Promoting Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency through Legislation and Policy Tomilola Akanle School of Law, University of Dundee IUCN Conference Presentation 27/09/2008

Background  Climate Change  Sustainable Development  Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency  Need to promote the use of and investment in RE and EE  Choice of measures: legislative or policy, voluntary or mandatory?

Examination of Policies and Legislation  Energy-related policies and legislation  South Africa, Jamaica & the Philippines  To what extent do they promote the exploitation, use of and investment in RE & EE?  What is the effect on the CDM hosting potential of these countries? – the issue of additionality.

South Africa  A lot of legislation and policy  Generally contain non-mandatory instruments  Government unwilling to use mandatory measures or too many financial incentives  Other incentives are however used, such as registration and duty payment exemptions.  Approach could help RE & EE projects meet the CDM additionality requirement; impact on environmental protection is less certain.  Difficult to assess impact on CDM investment.

The Philippines  A lot of legislation  Trying to promote energy self- sufficiency  Many incentives to increase private sector investment in NRE  Impact on CDM investment depends on level of incentive provided

Jamaica  Much less done  Apparently limited awareness of/desire to use the CDM for RE & EE  Awareness now on the increase  Some renewable energy options appear to be more cost effective than conventional energy. What is the effect on CDM eligibility?

Legislation or Policy/Mandatory or voluntary measures?  Can the government feasibly provide enough financial incentives to make the use of RE & EE more attractive?  Should government mandate activities and/or provide financial incentives, thus improving environmental protection, but reducing CDM hosting ability? Can such actions alone effectively help transit developing countries to a clean energy development path?

Legislation or policy (contd.)  Can the use of voluntary measures only, without commensurate financial incentives, effectively compel people to move from the use of traditional fossil fuel-based energy to RE & EE?  So, which approach is better to contribute to sustainable development, through a balance of environmental protection and access to energy?

Two Examples  Jamaica: will not enact. Perverse incentive not enact legislation for the mandatory use of ethanol and gasoline blend of motor vehicle fuel until project registered under the CDM.  Nigeria: perverse incentive for the non-enforcement of gas flaring prohibition?

Conclusion  Mix of mandatory and voluntary measures  The CDM is an important tool and a balance needs to be achieved to promote CDM eligibility and protect the environment  Use the CDM to contribute to achieving sustainable development goals in areas eligible for CDM participation; act on areas not eligible