Month: October 2021

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US Health Panel Recommends Booster Shot for Johnson & Johnson Vaccine

A panel of U.S. health advisers has recommended the U.S. Food and Drug Administration authorize a second shot of Johnson & Johnson’s COVID-19 vaccine for anyone who has received the single-dose inoculation.

The panel expressed concerns Friday that Americans who received the shot are not as protected as those who were given a two-dose vaccination from drugmakers Pfizer or Moderna.

Last month, the FDA authorized a third booster shot for the Pfizer vaccine for seniors as well as adults who are at high risk for COVID-19. On Thursday, the FDA advisory panel recommended a similar course of action for Moderna boosters, except using lower doses.

Johnson & Johnson is the only COVID-19 vaccine approved in the United States that is only one dose. Initially, it was hailed for its ability to take effect quickly, but soon ran into concerns that it led to a rare blood clot disorder and a neurological disease called Guillain-Barre syndrome. It is now facing criticism that it is less effective than rival brands.

Only about 15 million Americans received the Johnson & Johnson vaccine out of 188 million Americans who are fully vaccinated.

In other developments Friday, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said it would accept mixed-dose coronavirus vaccines from international travelers. It has said it would allow travelers to have received any vaccine authorized for use by the FDA or the World Health Organization.

Earlier in the day, the White House said it would lift COVID-19 travel restrictions for international travelers who are fully vaccinated on Nov. 8.

In France, health officials ended a policy Friday of allowing free COVID-19 tests for everyone in an effort to persuade people to get vaccinated. Now, only those who have been vaccinated, who have a prescription from a doctor, or minors will be allowed to take free tests while others will have to pay.

Health ministry data Friday showed COVID-19 cases are on the rise in the country, with 6,099 new cases up from last Friday’s 4,470 cases.

South Africa said Friday it would start vaccinating children between the ages of 12 and 17 next week using the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine. The government is trying to meet a goal of vaccinating 70% of the adult population by December.

Pfizer and its partner BioNTech said Friday they have submitted data to the European Union’s regulatory agency to approve their coronavirus vaccine for children ages 5-11. The companies have already taken a similar step with U.S. regulators.

In Italy, officials made health passes mandatory for all workers Friday. The passes must show proof of vaccination, a negative test or recent recovery from infection in order to work.

Scattered demonstrations were held across the country to protest the new rules, including 6,000 protesters in the northeastern port of Trieste.

And in Russia, the coronavirus task force said the daily number of new coronavirus infections and deaths surged to another record Friday. It reported 32,196 new confirmed coronavirus cases and 999 deaths in the previous 24 hours.

Source: Voice of America

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Canada Sees Benefits from Delaying Second COVID Vaccine Dose

Recent studies indicate Canada’s decision to extend the interval between the first and second doses of COVID-19 vaccines can actually lead to increased resistance to the virus. It also finds mixing the brand and type of doses gives better protection.

The decision by Canadian authorities to immunize as many people as possible with any available dose of COVID-19 vaccine, then extending the time until administering the second dose, appears to be paying off.

Recent data compiled by the British Columbia Centre for Disease Control and the Quebec National Institute of Public Health also show the strategy of using the first available vaccine for a second dose, even if not the same brand as the first, actually increased effectiveness and saved lives.

Pfizer, Moderna and AstraZeneca all recommend 21-28 days between the two shots. Canada’s experience suggests protection is even stronger after a six-week interval.

For the Pfizer vaccine, this effectiveness went from 82% after a three- to four-week interval, to 93% when the booster, or secondary dose was given after four months.

The study also finds two doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine gave less protection than the mRNA vaccines of Pfizer and Moderna. However, those who received an mRNA as a booster dose have the same protection as if they had two of the same, even if their first dose was AstraZeneca.

All three vaccines were found to be more than 90% effective in keeping recipients out of the hospital for COVID-19.

Throughout the pandemic, Dr. Bonnie Henry, the provincial health officer for the Canadian province of British Columbia, has encouraged first doses to be administered as quickly as possible — and not to worry whether the second dose is from a different vaccine.

Overall, she said, Canada’s experience could provide insights for the rest of the world.

“We don’t want countries to have to hold doses back or wait for manufacturers to be able to give people the full protection they need when they’re seeing outbreaks in other countries — and we saw this in India, for example,” she said. So it is really important globally that we’re able to use whatever vaccines are available to support people to have good protection.”

Joan Robinson, a pediatric infectious disease doctor and professor at the University of Alberta and Stollery Children’s Hospital in Edmonton, said increasing the time between the doses can be good for the long term in areas with stable or low coronavirus levels.

However, Robinson said, there is one downside for the short term, especially in areas where there are high concentrations of COVID-19 cases.

“So the delay between the doses during the time between your first and second dose, you’re much more likely to get COVID than if you had got this second dose earlier,” she said. “Certainly with the delta variant, one gets the impression that one dose may be less effective.”

The findings of researchers in British Columbia and Quebec, which are thousands of kilometers apart, are almost identical.

This most recent Canadian data have not been widely published or peer reviewed, but researchers released the information early to make it available globally as soon as possible.

Source: Voice of America

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Huawei’s Ryan Ding: Green 5G Networks for a Low-Carbon Future

DUBAI, UAE, Oct. 14, 2021 /PRNewswire/ — At the 2021 Global Mobile Broadband Forum (MBBF), Ryan Ding, Huawei’s Executive Director and President of the Carrier Business Group, gave a keynote speech entitled “Green 5G Networks for a Low-Carbon Future”. In his speech, Ding said that 5G has become a new engine for the growth of the mobile industry, and that to adapt to the rapid growth of data traffic, the whole industry will need to keep pursuing innovations in power supply, distribution, use, and management, and build greener 5G networks with higher performance and lower energy consumption.

Ryan Ding speaks at 2021 MBBF

According to Ding, in countries where 5G is developing faster, operators who have invested heavily in 5G have seen remarkable returns, but he stressed that operators will realize business value only when the 5G user penetration rate is high enough. When the 5G user penetration rate reaches a threshold of 20%, Ding said, rapid development of 5G will follow. In countries such as China, South Korea, and Kuwait, operators were quick to provide continuous nationwide coverage, giving users a consistent experience. They also offer flexible service packages, which delivers a win-win result for both users and themselves. In addition, these operators are providing a gigabit experience—a tangible improvement over 4G—to accelerate user migration and network evolution. In these countries, the 5G user penetration rate has exceeded the 20% threshold, triggering a positive cycle of user growth, business returns, and network construction.

High-quality 5G networks will drive the rapid growth of mobile data traffic. It is estimated that the average data traffic per user per month will reach 600 GB by 2030. If the energy efficiency of existing networks remains unchanged, the energy consumption of wireless networks will increase by more than tenfold. Ding said that to cut the ICT industry’s greenhouse gas emissions by 45%, operators will need to pursue ongoing innovations in power supply, distribution, use, and management to build greener 5G networks with higher performance and lower energy consumption.

Huawei itself offers a comprehensive range of products and solutions that address power consumption issues of wireless networks. The company has developed the iSolar power supply solution that covers all scenarios, including poles, cabinets, sites, and equipment rooms. This solution can reduce the use of electricity from grids and fossil fuels by diesel generators and improve the energy mix that powers base stations. On the power distribution front, Huawei provides an industry-leading high-density power solution. For each site, just one cabinet—or even just one blade—is needed, which supports the long-term evolution of mobile networks. To use power more efficiently, Huawei has redesigned site form factors and now offers highly integrated simplified site solutions for use in all scenarios. These solutions maximize the share of energy used by communications equipment and ensure electricity is fully used. Wireless networks need to work in synergy with power supply, distribution, and use. This means operators need to use information flows to manage energy flows, in order to maximize energy use and save energy at the network level.

Toward the end of his speech, Ding said Huawei has already deployed low-carbon site solutions in more than 100 countries, including Saudi Arabia, Greece, Pakistan, and Switzerland, helping operators reduce carbon dioxide emissions by 40 million tons. As a player in the communications industry, Huawei will continue to put green development at the center of everything it does and develop innovative solutions to build greener 5G networks with operators worldwide.

The Global Mobile Broadband Forum 2021 is hosted by Huawei, together with its industry partners GSMA and the SAMENA Telecommunications Council. The forum gathers mobile network operators, vertical industry leaders, and ecosystem partners from around the world to discuss how to maximize the potential of 5G and push the mobile industry forward. For more information, please visit: https://www.huawei.com/en/events/mbbf2021

About   Huawei

Founded in 1987, Huawei is a leading global provider of information and communications technology (ICT) infrastructure and smart devices. We have more than 197,000 employees, and we operate in more than 170 countries and regions, serving more than three billion people around the world.

Our vision and mission is to bring digital to every person, home and organization for a fully connected, intelligent world. To this end, we will drive ubiquitous connectivity and promote equal access to networks; bring cloud and artificial intelligence to all four corners of the earth to provide superior computing power where you need it, when you need it; build digital platforms to help all industries and organizations become more agile, efficient, and dynamic; redefine user experience with AI, making it more personalized for people in all aspects of their life, whether they’re at home, in the office, or on the go. For more information, please visit Huawei online at www.huawei.com or follow us on:

http://www.linkedin.com/company/Huawei
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http://www.youtube.com/Huawei

Photo – https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/1660336/Ryan_Ding_speaks_2021_MBBF.jpg

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Lack of investment in clean energy compromising fight against climate change and poverty

  • New research highlights a chronic lack of finance that will leave billions of people in Sub-Saharan Africa and Asia without electricity or clean cooking by 2030
  • Urgent action to accelerate investment in clean energy for developing countries is needed from global leaders assembling at COP26 to ensure a just energy transition

VIENNA, Austria, Oct. 14, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — This year’s Energizing Finance research series – developed by Sustainable Energy for All (SEforALL) in partnership with Climate Policy Initiative (CPI) and Dalberg Advisors – shows the world is falling perilously short of the investment required to achieve energy access for all by 2030 for the seventh consecutive year.

In fact, tracked finance for electricity in the 20 countries that make up 80 percent of the world’s population without electricity – the high-impact countries – declined by 27 percent in 2019, the year before the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic. The economic strain caused by Covid-19 is expected to have caused even further reductions in energy access investment in 2020 and 2021.

Energizing Finance: Understanding the Landscape 2021, one of two reports released under the series, finds committed finance for residential electricity access fell to USD 12.9 billion in 2019 (from USD 16.1 billion in 2018) in the 20 countries. This is less than one-third of the USD 41 billion estimated annual investment needed globally to attain universal electricity access from 2019 to 2030.

Meanwhile, there is an abysmal amount of finance for clean cooking. Despite polluting cooking fuels causing millions of premature deaths each year and being the second largest contributor to climate change after carbon dioxide, only USD 133.5 million in finance for clean cooking solutions was tracked in 2019. This is nowhere near the estimated USD 4.5 billion in annual investment required to achieve universal access to clean cooking (accounting only for clean cookstove costs).

These findings have been released just ahead of COP26 in Glasgow, where global leaders will focus on how to spark meaningful progress on fighting climate change. As part of this, they will need to consider how to reduce global emissions from the energy sector while also increasing energy access in developing countries to support their economic development.

“We are at a critical moment in the energy-climate conversation,” said Damilola Ogunbiyi, CEO and Special Representative of the UN Secretary-General for Sustainable Energy for All and Co-Chair of UN-Energy. “What is clear is that the path to net zero can only happen with a just and equitable energy transition that provides access to clean and affordable energy to the 759 million people who have no electricity access and 2.6 billion people who lack access to clean cooking solutions. This requires resources to mitigate climate change and create new opportunities to drive economic development and enable people everywhere to thrive. Energizing Finance provides an evidence base of current energy finance commitments and the finance countries require to meet SDG7 energy targets.”

In 2018, 50 percent of total electricity finance flowed to grid-connected fossil fuels in the high-impact countries compared to 25 percent in 2019. While this is a positive trend for the climate, tracked investment in off-grid and mini-grid technology also declined and represented only 0.9 percent of finance tracked to electricity.

Dr. Barbara Buchner, Global Managing Director at CPI, who partnered with SEforALL on Energizing Finance: Understanding the Landscape 2021, said: “Achieving both the Paris Agreement and universal energy access requires far greater investment in grid-connected renewables and off-grid and mini-grid solutions than what has been tracked in Energizing Finance. These solutions are essential to helping high-impact countries develop their economies without a reliance on fossil fuels.”

To better illuminate the challenges high-impact countries face, the second publication in the series, Energizing Finance: Taking the Pulse 2021, offers a detailed look at the estimated volume and type of finance needed by enterprises and customers to achieve universal energy access for both electricity and clean cooking by 2030 in Mozambique, Ghana and Vietnam. Importantly, it illustrates the energy affordability challenges people face in these countries and the need for financial support for consumers, such as subsidies.

The report finds that providing access to clean fuels and technologies, i.e. modern energy cooking solutions, in Ghana, Mozambique and Vietnam will cost a total of USD 37-48 billion by 2030; 70 percent of which will be for fuels (e.g., LPG, ethanol and electricity). A more achievable scenario would be for all three countries to deliver universal access to improved cookstoves at a total cost of USD 1.05 billion by 2030.

“Ghana, Mozambique and Vietnam each have unique challenges to achieving universal access to electricity and clean cooking,” said Aly-Khan Jamal, Partner at Dalberg Advisors, who partnered with SEforALL on Energizing Finance: Taking the Pulse 2021. “This research digs deep into these national contexts to identify solutions that can make Sustainable Development Goal 7 a reality.”

Providing results-based financing for energy project developers and exploring policies that facilitate demand-side subsidy support and reduce taxes on solar home systems are among several policy recommendations presented for Ghana, Mozambique and Vietnam.

Energizing Finance also advocates for increased innovation in financial instruments to reach the scale of finance needed for universal clean cooking access; for integration of electricity access, cooking access and climate change strategies; and for national governments, bilateral donors, philanthropies, and DFIs to all increase their efforts to mobilize commercial capital to Sub-Saharan African countries.

More of the reports’ key findings and recommendations are available here.

Notes to editors

Contact
For further details on the reports or any interview requests, please contact: Sherry Kennedy, Sustainable Energy for All: Sherry.Kennedy@SEforALL.org / media@seforall.org or +43 676 846 727 237

About Sustainable Energy for All

Sustainable Energy for All (SEforALL) is an international organization that works in partnership with the United Nations and leaders in government, the private sector, financial institutions, civil society and philanthropies to drive faster action towards the achievement of Sustainable Development Goal 7 (SDG7) – access to affordable, reliable, sustainable and modern energy for all by 2030 – in line with the Paris Agreement on climate. SEforALL works to ensure a clean energy transition that leaves no one behind and brings new opportunities for everyone to fulfill their potential.

SEforALL is led by Damilola Ogunbiyi, CEO and Special Representative of the UN Secretary-General for Sustainable Energy for All and Co-Chair of UN-Energy. Follow her on Twitter @DamilolaSDG7. For more information, follow @SEforALLorg.

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Le manque d’investissements en faveur des énergies propres met à mal la lutte contre le changement climatique et la pauvreté

  • De nouvelles recherches montrent que d’ici à 2030, le manque chronique de financements dont pâtissent l’Afrique subsaharienne et l’Asie empêchera plusieurs milliards de personnes d’accéder à l’électricité et à des moyens de cuisson non polluants.
  • Les grands dirigeants mondiaux qui se réuniront dans le cadre de la COP26 pour assurer une transition énergétique juste doivent prendre des mesures immédiates pour accélérer les investissements en faveur des énergies propres dans les pays en développement.

VIENNE, Autriche, 14 oct. 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — La dernière série de rapports Energizing Finance – élaborée par Sustainable Energy for All (SEforALL) en partenariat avec la Climate Policy Initiative (CPI) et le cabinet Dalberg Advisors – révèle que pour la septième année consécutive, les investissements mondiaux sont sérieusement inférieurs aux niveaux requis pour garantir à tous l’accès à l’énergie d’ici à 2030.

Le suivi des financements alloués à l’électricité a même permis de montrer qu’en 2019, avant l’irruption de la pandémie de COVID-19, les 20 pays comptant 80 % de la population mondiale privée d’électricité – autrement dit, les pays à fort impact – avaient subi une baisse d’investissements de l’ordre de 27 %. On anticipe déjà une baisse supplémentaire des investissements en faveur de l’accès à l’énergie pour 2020 et 2021, en raison des difficultés économiques liées à la COVID-19.

Le rapport Energizing Finance: Understanding the Landscape 2021, publié dans le cadre de la série susmentionnée, montre que le financement en faveur de l’accès à l’électricité domestique au sein de ces 20 pays est passé de 16,1 milliards de dollars US en 2018 à 12,9 milliards de dollars US en 2019 : un montant plus de trois fois inférieur aux 41 milliards de dollars US annuels dont on estime avoir besoin, à l’échelle mondiale, pour garantir un accès universel à l’électricité d’ici à 2030.

Dans le même temps, le niveau de financement pour les moyens de cuisson non polluants reste désespérément bas. Les combustibles de cuisson polluants sont à l’origine de plusieurs millions de décès prématurés chaque année et représentent le deuxième facteur de dérèglement climatique, derrière le dioxyde de carbone. Pourtant, sur la base des investissements enregistrés en 2019, seuls 133,5 millions de dollars US ont été consacrés au développement de moyens de cuisson non polluants cette année-là. Un montant très en deçà des 4,5 milliards de dollars US annuels dont on estime avoir besoin pour garantir un accès universel aux moyens de cuisson non polluants (et qui ne couvrent que l’achat de foyers de cuisson non polluants).

Ces résultats ont été publiés peu de temps avant la COP26 qui se tiendra à Glasgow et au cours de laquelle les grands dirigeants mondiaux devront trouver le moyen d’amorcer des progrès significatifs en matière de lutte contre le changement climatique. Dans cette perspective, les participants seront amenés à réfléchir aux différentes pistes permettant de réduire les émissions mondiales du secteur de l’énergie, tout en renforçant la croissance des pays en développement et en favorisant leur accès énergétique.

« Nous nous trouvons à une étape cruciale du débat sur l’énergie et le climat », explique Damilola Ogunbiyi, PDG et représentante spéciale du Secrétaire général des Nations Unies pour l’énergie durable pour tous et coprésidente d’ONU-Énergie. « Il semble désormais établi que l’objectif “zéro émission nette” ne sera atteint qu’au moyen d’une transition énergétique juste et équitable, donnant accès à une énergie propre à un coût abordable aux 759 millions de personnes privées d’électricité et aux 2,6 milliards de personnes dépourvues de moyens de cuisson non polluants. Cela passe par le déploiement de ressources pour lutter contre le changement climatique, créer de nouvelles opportunités de développement économique et permettre aux populations du monde entier de vivre dans la prospérité. Energizing Finance offre une base de données probantes qui permet de déterminer les investissements actuellement consacrés à l’énergie ainsi que les financements dont les pays ont besoin pour atteindre les cibles fixées par l’ODD 7 relatif à l’énergie. »

En 2018, 50 % de l’ensemble des financements consacrés à l’électricité ont été investis dans les combustibles fossiles raccordés au réseau au sein des pays à fort impact, contre 25 % en 2019. Il s’agit d’une évolution positive pour le climat, mais dans le même temps, l’étude révèle une baisse des investissements alloués aux technologies hors réseau et aux mini-réseaux, qui ne représentaient plus que 0,9 % des sommes consacrées à l’électricité.

Dr. Barbara Buchner, Directrice générale mondiale de la Climate Policy Initiative, qui s’est associée à SEforALL pour élaborer le rapport Energizing Finance: Understanding the Landscape 2021, a déclaré : « Pour respecter l’Accord de Paris et faire de l’accès universel à l’énergie une réalité, il faut que les énergies renouvelables raccordées au réseau et les solutions de mini-réseaux/hors réseau puissent s’appuyer sur un niveau d’investissement largement supérieur à ce qui a été observé dans le cadre du rapport Energizing Finance. Ces solutions sont indispensables pour soutenir le développement économique des pays à fort impact, en évitant toute dépendance aux combustibles fossiles. »

Afin de mieux mettre en lumière les défis que doivent relever les pays à fort impact, la deuxième publication de la série, Energizing Finance: Taking the Pulse 2021, étudie de façon détaillée les volumes et les catégories de financement estimés nécessaires pour que les entreprises et les consommateurs obtiennent, d’ici à 2030, l’accès universel à l’électricité et aux moyens de cuisson non polluants au Mozambique, au Ghana et au Vietnam. Le rapport se concentre en particulier sur les difficultés que rencontrent les populations de ces pays pour accéder à l’énergie à un coût abordable et sur le soutien financier dont les consommateurs ont besoin, notamment à travers des subventions.

Le rapport conclut que d’ici à 2030, le coût total, pour les trois pays, d’un accès à des technologies et à des combustibles propres, c’est-à-dire à des moyens de cuisson modernes, serait compris entre 37 et 48 milliards de dollars US ; 70 % de cette somme serait consacrée aux combustibles (par exemple, le GPL, l’éthanol et l’électricité). Une autre solution, plus facile à mettre en place, consisterait à y instaurer un accès universel à des foyers de cuisson améliorés, pour un coût total de 1,05 milliard de dollars US d’ici à 2030.

« Le Ghana, le Mozambique et le Vietnam font face à des difficultés bien distinctes dans leurs efforts respectifs pour obtenir l’accès universel à l’électricité et à des moyens de cuisson non polluants », explique Aly-Khan Jamal, associé au sein du cabinet Dalberg Advisors, qui a contribué aux côtés de SEforALL à la rédaction du rapport Energizing Finance: Taking the Pulse 2021. « Ce travail de recherche étudie en profondeur ces différents contextes nationaux afin d’identifier des solutions permettant de réaliser l’objectif de développement durable 7. »

Parmi les recommandations adressées au Ghana, au Mozambique et au Vietnam en matière de politiques publiques, on peut notamment citer la mise en place d’un financement basé sur résultats pour l’accès à l’énergie (FBR) à destination des promoteurs de projets de développement énergétique, ainsi que des mesures d’aide à la consommation et de réduction des taxes sur les installations solaires domestiques.

Energizing Finance plaide également en faveur d’instruments financiers plus innovants pour contribuer au déploiement à grande échelle des financements nécessaires à l’accès universel aux moyens de cuisson non polluants. L’étude défend aussi la mise en place de stratégies intégrées de lutte contre le changement climatique et d’accès à l’électricité et à des moyens de cuisson non polluants. Enfin, elle encourage les gouvernements nationaux, les donateurs bilatéraux, les fondations philanthropiques et les institutions de financement du développement à accentuer leurs efforts pour mobiliser des capitaux commerciaux en faveur des pays d’Afrique subsaharienne.

D’autres résultats clés et recommandations issus des rapports sont disponibles ici.

NOTES AUX ÉDITEURS

Contact

Pour plus de détails sur les rapports ou toute demande d’entretien, veuillez contacter : Sherry Kennedy, Sustainable Energy for All : Sherry.Kennedy@SEforALL.org / Media@SEforALL.org | +43 676 846 727 237

À propos de Sustainable Energy for All

Sustainable Energy for All (SEforALL) est une organisation internationale qui travaille en partenariat avec les Nations Unies et des dirigeants de gouvernements, du secteur privé, d’institutions financières, de la société civile et d’organismes philanthropes afin d’accélérer l’action en vue de la réalisation de l’Objectif de développement durable 7 (ODD 7) – garantir l’accès de tous à des services énergétiques fiables, durables et modernes à un coût abordable d’ici 2030 – conformément à l’Accord de Paris sur le climat. SEforALL œuvre pour assurer une transition énergétique propre qui ne laisse personne de côté et offre à chacun de nouvelles opportunités de réaliser son potentiel. SEforALL est dirigée par Damilola Ogunbiyi, PDG et représentante spéciale du Secrétaire général des Nations Unies pour l’énergie durable pour tous et coprésidente d’ONU-Énergie. Suivez-la sur Twitter @DamilolaSDG7. Pour plus d’informations, suivez @SEforALLorg.

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Falta de investimento em energia limpa compromete luta contra as alterações climáticas e a pobreza

  • Novos estudos colocam em evidência uma falta de financiamento crónica que irá deixar milhares de milhões de pessoas na África Subsariana e na Ásia sem eletricidade ou cozinha limpa até 2030
  • São necessárias medidas urgentes para acelerar o investimento na energia limpa nos países em desenvolvimento por parte dos líderes globais que irão estar reunidos na COP26 a fim de garantir uma transição energética justa

VIENA, Áustria, Oct. 14, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — A série de investigação da Energizing Finance deste ano, desenvolvida pela Sustainable Energy for All (SEforALL) em parceria com a Climate Policy Initiative (CPI) e a Dalberg Advisors, demonstra que o mundo está a ficar perigosamente aquém do previsto no que se refere ao investimento necessário para alcançar o acesso à energia para todos até 2030 pelo sétimo ano consecutivo.

De facto, o financiamento para a eletricidade registado nos 20 países que acolhem 80% da população mundial sem eletricidade – os países de alto impacto – diminuiu 27% em 2019, o ano anterior ao aparecimento da pandemia de COVID-19. Prevê-se que as pressões económicas causadas pela COVID-19 tenham resultado em reduções ainda mais acentuadas no investimento no acesso à energia em 2020 e 2021.

Energizing Finance: Understanding the Landscape 2021, um dos dois relatórios publicados nesta série, revela que o financiamento concedido para o acesso a eletricidade residencial caiu para 12,9 mil milhões de dólares em 2019 (face a 16,1 mil milhões de dólares em 2018) nos 20 países. Este valor representa menos de um terço do investimento anual estimado de 41 mil milhões de dólares necessário a nível global para alcançar o acesso universal à eletricidade até 2030.

Entretanto, verifica-se uma enorme lacuna de financiamento para a cozinha limpa. Apesar de os combustíveis de cozinha poluidores causarem milhões de mortes prematuras todos os anos e constituírem o segundo fator que mais contribui para as alterações climáticas depois do dióxido de carbono, somente 133,5 milhões de dólares em financiamento para soluções de cozinha limpa foram registados em 2019. Este valor está francamente longe da estimativa de 4,5 mil milhões de dólares de investimento anual necessário para alcançar o acesso universal à cozinha limpa (considerando apenas os custos de fogões limpos).

Estas conclusões foram reveladas a escassas semanas da realização da COP26 em Glasgow, onde os líderes globais irão debater formas de alcançar progressos significativos na luta contra as alterações climáticas. No âmbito destes esforços, terão de encontrar formas de reduzir as emissões globais do setor energético, aumentando em simultâneo o acesso à energia nos países em desenvolvimento a fim de promover o seu desenvolvimento económico.

“Encontramo-nos num momento crítico dos debates sobre as alterações climáticas. O que está claro é que o caminho para o zero líquido só pode concretizar-se com uma transição energética justa e equitativa que ofereça acesso a energia limpa e economicamente acessível aos 759 milhões de pessoas que não têm acesso a eletricidade e aos 2,6 mil milhões de pessoas que não têm acesso a soluções de cozinha limpa”, declarou Damilola Ogunbiyi, Diretora Executiva e Representante Especial do Secretário-Geral da ONU para a Energia Sustentável para Todos e Copresidente da ONU-Energia. “Isto exige recursos que mitiguem as alterações climáticas e criem novas oportunidades para impulsionar o crescimento económico e permitir que as pessoas de qualquer ponto do mundo alcancem o seu pleno desenvolvimento. A Energizing Finance apresenta dados concretos sobre os atuais compromissos de financiamento da energia e o financiamento de que os países necessitam para alcançar as metas de energia do ODS7.”

Em 2018, metade do financiamento total da eletricidade foi canalizada para combustíveis fósseis ligados à rede nos países de alto impacto, em comparação com 25% em 2019. Apesar de esta ser uma tendência positiva para o clima, o investimento registado em tecnologias não ligadas à rede e minirredes também caiu e representava apenas 0,9% do financiamento registado em eletricidade.

A Dra. Barbara Buchner, Diretora-Geral Global da CPI, que estabeleceu uma parceria com a SEforALL para o relatório Energizing Finance: Understanding the Landscape 2021, declarou: “Alcançar tanto o Acordo de Paris como o acesso universal à energia exige um investimento muito maior em energias renováveis ligadas à rede e soluções não ligadas à rede e minirredes do que tem sido registado pela Energizing Finance. Estas soluções são essenciais para ajudar os países de alto impacto a desenvolverem as suas economias sem terem de depender dos combustíveis fósseis.”

Para dar a conhecer melhor os desafios que os países de alto impacto enfrentam, a segunda publicação da série, Energizing Finance: Taking the Pulse 2021, oferece uma visão pormenorizada do volume estimado e do tipo de financiamento de que as empresas e os clientes necessitam para alcançar o acesso universal à energia tanto para a eletricidade como para a cozinha limpa até 2030 em Moçambique, no Gana e no Vietname. É também de destacar o facto de ilustrar os desafios ligados à acessibilidade económica à energia que as pessoas enfrentam nestes países e a necessidade de apoio financeiro para os consumidores, sob a forma de subsídios, por exemplo.

O relatório conclui que a disponibilização de acesso a combustíveis e tecnologias limpos, ou seja, soluções modernas de energia para cozinhar, no Gana, Moçambique e no Vietname irá custar um total de 37 a 48 mil milhões de dólares até 2030, 70% dos quais serão canalizados para os combustíveis (por exemplo, GPL, etanol e eletricidade). Um cenário mais fácil de alcançar seria um em que os três países garantissem o acesso universal a fogões melhorados por um custo total de 1,05 mil milhões de dólares até 2030.

“O Gana, Moçambique e o Vietname enfrentam desafios diferentes no que se refere a alcançar o acesso universal à eletricidade e à cozinha limpa”, afirmou Aly-Khan Jamal, Sócio da Dalberg Advisors, que estabeleceu uma parceria com a SEforALL para o relatório Energizing Finance: Taking the Pulse 2021. “Este estudo analisa em profundidade estes contextos nacionais a fim de identificar soluções que possam tornar o Objetivo de Desenvolvimento Sustentável 7 uma realidade.”

Oferecer um financiamento baseado nos resultados aos responsáveis de projetos de energia e explorar políticas que facilitem o apoio aos subsídios do lado da procura e reduzam os impostos sobre os sistemas solares residenciais são algumas das várias recomendações políticas apresentadas para o Gana, Moçambique e o Vietname.

A Energizing Finance defende também uma maior inovação nos instrumentos financeiros para alcançar a escala de financiamento necessária para o acesso universal à cozinha limpa; a integração do acesso à eletricidade, o acesso à cozinha e estratégias de luta contra as alterações climáticas; e que os governos nacionais, os doadores bilaterais, as organizações filantrópicas e as instituições de financiamento do desenvolvimento aumentem os seus esforços para mobilizar capital comercial para os países da África Subsariana.

Mais conclusões-chave e recomendações dos relatórios são disponibilizadas aqui.

Notas para a imprensa

Contactos

Para mais informações sobre os relatórios ou pedidos de entrevista, queira contactar: Sherry Kennedy, Sustainable Energy for All: Sherry.Kennedy@SEforALL.org / media@seforall.org ou +43 676 846 727 237

Acerca da Sustainable Energy for All

A Sustainable Energy for All (SEforALL) é uma organização internacional que trabalha em parceria com as Nações Unidas e os dirigentes governamentais, o setor privado, as instituições financeiras, a sociedade civil e as organizações filantrópicas para apelar a uma implementação mais rápida de medidas que visam alcançar o Objetivo de Desenvolvimento Sustentável 7 (ODS7) – acesso a energia economicamente acessível, fiável, sustentável e moderna para todos até 2030 –, em linha com o Acordo de Paris sobre as alterações climáticas. A SEforALL desenvolve esforços para garantir uma transição energética limpa que não deixe ninguém para trás e ofereça novas oportunidades para que todos possam concretizar o seu potencial.

A SEforALL é liderada por Damilola Ogunbiyi, Diretora Executiva e Representante Especial do Secretário-Geral da ONU para a Energia Sustentável para Todos e Copresidente da ONU-Energia. Pode segui-la no Twitter @DamilolaSDG7. Para mais informações, siga @SEforALLorg.