the acronym for HELIO's latest project on energy resilience. Vulnerability, Adaptation, Resilience (VAR): climate proofing energy systems.
The VAR
project will develop a
straightforward methodology to assess the vulnerability and resilience of
energy systems to climate change. Two sets of energy-related indicators will be
developed: a small set which aims at identifying the country's specific
climate-induced vulnerabilities and a larger one targeting the main actors in
the energy sector, e.g. government, NGOs, agencies etc.
These indicators
will cover economic, social, technological, environmental and governance
issues, thus delivering a practical tool to measure the effectiveness of
adaptation policies addressing such issues as energy generation, health, water
quality, desertification, loss of productive capacity etc.
This work is a natural extension of HELIO's experience in defining energy-relevant indicators carried out
through its Sustainable Energy Watch (SEW). The work also draws on SouthSouthNorth
Adaptation Project Protocol (SSNAPP) methodology and the Millennium Development
Goals (MDGs).
The VAR project is a further development of HELIO's 2007 report: A preliminary assessment of energy and ecosystem resilience in ten African countries. [EN | FR]
The indicators will be tested in ten sub-Saharan countries:
Benin
Burkina Faso
Cameroon
Dem.Rp.Congo
Kenya
Mali
Nigeria
South Africa
Tanzania
Uganda
Overview
The project is
composd of four components:
1. Identifying the
problem
This component
defines energy system vulnerability and presents the potential of
ecodevelopment strategies to reduce it. The scope goes beyond focusing on
energy supply security traditionally adopted at the national level. A small set
of indicators (three to five) will be developed to assess a countrys key
vulnerabilities.
2. Identifying
solutions
While there has
been substantive work carried out to date on vulnerability, there remains a lot
to do on adaptation. This component aims at determining which elementssocial,
technical, environmental, economicshould be improved to support adaptation
efforts. Additionally, ways for assessing at the national level the
effectiveness of currently applied measures will be studied.
3. Testing the
methodology
Ten in-country
reportersfive French-speaking and five English-speaking African countrieswill
apply the indicators to the current national situation.Feedback on data collection, indicator calculation
etc., will help refine the indicators accordingly, thus improving their
relevancy.
4. Drawing
conclusions/Making recommendations
Conclusions and
recommendations will be analysed to see what lessons learnt can be applied to
the development of policies and measures to increase energy system resilience.
The project team
The project
team, coordinated by HELIO, is composed of three groups:
The Partners, chosen
for their knowledge in a particular area, e.g. gender, economics etc., guide the
projects focus and provide feedback on indicator and methodology development.
The In-country
Reporters are part of the HELIO network and have already contributed to the
2007 publication, "A preliminary assessment of energy and ecosystem
resilience in ten African countries".
The Review Group
is composed of experts in the field of energy who review and give feedback on
the process and indicators.
For a longer project overview in PDF (126 KB) click here
Current status
The VAR project
has defined a set of indicators which was reviewed at a methodological workshop atCOP 13 in Bali, Indonesia,
December 2007. Based on feedback gathered, these indicators are being refined and will be reviewed by the project team groups.
A workshop to train the In-country Reporters in applying these indicators will be held April/May 2008 in West Africa. This workshop is being developed in cooperation with French Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) - energy, ecosystem and biodiversity initiative.
