Award Spotlights Montreal
Protocol Achievements for Sound Chemical
Management in Asia Pacific
Bangkok, 3 May 2007 - The United Nations
Environment Programme has, for the second
time, won the prestigious United States
Environmental Protection Agency (US EPA)
Stratospheric Ozone Protection Award. The
award was presented 1 May in Washington
D.C, to Atul Bagai, Regional Network Coordinator
for South Asia for UNEP's Division of Technology,
Industry and Economics (DTIE) OzonAction
Programme.
The US EPA highlighted Bagai's work in
assisting countries in the region, including
both large countries like China and India
and small countries like Bhutan and Afghanistan,
to comply with their international commitments
under the Montreal Protocol on Substances
that Deplete the Ozone Layer. The award
recognizes his work in "designing strategic
approaches on development and implementation,
of institutional mechanisms and innovative
capacity building activities in the countries."
Receiving the 2007 edition of the USEPA
award is particularly significant for UNEP
as the Montreal Protocol will celebrate
its 20th anniversary on 16 September this
year. Awards such as this contribute to
raising public awareness about the contribution
of the myriad organizations and individuals
around the world that have made this multilateral
environmental agreement work so effectively.
Mr Bagai joins six individuals and six
organizations in receiving the award this
year. In the Asia Pacific region, Dr. Sachidananda
Satapathy from India's Ministry of Environment
and Forests' Ozone Cell and the World Customs
Organization's Regional Intelligence Liaison
Office for Asia and the Pacific were also
honored with the award. The Stratospheric
Ozone Protection Award winners have helped
to eliminate the use of ozone depleting
chemicals in the agriculture and aviation
sectors, and in medical inhalers. The winners
have also helped to lead the phase-out of
ozone depleting substances in developing
countries, raise awareness about skin cancer
prevention, and monitor the status of ozone
layer recovery.
"As part of the Bush Administration's
aggressive yet practical strategy, EPA is
pleased to work with partners like these
award winners to protect the Earth's atmosphere
in cost-effective ways," said EPA Administrator
Stephen L. Johnson. "Environmental
protection is everyone's responsibility,
and these leaders are making smart choices
to hand down a cleaner, healthier future."
Bagai joined UNEP in August 2000 as a Training
Officer for UNEP's OzonAction Programme,
which was established under the Montreal
Protocol's Multilateral Fund to help developing
countries take the practical and strategic
steps necessary to comply with the treaty.
In 2002, he was appointed Regional Network
Coordinator for the South Asia under UNEP's
Compliance Assistance Programme.
"Asia Pacific is a diverse region
with its share of challenges. It is gratifying
to see the recognition that is being given
to the leadership with team work undertaken
in ensuring compliance of the Protocol and
phase out, critical in this region as the
2010 target date approaches," said
Surendra Shrestha, Regional Director of
the UNEP Regional Office for Asia and the
Pacific. "It shows how commitment and
innovative approaches of a global target
can be met through collective action of
governments."
A member of the Indian Administrative Service,
Atul Bagai has served as the National Ozone
Officer from 1998-2000. During his tenure
in that capacity, he handled significant
strategy and policy issues, facilitating
India's Ozone Depleting Substances (ODSs)
phase-out strategy and compliance with the
Montreal Protocol. He was instrumental in
finalizing regulations for controlling production
and consumption of ODS, negotiated sector
phase out agreements for reduction of CFC
production in India, and participated in
several teams to develop Montreal Protocol
policy and regulatory responses.
"I am happy to accept this award on
behalf of UNEP and DTIE, as well as our
team in Asia Pacific," said Bagai.
Ms. Satwant Kaur, Regional Information Officer
United Nations Environment Programme Regional
Office for Asia and the Pacific,
Notes to editors:
For more information about the recovery
of the ozone layer, see the Executive Summary
of "UNEP/WMO Scientific Assessment
of Ozone Depletion: 2006" and UNEP's
press release at http://ozone.unep.org/Publications/Assessment_Reports/
UNEP's OzonAction Programme won USEPA's
Stratospheric Ozone Protection Award in
2005 for "leadership and innovation"
in assisting developing countries. It was
the first-ever award of this kind by USEPA
to a United Nations agency.
United Nations Environment Programme(UNEP)
UNEP is the United Nations system's designated
entity for addressing environmental issues
at the global and regional level. Its mandate
is to coordinate the development of environmental
policy consensus by keeping the global environment
under review and bringing emerging issues
to the attention of governments and the
international community for action.
The Montreal Protocol on Substances That
Deplete the Ozone Layer is an international
treaty designed to protect the ozone layer
by phasing out the production and consumption
of a number of substances believed to be
responsible for ozone depletion. The treaty
was opened for signature on September 16,
1987 and entered into force on January 1,
1989. Since then, it has undergone five
revisions, in 11000 (London), 1992 (Copenhagen),
1995 (Vienna), 1997 (Montreal), and 1999
(Beijing). Due to its widespread adoption
and implementation it has been hailed as
an example of exceptional international
cooperation with Kofi Annan quoted as saying
it is "Perhaps the single most successful
international agreement to date..."
About the Compliance Assistance Programme
(CAP) for Asia and the Pacific
In 2002, UNEP as an Implementing Agency
of the Multilateral Fund of the Montreal
Protocol made a conscious departure from
the past in assisting developing countries
to enable them to implement the Montreal
Protocol. This departure emerges from the
new context in which developing countries
now operate under the compliance regime
of the Protocol. The new context of compliance
regime requires countries to: achieve and
sustain compliance, promote a greater sense
of country ownership and implement the agreed
Executive Committee framework for strategic
planning.
In line with this re-orientation, UNEP
proposed through the Compliance Assistance
Programme (CAP) to work from 5 regions,
i.e. South Asia, South East Asia and the
Pacific, Latin America and the Caribbean,
Africa, West Asia and Europe/Central Asia
Each of the regional CAP teams is headed
by a Regional Network Coordinator.. Consistent
with the above approach the Regional Office
for Asia and Pacific (ROAP) CAP team has
developed to be the centre for policy advice,
compliance guidance and conduct training
to refrigeration technicians, customs officers
and other relevant stakeholders on compliance
issues, promote bilateral and multilateral
cooperation and promote high-level awareness
by utilizing UNEP's staff.
UNEP ROAP News Release 07/07
UN Engages Banks to Light Up Rural India
Rural financing supports move from kerosene
lamps, unreliable power;
Four-year, $1.5 million pilot drives 13-fold
jump in rural solar installations;
Expansion plans also target China, Algeria,
Egypt, Mexico, Indonesia, Ghana
Life for an estimated 100,000 people in
poverty-stricken rural India has been improved
dramatically by several hours of reliable
solar-powered lighting every night, made
available by a UN-led pilot project to facilitate
household financing for solar home systems.
The $1.5 million pilot, managed by the
United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP),
has improved so many lives in India that
sister programmes to boost energy access
are being initiated in other developing
countries.
Even a few hours of 20 to 40-watt solar-powered
lighting in homes and small shops nightly
has been credited with better grades for
schoolchildren, better productivity for
needlework artisan groups and other cottage
industries, and even better sales at fruit
stands, where produce is no longer spoiled
by fumes from kerosene lamps.
Behind these quality-of-life upgrades is
an innovative UN-led project to persuade
Indian bankers to finance small loans for
solar systems - typically $300 to $500 for
a system to power two to four small lights
or appliances. A report on the programme
will be offered at the UN Commission for
Sustainable Development, the annual two-week
meeting of which opens in New York Monday
April 30 with a focus on energy issues.
"Kerosene used by the poor for lighting
is often unaffordable, unavailable, unsafe
and unhealthy while the electricity power
grid is unreliable. To provide even this
little degree of electricity reliability
and independence is to empower the poor
in ways that can profoundly alter lives
for the better," says Timothy E. Wirth,
President of the UN Foundation (www.UNFoundation.org),
which, with the Shell Foundation (www.shellfoundation.org),
provided the project's core funding.
He notes that international study after
study has established strong, direct links
between electricity use and financial success
and well-being.
"The project underlines the multiple
benefits accruing by providing clean and
renewable energies in developing countries,"
says UNEP Executive Director Achim Steiner.
"These range from reducing the emissions
that are causing climate change to overcoming
poverty and the serious health toll taken
by dirty fuels - especially on women and
children and particularly in the home. In
doing so, such projects can help towards
achieving the Millennium Development Goals
by 2015.
"The success of this project should
also serve as a catalytic blue-print for
similar schemes across the developing world
and lead to the scaling up of renewable
energies everywhere."
"To average citizens of most developed
countries, with perhaps dozens of lights
and unlimited electric power on every floor
of a home, conditions in rural parts of
India may seem unimaginable," says
Jyoti Painuly, Senior Energy Planner at
the UNEP Risoe Centre on Energy, Climate
and Sustainable Development. "We aren't
talking about operating a toaster, kettle,
computer or microwave oven - just a handful
of low-wattage lights, and perhaps a small
fan, radio or TV for a few hours nightly
- but even that can make a world of difference.
"The 45% or so of people in India
hooked up to a power grid suffer chronic,
daily electricity outages. Others trek long
distances to buy a few expensive liters
of polluting kerosene for lamps, often finding
no supplies, much of it sold on the black
market as an illegal way to dilute gasoline
and diesel fuel.
"This project removes one of the main
barriers to the shift to solar power - lack
of financing. Asking customers previously
to pay cash for solar systems meant asking
them to pay upfront an amount equal to 20
years of electricity bills."
With just $1.5 million, the project has
posted very high returns in four years,
causing a 13-fold increase in the number
of solar systems financed in the pilot area
of Karnataka state, Southern India, from
1,400 to 18,000. In addition to the many
social and health benefits produced, the
project has created much new employment
at factories producing solar panels and
related products, at sales dealerships and
for maintenance workers.
Although in 2003 the solar sector was mostly
a cash-only business, today more than 50%
of sales are bank financed. It recently
won a top-of-category Energy Globe "World
Award for Sustainability," considered
today's most prestigious energy-related
environmental prize.Please see International
Winners - Fire First Prize .
Free market forces and competition is changing
the complexion of and expanding the market,
says Eric Usher, head of UNEP's Renewable
Energy and Finance Unit, UNEP Division of
Technology, Industry and Economics, Paris.
Encouragingly, Indian banks not included
in the initial partnership have launched
competing solar loan products and competition
is heating up.
"Lack of access to affordable energy
produces one of poverty's most powerful
grips," he says. "This project
empowers people to invest and helps free
them from reliance on government interventions."
The India programme's success has already
inspired a sister effort in Tunisia, where
the market for solar water heaters has been
shifted from cash to credit, with over 16,000
systems financed. Similar programmes are
upcoming for China, Indonesia, Egypt, Mexico,
Ghana, Morocco and Algeria.
How the project works
When the programme began, only 31% of India's
rural households had electricity connections
compared to 76% of urban households. On
average, power went down for one hour of
every six in peak periods. And tariffs for
grid power, up drastically in recent years,
are expected to rise even further.
Despite high capital costs ($500), Solar
Home Systems have emerged as an attractive
long-term option - relatively simple, reliable
and quickly installed. However, even if
a solar home system was the best option
from a villager's economic standpoint, little
or no access to credit meant it was simply
beyond reach.
Two of India's largest financial institutions
became the project's initial partners: Canara
Bank and Syndicate Bank. Two more banks,
the Bank of Maharashtra and Sewa Bank, were
added as partners this year.
Although banks in India are required to
make 40% of their loans in priority sectors
(e.g. causes with strong social objectives),
"bankers seldom lend for an unfamiliar
product," according to Mr. Usher. "Solar
Home Systems were unfamiliar gambles. The
Indian Loan Programme used a competitive
market development model to help banks enter
the sector, remove information and perception
barriers while creating standards for quality
products, sales and service."
The programme involved an interest rate
buy-down, marketing support and a vendor
qualification process. The commercial interest
rate for equivalent loan types at programme
inception was 12%. UNEP's subsidy initially
brought this rate down to 5%, the subsidy
phased out over time. Loans were offered
through more than 1,000 Canara and Syndicate
branches and over 1,000 branches of the
rural regional banks (the so-called Grameens)
affiliated with Canara and Syndicate.
Solar vendors, once qualified, could direct
any interested customer to their local Canara,
Syndicate or Grameen bank branch for financing.
Five solar vendors achieved qualification
to take part in the programme, therefore
there were plenty of competitive products.
Vendors offered long-term warranties and
five-year maintenance contracts and agreed
to recondition systems for resale in the
event of a loan default.
Partner banks agreed to let borrowers pay
only 15% of their purchase up front, as
opposed to the conventional 25% deposit,
loans could be repaid over five years instead
of the usual three years allowed for non-mortgage
loans, and security and documentation requirements
were simplified.
Initially, banks were paid 300 Rupees (approx
US $7) per loan account to help with and
information sessions, and defray processing
costs.
As the subsidies phased out and project-inspired
competition began, the UNEP-sponsored banks
gradually surrendered predominance in solar
loan financing. Loans are now available
across several thousand mostly rural bank
branches - a development considered the
key growth driver for home solar systems.
A survey showed borrowers' average annual
household income was 50,000 Rupees (US $1,200)
or more. It also revealed the #1 reason
behind buying a system: chronic grid power
failures and shortages.
The typical home system comprised a roof-mounted
solar photovoltaic module, storage battery,
charge controller, interior wiring and switches
and electric lighting fixtures. The solar
panels have generally been in the 18Wp to
40 Wp range, capable of powering up to 4
CFL lights and a DC fan.
In addition to private homes, the project
found household clusters (30-40 houses each)
in an estimated 50 villages pooling resources
to install solar home systems as an alternative
to the grid.
As well, an independent initiative by the
Small-Scale Sustainable Infrastructure Development
Fund (S3IDF), an international NGO, in collaboration
with vendor Selco, has spawned several small
street hawker solar lighting projects. More
and more small town hawkers are switching
from kerosene lamps to solar lights.
Most kerosene lamps, especially the open
wick type commonly used in rural India,
provide very low lighting intensities, far
below those required to meet reading needs
adequately. The efficiency of these lamps
is not even 10 percent of the most in-efficient
incandescent electric lighting. This means
high costs for lighting and undesired emissions.
A study shows kerosene and similar fuels
account for 20% of global lighting costs
but provide only 0.1% of lighting energy
services. In terms of greenhouse gas emissions,
a single wick burns about 80 litres of kerosene,
producing more than 250 kg of carbon dioxide
per year.
Kerosene emits several other harmful gases
while burning, and due to its low efficiency
contains large amount of unburned hydrocarbons
and soot. And since a majority of homes
in rural India are poorly ventilated, it
poses a health hazard, commonly causing
respiratory, and eye problems. Eye, nose
and throat irritation are caused by inhalation
of the fumes.
Kerosene use in lamps is also a safety
risk - lamps can easily get knocked over
setting fire in the home. An estimated 100
million families use kerosene for lighting
in India, exposing themselves to these health
and safety hazards.
"Our bank takes great pride in contributing
to social change in association with UNEP,"
says Mr. M. B. N. Rao, Chairman and Managing
Director of Canara Bank. "Putting Solar
Home Lighting Systems and reliable energy
supplies within the reach of the common
citizen kindles hopes and aspirations of
many for a better life and well being."
"As governments meet next week in
New York for the 15th Session on the Commission
on Sustainable Development, the topic of
energy will be at the top of the agenda,
and particularly how to finance the global
shift to a cleaner energy mix," says
Mr. Steiner. "This programme has shown
one important area where this is being done
on the ground, bringing together local banks,
a clean energy technology and the entrepreneurial
drive of modern India."
Mr. Terry Collins
Mr. Robert Bisset, UNEP
Mr. Jyoti Painuli, UNEP RISOE Centre, Denmark
Mr. H.V. Kumar, India,
