HELIO International
ENERIS
Ethical Markets
INFORSE

It is well known that developing sustainable energy resources are important for social and economic development as well as to promote low-carbon and resilient societies. In order to implement sustainable energy policies it is essential to monitor the effectiveness of these national policies and identify areas for improvement, taking into consideration social, economic, environmental, technology and governance issues. It is also essential to base large-scale implementation with good plans and practices.



This side event will present a toolbox of methodologies and indicators that can be used to monitor progress and highlight both development and investment opportunities in the energy sector to support the growth of a green economy. It will also show good practices in strategies and practices in transition to green energy. Examples of recent pilot studies will be presented.

Attentive energy management is essential to the economic and social development of a country, as well as to climate change mitigation and adaptation. In order to achieve balanced development while reducing our carbon footprint, it is crucial to have reliable tools that can measure and monitor how well a country?s energy policy supports green economy goals.

In order for the green economy to truly contribute to ecodevelopment, all forms of assets (financial, material, natural, human and social capital) must operate in harmony. Enabling conditions are also needed to facilitate the transition and include the development of a low-carbon and resilient path and a substantial increase in green energy investments. However understanding what is needed to make these shifts happen and how to facilitate the transition is still unclear.

This side event will present both the theory and practice of how decision makers can accelerate the transition of their countries' energy policies to those that provide clean, secure, reliable and affordable energy services. It will also present practical examples that show how energy-related sustainable development goals proposed for Rio+20 can be implemented at the national and local levels.

? Christine Fiebig from HELIO International will present why low-carbon, renewable energy is the cornerstone of a green economy.
? Maryse Labriet from ENERIS Environment Energy Consultants will present a recent pilot project in West Africa where national governments have used a series of selected indicators to monitor how well policies support green economy goals.
? Hazel Henderson from Ethical Markets will discuss the role of markets in promoting low-carbon, renewable energy and how the financial sector can be harnessed to be an engine of change in the green economy.
? Gunnar Boye Olesen from International Network for Sustainable Energy will present plans and strategies for transition of countries to green energy in the form of efficient and sustainable use of renewable energy. This will include proposals by INFORSE organisations that will be compared with national official plans for transition to renewable energy as the one just adopted for Denmark
? Raymond Myles from International Network for Sustainable Energy South Asia will present how NGOs in INFORSE propose to use renewable energy to provide energy for all that lacks basic energy services today. The presentation will focus on a large number of the successful NGO experiences in the field.

Participants will leave with a better understanding of the significant impacts clean, renewable energy, in combination with a green economy, can have on the overall health, social justice, economic growth, and natural resource conservation of a nation, and of tools available to decision-makers to monitor and promote such policies.