Technical Working Groups to Prepare Roadmap for Universal Energy Access and Energy Transition in Lead-up to UN High-level Dialogue

2 February 2021 -- The co-leads and expert members have been announced for five Technical Working Groups that together will prepare an action-oriented global roadmap for achieving affordable and clean energy for all (SDG7) by 2030 and net-zero emissions by 2050, for consideration at the UN High-level Dialogue on Energy, a summit-level meeting to be held in September 2021. 

The High-level Dialogue, to be convened by the UN Secretary-General, will also galvanize voluntary commitments and actions in the form of Energy Compacts that national governments, cities, businesses and civil society organizations will present as contributions towards achieving SDG7 and net-zero emissions, at the same time addressing the climate crisis and feeding into UNFCCC COP 26 in November. 

Each Technical Working Group – with co-leads drawn from UN and international agencies and programmes -- will tackle one of the five thematic areas decided for the Dialogue as follows: 

• Working Group on Energy Access, with the UN Development Programme (UNDP), the UN Office for Least Developed, Landlocked and Small Island Developing States (UN OHRLLS) and the World Bank as co-leads; 
• Working Group on Energy Transition, with the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA), the UN Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (UN ESCAP) and the UN Environment Programme (UNEP) as co-leads; 
• Working Group on Enabling SDGs through Inclusive, Just Energy Transitions, with the UN Department of Economic and Social Affairs (UN DESA), the UN Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia (UN ESCWA), and the World Health Organization (WHO) as co-leads; 
• Working Group on Innovation, Technology and Data, with the Food and Agriculture Organization of the UN (FAO); the UN Human Settlements Programme (UN-Habitat) and the UN Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO) as co-leads;
• Working Group on Finance and Investment, with the European Investment Bank (EIB), International Energy Agency (IEA) and the UN Economic Commission for Africa (UN ECA) as co-leads.

In addition, efforts to catalyze Energy Compacts will be supported as follows: 

• Energy Compacts mobilization, with Sustainable Energy for All (SEforALL) together with UN-Energy members as co-leads.
   

Each Technical Working Group – which will be launched in February and hold several virtual meetings each through May –- will produce a thematic report reviewing key issues and putting forward recommendations for elements of the global roadmap. 

The reports will provide the substantive foundation for five Ministerial-level Thematic Forums to be hosted by Member State Global Theme Champions, with participation from many stakeholders, during June/July.  A summary of the Ministerial-level Thematic Forums will inform the outcome of the Dialogue.  

The membership of each working group will consist of 25-40 technical experts representing Government and international agencies, businesses, development banks, civil society organizations, academic institutions and others.  

The members of each working group and more details can be found at the Dialogue website: un.org/en/conferences/energy2021.  

For more information, contact the Secretariat for the High-level Dialogue on Energy at email: Energy2021@un.org