With the adoption of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, member States have committed to aligning national policies with efforts to attain sustainable development. They are cognizant of the need to support economic growth to promote poverty eradication, and also recognize some of the challenges in redefining the concept of energy security, whose role is identified as a building block in the development of a resilient society based on cooperation and collaboration. The region is also grappling with the integration within the energy sector of different dimensions of sustainable development with a view to transforming the sector. This transformation requires sustained economic growth that is socially inclusive and environmentally sustainable.
The Committee on Energy was established by the Commission at its seventy-first session through resolution 71/1 on restructuring the conference structure of the Commission to be fit for the evolving post-2015 development agenda. The first session of Committee on Energy was held on 17-19 January 2017, and it will be held every other year respectively.
On the occasion of the second session of the Committee on Energy on 9-11 October 2019, the secretariat will invite a number of high-level delegations to share their visions and strategies on energy for sustainable development. The Committee will provide guidance to the secretariat and propose areas for possible regional cooperation to contribute to the attainment of Goal 7. The Committee will also review and provide guidance for the development of the National Expert Sustainable Development Goal 7 Tool for Energy Planning (NEXSTEP) and how it could be utilised by a greater number of member States. Furthermore, the Committee will review and endorse the draft regional roadmap for submission to the Commission at its seventy-sixth session.
Additionally, the Committee is expected to provide guidance on how the work of the subprogrammes can further support the implementation of the 2030 Agenda by member States by identifying, for example, priorities, gaps in implementation and any required technical assistance at the subregional or regional level and also provide guidance on the focus of the short and long-term work of the secretariat on energy, taking into account the programme direction and priorities outlined in the programme of work for the biennium 2018–2019, the draft programme for 2020 as well as the mandates of the sub-programme.
