Energy Foundation; and Onno Ruhl, Country Director in India for the World Bank. 

Conference sponsors and other experts presented a background theme paper for discussion that showcased best practices in the BASIC and MIS countries and provided scale-up recommendations. The authors collected participants’ feedback, which they will use to finalize the paper before circulating it to Clean Energy Ministerial (CEM) governments at the fourth Clean Energy Ministerial in April 2013. 

The conference also sought to inform the development of a South-South-North Knowledge Exchange and Collaboration Partnership in Clean Energy. The Partnership is still in the development stage; next steps include mapping out specific South-South collaboration opportunities and identifying other CEM partners, international institutions, and non-CEM partners to aid with implementation. Goals of the partnership include developing a series of training modules; summary papers; peer-to-peer South-South-North exchange of experts and practitioners; technical, policy, and finance workshops; and other resources and events to facilitate learning among BASIC and MIS countries and the sharing of best practices among all CEM countries. 

The discussions and outcomes of the conference will also contribute to advancing the three objectives under the United Nations’ Sustainable Energy For All (SE4All) initiative: ensuring universal energy access, doubling the rate of energy efficiency improvements, and doubling the sharing of renewable energy in the global mix by 2030.