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ENERGIA News Issue 1, December 1996

Networking Around the World

USA Network Forming after the Fourth World Renewable Energy Congress in Denver

A symposium on Women and Sustainable Energy on June 16 1996 in Denver, Colorado - the first such session at any World Renewable Energy Congress- gave impetus to the formation of an American network of women and energy. The symposium was organised by a group of staff of the US National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) called Women in Sustainable Energy (WISE). Sixty (60) participants - a quarter of them men interested in gender issues- gathered at the symposium to discuss similarities between domestic and international energy issues for women, technology-driven versus needs-driven energy project models, micro-credit lending in the energy sector, the need for education on gender and energy, and the importance of including women in international energy programmes such as the World Bank, UNDP and Women's World Banking. The NREL group is currently preparing a proposal for the US Department of Energy to foster women's greater involvement in sustainable energy and economic development, with a view to developing a United States regional women and energy network, to link with ENERGIA and other networks.

A directory of participants in the symposium and a summary of presentations and discussions is available. You can also visit WISE/NREL's website at:
http://www.nrel.documents/women/women-in-science.html

Barbara C. Farhar, National Renewable Energy Laboratory, 1617 Cole Blvd., Golden, CO 80401, USA; Tel.+1.303.384.7376, Fax +1.303.384.7411, Email farharb@tcplink.nrel.gov

World Bank Downgrades Energy Policy and Fails to Address Gender

As part of the deregulatory policy process, the World Bank has downgraded the level of its energy policy. Two Operational Directives, policies 4.45- Electric Power Sector and 4.46- Energy Efficiency, have been reduced to non-binding “Good Practices”. This effectively removed the policies from the jurisdiction of the Bank's independent inspection panel as the panel does not have the mandate to enforce “Good Practices”. The process of rewriting energy policies has been marked by a lack of clarity as to the details and implications of the policy changes.

An energy policy conceptual framework was presented by the World Bank to NGOs at a consultation meeting on Energy and Environment this year. It stressed “energy efficiency” and “trade-offs and synergies”. The Bank did not define its parameters for energy efficiency. As for trade-offs, the Bank is interested in synergisms where both the environment and the economy see tangible benefits. The Bank has not yet made clear how it will deal with situations where a trade-off is required of either environmental or financial interest. The meeting failed to address participatory processes or gender inclusivity as significant points for the formulation of energy policy.

The Bank has planned similar meetings with private sector interests, host country government officials, and with the European NGO community. The Bank plans to gather and synthesise the varying comments and interests of these parties to come up with a mutually agreeable conceptual framework over the next 3-6 months.

Daphne Wysham, Institute for Policy Studies, 1606 Connecticut Avenue, NW Washington DC. 20009, USA; Tel. +1.202.234.9382, Fax +1.202.387.7915,Email dwysham@igc.apc.org