Building a Gender Mainstreamed Sustainable Energy Future with, for and by women for SAARC region

1. Building a Gender Mainstreamed Sustainable Energy Future with, for and by women for SAARC region Policies and issues to be addressed Svati Bhogle

2. The development context in the SAARC region • The region is densely populated: ratio of area and the population that it sustains is perhaps the lowest. • India accounts for 2.4% of the world's total area but sustains 16.7% of the world population. • Women in decision making roles in the energy access sector very low

3. The development context • About 65% of India is drought prone, 12% flood prone, and 8% susceptible to cyclones. • Around 275 million people depend on Non Timber Forest products (NTFPs) for day today sustenance • Land degradation has affected at least one-third of the geographical area of India • Around 41% of India’s forests are degraded with very low levels of productivity.

4. The development context • Groundwater, which supplies drinking water to 80% of India's villages, is rapidly depleting with 347 districts (59% of all districts) have problems related to quantitative availability or quality of groundwater. • India’s natural resources are impacted by ‘direct proximate factors’ such as mega-development, competing claims on land and water resources, unsustainable commercial extraction and livelihood dependencies.

5. The development context • These factors make the dependence of Indian rural population on natural resources precarious and critically vulnerable. • Prevailing poverty, deepening environmental degradation, increasing human population, climate change, weak governance, institutional and policy frameworks, etc. continues to puzzle • Why is India’s development context unique? • Does technology have a solution?

6. Some energy statistics • India produces 660 billion KWh of electricity; 70 % of India’s rural landscape is not connected to national electricity grid • Over 600 million Indians are out of bounds of electricity grids, • Access to clean, modern fuels such as LPG and kerosene is also limited. • So, enhancing energy supply and access is a key component of the national development strategy.

7. Impact of climate change and land degradation • Climate change and so decline in rainfall is expected to increase water stress, with per capita water availability likely to decrease from 1820 m3/yr in 2001 to 1140 m3/yr in 2050) • So agriculture/food security (60% of crop area in India is under rain-fed agriculture) is under threat.

8. So the development agenda • Focus on conservation and sustainable resource management practices • Make significant specific investments in creation of new infrastructure, and provision of services • Internalize climate change into policy, developmental planning and execution • Increase Govt. expenditure on climate adaptation (2.6% of GDP) in agriculture, water resources, health, sanitation, forests, coastal zone infrastructure and extreme events,

9. Technology as a tool for development

10. Meeting background • Practitioners create impact but the challenges should not overwhelm them • Interest in the sector is rapidly growing, more money coming in, not necessarily the practitioner’s way. • The competition is increasing but the market is not growing • What are the barriers to growth and the enablers? Who decides and on what basis?

11. Multi-dimensional challenges Solutions More R&D More awareness Sensitive financing Enabling policy • Growing global emphasis on clean cooking • Drivers • Health • Fuel security -Deforestation and biomass scarcity • Air pollution • Gender • Energy access Alice: tell me, please, which way I ought to go from here? The Cheshire Cat: That depends a good deal on where you want to get to

12. Awareness creation • Need for a practitioners’ association, to be part-funded by the practitioners themselves • Behavioral change on a reasonable scale required • For meaningful impacts • To put social pressure for adoption on even larger scale – e.g. awards for 100% clean cooking villages • Celebrity endorsements, cookery shows with clean cooking devices and celebrity chefs • National level campaigns to make clean cooking aspirational

13. Financing • “For enterprises - Working capital, project finance, inventory finance • Consumer financing – lessons from consumer finance e.g. solar lanterns • Climate finance – stacking may be a problem in demonstrating carbon benefits • Consumer financing challenge exists irrespective of what the clean cooking energy solution is – e.g IC or LPG or … • Auctioning” subsidies • Awareness around existing funding opportunities • Monetising developmental benefits for integration into policy • Joint fund led by large sector players – to finance smaller players; collaborate rather than compete

14. Policy / government role • Short term • Tax holiday to manufacturers – to open the sector – in place of a subsidy • to be followed up with SNAs, to also look at a single rate (0) across all states • Do not do away with subsidy but give it to the consumers in a direct transfer • Awareness campaign –similar to polio • Standards are stringent on some aspects and not on others – should we apply the same standards to all stoves irrespective of price – energy star rating system • Time bound approvals for testing labs • Clean cooking / clean air as part of Swachh Bharat Abhiyan / Unnat Bharat Abhiyan • Long term • Rights based approach • Encourage women in the supply chain – users and suppliers are better connected then • Tracking mechanisms – integrating developmental benefits along with numbers of conversions

15. Policy – domestic energy MNRE accepts ownership for providing access to clean energy for cooking with biomass fuels Mixed response to the NPIC that was discontinued about 10 years ago but several lessons and experiences to build on Integrate energy policy mentions access to sustainable fuel within 1 km from the kitchen but no further progress MNRE accepts the need to support new improved stoves and non govt. driven dissemination mechanisms

16. Assumptions for policy dialogue Context: Adequate, affordable, sustainable biomass energy access for all who require it. Govt. to be stimulator / enabler and not implementer Access to renewable energy access, improved stoves, dryers, kilns etc. through local initiatives and enterprises Policies designed for enterprise & consumer friendly market mechanisms Sustainable energy means a balance between biomass generation and consumption

17. Govt. as enabler Creation of reliable data and databases on energy need, availability, products, performance, etc. and its availability in public domain must be the role of the govt. Studies / surveys that establish user need and resource matching both for domestic and informal industry to be supported. The starting point of TIDE/ SIPL interventions have always been data creation and not data access

18. Govt. as enabler Creation of technicians in biomass energy equipment, sustainable energy plantations through short term training programmes / certificate courses in small towns Modestly priced energy labs for fuel quality & emission testing, so that performance testing becomes a routine habit and consumers demand quality. Could also develop into on site service centres Customer care / help lines for biomass energy products after sizeable number of domestic and industrial stoves in operation.

19. Innovations that need support • Development of easy to use loose biomass collection, compaction & aggregation tools & equipment • Design & promotion of low cost sheds for storage of biomass. Could develop into loose biomass depots like firewood depots • Support R & D efforts for clean & efficient burning of loose or loosely compacted biomass in stoves, dryers, kilns

20. Innovations that need support Support development of ancillary equipment for obtaining a range of good quality prepared biomass fuels for varied applications – household to foundry Develop quality standards for prepared biomass fuels Support research into hybrid renewable energy systems – e.g combination of solar & biomass for water heating, drying of agri produce etc.

21. Consumer friendly market mechanisms Govt. to only stimulate the market and remove barriers to enterprise. Good, targeted, local language, public interest campaigns in energy conservation Examples from health, education, women’s welfare like pulse polio, prevention of child marriages etc. Poster design / slogan design competitions at the grass root. The same to be made available for public use. Awareness about climate change, its adaptation, mitigation

22. Consumer friendly market mechanisms Incentivise & encourage group discussion on household energy in self help group meetings by sponsoring tea / snacks and develop a publication based on these discussion Similarly incentivise discussions on the theme of thermal energy in industry associations and capture the discussions Develop & support awareness programmes on ‘role of financial institutions in climate change adaptation & mitigation’

23. Innovative financing schemes • Financing schemes aimed at reducing financial barriers for all elements in the supply chain • VAT exempt status for household / industrial stoves & prepared fuel above specified performance standards • Banks to develop attractive loan products for consumers of biomass energy products • Low interest rate working capital loans for manufacturers and distributors

24. Biomass energy and MFIs • MFIs must become financial instruments for sustainable biomass energy access at low interest rates • MFIs currently unwilling and unable to extend facilities beyond their comfort level of women’s group lending. • Micro finance must become available to individuals and to men for RE / EE products. • There is significant idle capacity in MFI grass root operation.

25. Sustainable energy plantations Sustainable energy plantations managed by women’s groups would offer energy security for homes where there are no agro residues However there are long term land lease issues and initial access to irrigation which need to be sorted out. There are examples of NGOs / CBOs leasing land with prosopis cultivation and these are harvested sustainably, earning good income.

26. Frominnovation to enterprise Beyond innovation, biomass energy is an unglamourous grass root business. No great role for management graduates but biomass energy must capture the imagination of the grass root entrepreneur. Easy to utilize existing infrastructure to create new business opportunities with global environmental impact Biomass energy access has potential to create rural livelihoods in fuel preparation & trade, commission on sales, equipment assembly & delivery mechanisms, trade in components & servicing for men and women

27. Evolving public – private – civil society – academia partnerships • Large scale impact can be achieved by bringing together the collective strengths of public private civil society academia partnerships • Each sector to work in its area of strength • Govt. institutions to evolve an enabling policy and participate financially • Private organizations to be engaged in implementation in partnership with civil society based organizations • Govt. to support NGOs / CBOs in awareness creation and grass root work • Academic institutions to be engaged in technology adaptation, developing standards, monitoring & evaluation

28. Policy recommendations • Regulate of the firewood / loose biomass trade • Ensure that loose biomass is officially traded • Enforce biomass fuel standards for prepared fuel to minimize adulteration • Ban adding water to firewood / biomass at depots, during transit and just before sale

29. Thank you for listening