INFORSE is participating in the preparations for the UN Commission for Sustainable Development (CSD)’s sessions on energy, 2006-2007, that focuses on energy for sustainable development.

The 15th session of the CSD was held between 30 April and 11 May 2007. INFORSE, as well as several member organisations, held side events during the CSD 15.

Read: Comments and Proposals from NGOs to the Outcome of the Intergovernmental Preparatory Meeting (IPM) to the UN CSD15; April 30, 2007: ( 71 kB)

Side Event: Sustainable Energy for South and North, NGO experiences and visions including successes of Grameen Shakti
Date/Time: Monday April 30, 6:15 – 7:45pm,
Place: UN Building – conference room B.

• INFORSE’s work on Sustainable Energy Visions globally and nationally, sustainable energy for poverty reduction.
  By Gunnar Boye Olesen, INFORSE-Europe, OVE, Denmark. (handout pdf file 198 kB)

• Successes of Grameen Shakti with micro-credits for solar home systems and other renewables for poverty reduction in Bang-ladesh, based on micro-credits similar to those of the Nobel Price winning Grameen Bank.
  By Abser Kamal – Grameen Shakti, Bangladsh. (handout pdf file 684 kB)

• Successes of Centre for Rural Technology/Nepal on improved water mills, cookstoves, and biogas for poverty reduction.
  By Ganesh Ram Shrestha, Centre for Rural Technolog, Nepal (handout pdf file 289 kB)

• Sustainable Energy for Poverty Reduction, an action-oriented review of NGO solutions from South Asia, leading to a new user-friendly manual on sustainable energy for development.
  By Raymond Myles – INFORSE South Asia, INSEDA, India.

• Moderated discussion on visions and solutions.

This side event was based on the work of and organized by INFORSE; The Danish Organisation for Sustainable Energy, Denmark; INSEDA, India; Centre for Rural Technology (CRT), Nepal; Grameen Shakti, Bangladesh.

The objective of the discussion was to generate innovative responses that could be used at CSD15, and to discuss the use of sustainable energy visions and of sustainable energy solutions for poverty reduction.

INFORSE – International Network for Sustainable Energy – a network of 170 NGOs worldwide - has developed the Sustainable Energy Vision 2050 a collection of scenarios (national, EU, and global) that demonstrate possible ways to achieve a sustainable energy path by 2050.

OVE – The Danish Organisation for Sustainable Energy is an NGO involved in development activities for sustainable energy in Asia and Africa, as well as in Danish policies for sustainable energy

INSEDA - The Integrated Sustainable Energy and Ecological Development Association is a national India organization formed by the grassroots NGOs who had been involved in the promotion of renewable energy programmes with special focus on the implementation of biogas, since 1980.

Grameen Shakti, a member if the “Grameen Family” of organisations, active on large-scale dissemination of PV solutions and other renewable energy with micro-credits in Bangladesh

Centre for Rural Technology (CRT), Nepal has achieved an impressive number of successes during its 20 years of active involvement in rural energy solutions in Nepal, with focus on solutions to reduce poverty.

INFORSE has consultative status to ECOSOC. The following people were delegated from INFORSE at the CSD15:
- Gunnar Boye Olesen, Danish 92 Group, OVE, INFORSE-Europe Coordinator
- Raymond Myles, INSEDA, India, INFORSE-South-Asia Coordinator
- Abser Kamal, Grameen Shakti from Bangladesh
- Ganesh Ram Shrestha, CRT from Nepal
- Timothy Byakola, CDI from Uganda.

Several other INFORSE member organisations participated and organised side event at CSD15 like ENERGIA, HELIO, and ENDA. Please see the overview:

30/4/2007, 6:15-7:45 PM
Title: Sustainable Energy for South and North, NGO Experiences and Visions,
Organisation: International Network for Sustainable Energy (INFORSE)
Participation from INFORSE-South Asia (CRT, CDI, Grameen Shakti), and OVE/92-group Denmark. (See Summary above)
Place: Local B.

7/5/2007, 1:15-2:45 PM
Title: Launch of bi-lingual (French/English) blueprint for policy makers to help improve the resilience of Energy systems in Africa
Organisation: HELIO International. Summary at the HELIO site.
Place: Local B.

8/5/2007, 6:15-7:45 PM
Title: Poverty Reduction - Can Renewable Energy Make a Real Contribution
Organisation: ENDA-TM and GNESD. See more at ENDA-TM and GNESD
Place: Local B.

3/5/2007, 9:30 - 11:30 AM
Title: Where Energy is Women's Business: National and Regional Reports from Africa, Asia, Latin America and the Pacific
Organisation: ENERGIA and UNDP
Place: UN Visitors Plaza Tent (UNDP Knowledge Expo Tent).
See more: ENERGIA.

3/5/2007, 1:15 - 3:15 PM
Title: Prospects for Partnership on Mainstreaming Gender in Expanding Energy Access in Developing Countries
Organisation: ENERGIA and UNDP
Place: UN Visitors Plaza Tent (UNDP Knowledge Expo Tent)
See more: ENERGIA and at the IISD/ENB Coverage

See more:
- "CSD Failed on Energy" 1-page article in INFORSE's newsletter Sustainable Energy News No. 57 page # 3. Download the issue No.57: SEN 57(pdf file 1.7 MB)
- INFORSE's participation at UN CSD
- INORSE at the IPM for CSD 15 February 26-March 2, 2007, New York
- INFORSE at the UN CSD14 May 1-14, 2006 New York

- "NGO Analysis" by Gunnar Boye Olesen, in Outreach Issues by Stakeholder Forum, and Sustainable Development Issues Network (SDIN) Volume 1, Issue 1, April 30, 2007, page 3-5 (pdf file on the stakeholders Forum website)

Summary of NGO analysis: Following is an overview of NGOs’ critique of the chairman’s text from the IPM, without claiming to cover all objections raised by NGOs. It is mainly based on proposals of organisations in CURES (Citizens United for Renewable Energy and Sustainability), including INFORSE (International Network for Sustainable Energy) as well as considerations from people in the Third World Network. It also draws on the “NGO Policy Statement for CSD”. The analysis follows the structure of the IPM Chairman’s draft (A. energy, B. industrial development, C. Air pollution/ atmosphere, D. climate, E. cross-cutting issues and interlinkages, F. Review and Follow up) It ends with an overview of the IPM structure and role.

- UN's site for CSD15
- IISD/ENB CSD 15 Coverage