Summary: The morning plenary discussions focused on identifying major challenges and obstacles to ensuring energy access, successful ways of overcoming these obstacles, and general guidelines to consider when developing urban and rural electrification strategies.

One main overlying theme was the need to mainstream energy and environmental concerns within the context of the other elements of sustainable development: namely, economic and social development. Certain countries stressed the interconnectedness of all these things and emphasized that none of the three legs of sustainable development can be taken in isolation. Other speakers encouraged viewing "the glass as half full" since we *have* made progress in ensuring energy access. Indigenous participation and ownership of local strategies was emphasized, as well.

Urban Electrification
Panelist Connie Smyser spoke on the issue of slum upgrade, naming affordability, legality, safety and distribution as main challenges to urban electrification. Consumers continue to consume unsustainable ways because they often obtain electricity illegally and are therefore not accustomed to paying based upon consumption. Distribution companies must find incentives to make slum upgrading worth the risk, and governments struggle with issues of privatization. Solutions to funding include microfinance and tax relief to low income consumers, while solutions to illegality include improving monitoring practices so as to regulate consumption. Incentives can be offered to encourage distribution companies to take on slum upgrade. In order to ensure sustainability, strategies must be locally informed and owned, and communities must see tangible improvement. Information sharing was cited as critical in order to work from best-practice templates as opposed to working from scratch.

Rural Electrification
The questions raised by rural electrification include how and where to extend grids, and whether or not the *number* of grids should be increased as opposed to the distribution of existing grids. Mr. Modi from Columbia University suggested that institutions be targeted, such as schools and hospitals, in order to reach the greatest numbers of people. Mr. Lee from Malaysia commented that "mega-projects are always winners," advocating a more centralized approach to energy access as opposed to smaller but more numerous grids.

Major challenges to rural electrification include capacity, manpower, funding, and affordability.

Mr. Lee recommended that one way to address capacity-building and manpower is to use the local or national military to construct systems. Other groups who might help include Engineers Without Borders and students that could incorporate these real-life projects into their studies.

Funding can be addressed by spreading costs over periods of months and by working out payment plans similar to those of mobile phone companies. An initial cost can be supplemented by usage costs.

Several major groups and countries intervened with best practice examples, and the general discussion was solution-oriented and positive. The chair consistently extracted and summarized the main obstacles from the panelists' presentations. Toward the end of the intervention period, the chair announced that he was closing the floor due to lack of time and too many requests, and he passed over many flags to call upon Children and Youth.

Referring to Mr. Modi's suggestion that energy access scale up target institutions such as schools, the Children and Youth suggested that a focus on schools would serve not only to reach a great number of people but also to promote energy efficiency. Based on a best practice highlighting youth initiatives to encourage competition between and within schools called "The Bet," youth showed how investment in knowledge- and capacity-building and technology in schools has proven to result in immediate and lasting change. The chair thanked the youth for highlighting the important roles of schools and education.

Summarized by Megan Furman (USA).

Intervention: Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Thank you, also, to the panelists who have provided such informative presentations. I would like to address a comment made by Mr. Modi, who spoke about expanding access to energy by targeting institutions, such as schools, in order to reach the greatest numbers of people.

I think it is worth noting that, partly because of the number of people that can be reached by targeting schools and education, schools are also a successful means of accelerating the process of promoting energy efficiency.

Youth in the Netherlands, Nigeria, Spain and the United States, for example, are currently educating their peers on how to reduce energy use by encouraging competition between and within schools.

Young Friends of the Earth from Europe and European Youth for Action, Dutch National Youth Council, the Youth Alliance for Future Energy of Nigeria, the Young Friends of the Earth and the Council for Renewable Energy in Nigeria recently participated in the competition called “The Bet.” The best aimed to reduce the carbon dioxide emissions in schools by challenging schools to reduce emissions by 5 per cent in five months.

Perhaps focusing efforts toward knowledge, technology transfer and capacity building in schools is one immediate and lasting was to accelerate this process.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

Presented by Megan Furman (USA) from the Children and Youth chair.