Mr. Chairman,
Switzerland refers to the policy options of the Chairman?s draft negotiating document. We
will focus on following four cross-cutting issues:
- Means of implementation and enabling environment
- Mountains and Energy/Climate Change
- Health and energy
- Gender and Energy
A) Means of Implementation and enabling environment
Private sector funding is essential to meet the large energy investment needs. Governments
are responsible for setting stable and foreseeable investment frameworks: including rule of
law, good governance, clear and transparent regulation, non-discriminatory trade and investment
policies, predictable tax policies, respect of Intellectual Property Rights and offering
risk-sharing mechanisms to leverage private capital. The often heard calls for mobilizing
additional financial resources are justified, but one should equally acknowledge that there is
significant capital in search of good projects. Therefore governments should set the framework
conditions for good projects to be developed. Merely three scattered bullets in the
Chairman?s draft negotiating document refer to investments in a vague fashion. The text
needs to be reinforced to give sufficient weight to the paramount importance of adequate investment
frameworks.
Public financial funds have to be integrated appropriately and timely into the national budget
and Poverty Reduction Strategy (PRS) processes, thereby giving particular attention to provide
access to environmentally sound, reliable and affordable energy services for the rural
and urban poor. According to a recently published UNDP study, only 28 out of 30 countries in
Africa currently address energy in their Poverty Reduction Strategies. This reflects that without
an improved access to energy the Millennium Development Goals can hardly be
achieved. The Chairman?s draft negotiating document should therefore include the recommendation
that energy issues are prominently addressed in PRS.
B) Mountains and Energy/Climate Change
Mountains have direct or indirect significance for a large range of issues related to sustainable
development: around 10% of the world population live in mountain regions and moun2
tains provide freshwater resources for nearly half of the global population. Because of this
importance, the CSD-15 outcome document should refer to following policy options.
Firstly, the document should reflect that mountain environments will be among the most severely
impacted ecosystems from climate change and an early indicator of what may come to
pass in lowland environments.
Secondly, the document has to reflect that mountains have a tremendous potential for renewable
energy, particularly hydro power.
Thirdly, it has to stress that decentralised production of energy is particularly appropriate in
mountains, due to the distance between settlements and the high costs of constructing and
maintaining distribution networks.
Fourthly, it has to call for policies which ensure that those living in the mountains also benefit
from the energy-potential in the mountains.
An example from Switzerland illustrates how mountain communities are stakeholders and
beneficiaries in the generation of hydropower. Under Swiss law, hydropower plants pay a
royalty to regional or local governments for the use of water. In many mountain communes,
water royalties are the largest source of revenue. In general terms: Marginalised communities
? such as mountain dwellers ? should be paid for the environmental resources and services
they offer to the lowland community.
C) Health and energy
The negative consequences for health and the environment caused by the use of traditional
instead of modern energy are enormous. Particularly women and children are suffering most
from ?indoor air pollution?. Therefore, the negotiated text should recognize indoor air pollution
as a serious factor for child mortality and women?s health in developing countries.
D) Gender and Energy
The Chairman?s draft negotiating document does not yet sufficiently address following two
issues on gender and energy. The excellent side event yesterday by our Swedish colleagues
showed to which extent women around the world live in a more sustainable way than men.
Women leave a smaller ecological footprint and cause less climate change.
Second, women's micro enterprises are an important factor in household income as well as
in women's welfare and empowerment. Many micro enterprises are heat-intensive, laborintensive,
and light intensive. The lack of adequate energy supplies affects women's ability to
carry out these micro enterprises profitably and safely. The provision of affordable energy
can be a key factor in enabling rural enterprises for women.
Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
