Conference Themes

The conference will have six themes, each having specific topics as described below. All themes focus on the linkages between energy, environment, and development. All are long-term issues which require balanced enquiry and careful analysis in terms of present and future development pathways. Some of the topics relate to relatively less studied questions on which the conference could focus global attention and act as a catalyst for action.

Theme I: Energy - the "missing MDG"?
While low energy consumption is not a cause of poverty, it tends to exacerbate poverty by negatively affecting productivity (UNDP 1997)¹. People living in poverty rely on traditional fuels, and are vulnerable to the health impacts of inefficient biomass use. They spend a higher fraction of their income on energy, and are thus less likely to accumulate the wealth needed to make the investments necessary to make use of higher quality fuels. If patterns of energy use result in adverse effects on nutrition, health, and productivity, the benefits of economic growth are likely to be absorbed only very slowly by people living in poverty.

Addressing the various dimensions of poverty involves enhancing the level of energy services. This in turn would require introduction of specific technologies for cooking, lighting, etc. which increase the use of energy carriers other than biomass, or use biomass in modern ways. However, in this context, issues of access are critical and particularly likely to occupy centre stage in Asia. This session will discuss how energy policies can create opportunities for the poor, promote employment generation in rural areas, and reduce the negative environmental effects of current energy development? Which initiatives have been successful on the ground? How have the Johannesburg partnerships for sustainable development fared? Can these lead to self-reinforcing long-term improvements in standards of living?

Theme II: Sustainable lifestyles
The poor are said to have unsustainable patterns of consumption due to their greater concern with immediate survival and lack of access to and ability to invest in more efficient technological options. However, unsustainable patterns of energy use may often stem from user behaviour and lifestyles. In 2004, the Worldwatch Institute² reported that around 1.7 billion people worldwide have entered the “consumer class”, adopting the diets, transportation systems, and lifestyles that were limited to the rich nations of Europe, North America, and Japan during most of the last century. Private consumption expenditures have increased fourfold since 1960, topping more than $20 trillion in 2000. The 12% of the world's people living in North America and Western Europe account for 60% of this consumption, while the one-third living in South Asia and sub-Saharan Africa account for only 3.2%.

Agenda 21 noted that “the major cause of the continued deterioration of the global environment is an unsustainable pattern of consumption and production”. The document advocated the use of technologies that would reduce the amount of energy and resources used per unit output, and called for widespread use of recycling, capture, and use of factory wastes. Significant changes in energy demand can be influenced by the mix of personal activities and locations, besides energy prices and incomes. The moot question is how to influence personal activities and choices to a more sustainable pattern, and the willingness of individuals and governments to exercise preferences to a more sustainable consumptive pattern. This session will focus on topics such as patterns of energy use in food production or waste generation, modification of consumption patterns, and sustainable urban mobility.

Theme III: Local dimensions of global environmental challenges
Another dimension of the energy, environment, and development conundrum is represented by the global ramifications of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from energy use. In this context, issues of equity occupy global and intertemporal scales. Historically, developed countries and economies in transition have been responsible for about 75% of the total global stock of GHGs. However, climate change caused by excessive accumulation of GHGs in the atmosphere will disproportionately impact developing countries and poor persons within all countries (IPCC 2001)³ . Among the most vulnerable are countries of sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia, both sites of the deepest pockets of hunger and poverty (TERI 2004)⁴ .

Climate change, by exacerbating problems of declining agricultural productivity, shrinking water supply and reduced yield of timber and non-timber forest products, will increase competition for scarce ecological space and directly impact the livelihoods of the poor. By adversely affecting freshwater availability and quality, biodiversity and desertification, climate change is likely to disproportionately impact the poorest in the society exacerbating inequities in access to food, water and health. Often the poorest in rural areas occupy the most marginal lands and this forces people to rely on highly vulnerable livelihoods in areas prone to drought, flooding, and other hazards, which may worsen in intensity and frequency. This session will focus on issues of equity, livelihoods, and access to common property resources, conflicts arising from water scarcity and threats to food security, and linkages between climate change adaptation and the Millennium Development Goals.

Theme IV: Globalization - forces of change
With trade, investment, information, and transportation barriers being lowered, it is no longer possible to isolate the effects of unsustainable development to any one part of the world. The fallout of the problems of poverty and ignorance cannot remain confined to the countries in which they exist. Poverty in one part of the world can quickly transform itself into terrorism that strikes at distant corners of the globe (TERI 2002)⁵ .

Globalization forces have the potential to instil higher efficiency in economic activities and institutions, develop human capital, enhance employment opportunities, provide access to cleaner and efficient technologies, improve environmental awareness, and create market self-regulation of industrial activities through internationally recognised benchmarks, standards, and management systems. On the downside, however, the “globalization decade” (Stiglitz 2002)⁶ has seen global inequity worsen: in 1999, the richest 20% of the world population had 86% of world GDP, while the poorest 20% had just 1% of world GDP (UNDP 1999)⁷ . For those who are integrated with processes of globalization and decentralization, the human, financial, technological, and natural resource bases tend to get enlarged. By comparison, those who are excluded from it experience erosion of their capital base, largely emanating from marginalisation, displacement, and loss of natural (especially common pool) resources. The challenge is to ensure that the poor are not left out as global interdependencies increase (TERI 2002).

This session will tackle issues of energy access in this changing global scenario. What conditions are essential to ensure that economic growth translates into reduced inequities? What business models are needed to enhance access of the rural poor to energy and other services? How should we combine technology innovation, local empowerment, and adaptation of existing knowledge and experience to suit local needs to provide goods and services that enhance their productivity?

Theme V: Technological leapfrogging
The challenge of providing the highest possible quality of life within the reality of ecological limits and a finite resource base calls for lifestyle changes on the one hand, and technological advancements on the other. However, the technological divide itself is seen as a cause for the widening gap between the rich and the poor. While there is progress in energy efficiency, clean technology, and new fuels, the transfer of these new technologies to the developing countries, where energy needs are skyrocketing, is not proceeding at a fast enough pace.

Technology advancements if delivered with simplicity carry the potential to create decentralised systems and hence provide an opportunity to employ technology for ensuring sustainable livelihoods at the lowest strata of society. These include interventions in agriculture, energy, small and medium enterprises, information technology, and natural resource management. Technology leapfrogging in this context, would imply technological transitions in developing countries that are “incremental” in nature but penetrating on a faster scale (TERI 2002).

If technology is to be a force for development, both the focus of technology development and the appropriate diffusion of technology must be facilitated. Local capacity towards the adaptation and adoption of technologies must also be created within the target-disadvantaged groups in order to ensure the application of technology to areas of maximum marginal benefit and the sustainability of technology applicability. An issue of great importance is the question of technology affordability. (TERI 2003)The challenge of providing the highest possible quality of life within the reality of ecological limits and a finite resource base calls for lifestyle changes on the one hand, and technological advancements on the other. However, the technological divide itself is seen as a cause for the widening gap between the rich and the poor. While there is progress in energy efficiency, clean technology, and new fuels, the transfer of these new technologies to the developing countries, where energy needs are skyrocketing, is not proceeding at a fast enough pace. Technology advancements if delivered with simplicity carry the potential to create decentralised systems and hence provide an opportunity to employ technology for ensuring sustainable livelihoods at the lowest strata of society. These include interventions in agriculture, energy, small and medium enterprises, information technology, and natural resource management. Technology leapfrogging in this context, would imply technological transitions in developing countries that are "incremental" in nature but penetrating on a faster scale (TERI 2002). If technology is to be a force for development, both the focus of technology development and the appropriate diffusion of technology must be facilitated. Local capacity towards the adaptation and adoption of technologies must also be created within the target-disadvantaged groups in order to ensure the application of technology to areas of maximum marginal benefit and the sustainability of technology applicability. An issue of great importance is the question of technology affordability. (TERI 2003)⁸ . This session will address issues of technology adaptation, building capability, ensuring financial and physical access, and policy frameworks that facilitate technology adoption.This session will address issues of technology adaptation, building capability, ensuring financial and physical access, and policy frameworks that facilitate technology adoption.

Theme VI: Revitalizing research and development
Efforts at promoting industrial technology in Asia have been lackluster, and this could be due to the limited role of universities and other actors in research and development. The role of the private sector in this scheme has also been marginal. According to one estimate, about 74% of the Indian national expenditure on R&D in 2001 was undertaken by the Government, the private sector accounted for 23%, and the higher education centres only 3%.

On the positive side, in the last few years about 100 MNCs have set up their R&D facilities in the country, leading to some technological innovation among Indian firms. Further, some indigenous companies like Ranbaxy and Dr Reddy’s labs are forging R&D alliances with global partners (Dahlman & Utz, World Bank, 2005). Companies like ONGC are also engaging institutions of higher learning to further their specific research priorities. Some institutions of higher learning are beginning to realize the importance of making their research more relevant to economic needs by setting up incubation units as an interface between theoretical and applied research.

On the balance, however, it is not clear as to how effective the R&D institutions have been in servicing our growth patterns. Nor is their any clarity on how the university system in India would move to a satisfactory level of R & D and innovation. These problems are generally representative of the situation existing in other countries as well. This session will broadly aim to arrive at a roadmap for developing countries in general to move them towards higher S & T capacities and actions for sustainable development.

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¹ UNDP. 1997. Energy after Rio: prospects and challenges. New York: United Nations Development Programme. 176 pp.
² Worldwatch Institute. 2004. State of the World 2004. London: Earthscan. 245 pp.
³ IPCC. 2001. Climate change 2001: synthesis report. Summary for policymakers. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. 34 pp.
⁴ TERI. 2004. Partnerships for sustainable development: addressing the WEHAB agenda. Proceedings of the Delhi Sustainable Development Summit 2004 held from 4 to 7 February 2004 in New Delhi, India. New Delhi: The Energy and Resources Institute. 306 pp.
⁵TERI. 2002. Ensuring sustainable livelihoods: challenge for governments, corporates, and civil society at Rio + 10. Proceedings of the Delhi Sustainable Development Summit 2002 held from 8 to 11 February 2002 in New Delhi, India. New Delhi: The Energy and Resources Institute. 411 pp.
⁶Stiglitz J. 2002. Globalization and its discontents. New York: Penguin.
⁷UNDP. 1999. Human Development Report 1999. New York: UNDP.
⁸TERI. 2003. The message from WSSD: translating resolve into action for a sustainable future. Proceedings of the Delhi Sustainable Development Summit 2003 held from 6 to 9 February 2003 in New Delhi, India. New Delhi: The Energy and Resources Institute. 318 pp.