5th Steering Committee of the Global Network for Regional Sustainable Energy Centres (GN-SEC)

 

 

UNIDO is organizing the 5th Steering Committee Meeting of the Global Network of Regional Sustainable Energy Centres (GN-SEC) programme, from the 5th to the 8th of September 2022 in Vienna, Austria. The event will bring together representatives from the centres, core donors and technical partners. The meeting will be held in a hybrid form and includes the possibility to participate by online means. The meeting is the first physical get-together of the GN-SEC members since the 4th Steering Committee, which was held on 25 October 2019 in Accra, Ghana at the margins of the ECOWAS Sustainable Energy Conference. The meeting includes a BLOOM excursion to the Green Tech Cluster in Styria on the 7th of September, which can be attended by GN-SEC experts on a voluntary basis. 

 

 

To address the missing link of regional clean energy cooperation in developing and emerging countries, UNIDO launched the Global Network of Regional Sustainable Energy Centres (GN-SEC) Programme in 2010. Under a joint platform, UNIDO assists regional economic communities (RECs) in the creation and operation of sustainable energy centres, which drive and accelerate the energy transition “from the region for the region”. The centres are part of the economic integration efforts of RECs and work towards the creation of integrated and inclusive regional markets for sustainable energy products and services by mitigating barriers.

 

Today, the GN-SEC network comprises eight operating centres in the Arab and African region (ECOWAS, SADC, EAC, Arab League), Asia and Pacific (SPC, ICIMOD), as well as Latin America (CARICOM, SICA) and has approval by more than 108 Ministers of Energy. In this moment, the network expands to Central Asia (ECO) and Central Africa (ECO). With the latter, the GN-SEC covers the entire African continent and will be an important infrastructure for the implementation of the African Union ambition towards a continental trade and energy market. 

 

By setting regional policies and standards for national implementation, the centres influence the energy futures of more than 1,2 billion consumers and serve 38 of 46 least developed countries (LDCs) and 32 of 36 small island developing states (SIDS). Currently, the geographic GN-SEC scope is expanded to Latin America and South East Asia by signing cooperation agreements with existing energy centres (e.g. OLADE, ASEAN). 

 

The global GN-SEC platform, hosted by UNIDO in Vienna, Austria, facilitates joint coordination, learning, programs, events and initiatives between the centres and various regions. It provides a "virtual" maker-space for south-south and triangular cooperation activities and joint project proposals. For example, SIDS share similar challenges and opportunities when it comes to electric mobility and storage solutions. LDCs in Sub Sahara Africa share a common interest in renewable energy mini-grid development for rural electrification and productive uses. The virtual GN-SEC platform www.gn-sec.net brings the information sources of all centres in real-time together.

 

Operational and upstarting GN-SEC centres: 

 

• ECOWAS Centre for Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency (ECREEE) 

• Regional Centre for Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency (RCREEE) 

• SADC Centre for Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency (SACREEE) 

• East African Centre for Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency (EACREEE) 

• Pacific Centre for Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency (PCREEE) 

• Caribbean Centre for Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency (CCREEE) 

• Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency Capacity for the Hindu Kush Himalaya (REEECH)

• SICA Centre for Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency (SICREEE) 

• Centre for Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency for Central Africa (CEREEAC) 

• ECO Clean Energy Centre (CECECO) 

• Joint cooperation with the Latin American Energy Organisation (OLADE) 

Core funding partners:

 

 

The core supporting partners of the triangular GN-SEC platform activities are the Austrian Federal Ministry of European and International Affairs (BMeiA), the Austrian Development Agency (ADA) and the Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Government of Spain. Many other partners support the individual regional activities of the centres. 

 

 

The 5th GN-SEC SC meeting comes very timely on the background of rising fossil fuel and food prices, climate change impacts and the international efforts to “build back better“ through a “green COVID recovery”, addressing economic diversification, environmental protection and climate change mitigation and adaptation simultaneously and an integrated manner. Despite continued supply-chain interruptions and travel restrictions, more than ever, regional and triangular cooperation remains an essential accelerator for the transition towards sustainable energy and circular economy solutions in developing countries. 

 

The GN-SEC centres are an important regional public infrastructure of the regional economic communities in support of a global business model that allows to produce more of the products and services required by a growing world population, while using fewer resources and producing less waste and pollution. The journey of the centres has just begun and there is plenty of room for more ambition, expansion of activities and leapfrogging to new innovative areas and solutions. The 5th GN-SEC meeting is also taking place in the context of new funding opportunities in the energy and climate space (e.g. EU, GEF, GCF, Adaptation Fund, etc.). 

 

 

The 5th GN-SEC  SC meeting will provide updates on the individual, south-south and triangular activities of the centres and create a “makerspace” for new initiatives, projects, events and activities. Moreover, it will review the proposed project document of the GN-SEC platform and provides concrete inputs for an annual work plan. Based on demand, working groups on specific topics or initiatives will be created. Partnerships with other UNIDO departments and external partners on joint initiatives will be discussed. 

 

 

• Reconnect and strengthen the common GN-SEC identity 

• Provide updates on the status and activity portfolio of the individual centers 

• Provide updates on south-south and triangular GN-SEC projects, activities and events  

• Review and validate the GN-SEC project document 

• Reach agreement on an annual work plan for joint GN-SEC activities

• Identify new funding opportunities 

 

 

• Validated project document and annual work plan of the GN-SEC platform; 

• Better overview on the status of individual centers, as well as respective regional sustainable energy processes; 

• Establishment of working groups on joint priority issues, solutions, projects or initiatives; 

• Exchange of case studies, best practices, failures and lessons learned from processes, programs and projects in various regions;

• Better understanding of the benefits, opportunities, costs and associated risks of sub-regional cooperation/integration processes in the area of renewable energy and energy efficiency;

• New funding opportunities identified

 

 

The meeting is being organised by the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO) with support of the Austrian Federal Ministry of Europe, Integration and Foreign Affairs (BMeiA), the Austrian Development Agency (ADA), the Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Spanish Government. 

 

The meetings have a closed format and require and invitation by the organisers. The participants of the meeting include: 

 

• Directors and experts from the GN-SEC centers; 

• Directors and staff from UNIDO

• External partners