POWER TO THE PEOPLE COMMUNITY ENERGY AND CROWDFUNDING

The current climate emergency calls for coordinated action from the local, regional, national, and international levels to achieve the goals of the Paris Agreement and limit the rise in global temperatures to well below 2°C. The most promising pathway to achieve this is to reach net-zero greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by 2050. Indeed, a rapid peaking of GHG emissions and a shift away from fossil fuels is a core pillar of climate change mitigation.

Moreover, other global priorities such as the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) are also meant to be achieved at the end of this decade. Achieving both these goals, in addition to addressing other crises such as the biodiversity crisis, will require a great degree of coordination as well as the mobilization of huge quantities of resources.

The way we generate and consume energy has not only environmental and climate implications, but it is also strongly connected with social, economic, and political outcomes—for example, SDG7 is key to achieving many other SDGs. Meeting basic energy needs and achieving energy security can address other issues such as clean cooking, job creation, economic development, and emissions reduction.

The energy transition involves synergies between the different SDGs (and by extension, between various socio-economic priorities). Achieving these parallel goals will require a large shift in our energy systems, and therefore the way citizens and communities plan and behave in relation to it.

People and their needs should be placed at the center of a sustainable energy system, in line with principles of justice and equity. Energy justice addresses the equitable distribution of energy resources and the societal impacts of the development of energy solutions, such as the zero-carbon transition or renewable energy initiatives [1].

Therefore, a just and equitable energy transition considers different dimensions: procedural justice (see participation, transparency, access to policymaking), distributional justice (see employment issues, affordability, intergenerational issues, distribution of benefits and costs) and recognition justice (see addressing vulnerable groups) [1].

The importance of taking into consideration energy justice issues and the development of innovative and participatory governance and business models for sustainable energy systems can be highlighted through some surprising numbers—in Sub-Saharan Africa, close to 60% of the population still does not have access to electricity [2].

Moreover, energy affordability is deeply impacted by fluctuating energy prices which can be caused by crises such as pandemics or geopolitical events. Such increases in energy prices is felt by consumers all over the world, hitting vulnerable households particularly hard.

Local and regional governments are critical actors in tackling the climate emergency. Their role becomes more important as we move towards a more decentralized and equitable approach to energy production. They are key to overseeing the on-the-ground implementation of international climate commitments. Their involvement also brings about the possibility for innovative approaches, considering not only the technical transition to renewable energy, but also its social, democratic, and equitable aspects.

Source:

https://renewablesroadmap.iclei.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/Crowdfunding_Final.pdf