GEF-UNIDO-BEE Project

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Context

• Bureau of Energy Efficiency, under Ministry of Power organised the “National Conclave on Accelerating Energy Efficiency in MSMEs. During the inaugural session, the success story of the GEF-UNIDO-BEE Project was showcased.

Details

• The United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO), in collaboration with the Bureau of Energy Efficiency (BEE) is executing a Global Environment Facility (GEF) funded national project titled “Promoting energy efficiency and renewable energy in selected MSME clusters in India”.
• Initiated in 2011, the project aimed to develop and promote a market environment for introducing energy efficiency (EE) and enhanced use of renewable energy (RE) technologies in process applications in selected energy-intensive micro, small and medium enterprises (MSME) sectors.
• The project has been supported by the Ministry of Micro, Small, and Medium Enterprises (MoMSME) and the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE). The project has implemented its programmatic intervention in 26 clusters in five different energy.
• India hosts second largest base for MSMEs in the world and has the largest contribution to the GDP. The majority of MSME are yet to adopt energy efficiency (or) technology upgradation measures. Based on the Bureau of Energy Efficiency (BEE), and Ministry of Power policy focussed interventions, there is huge energy conservation potential and a market for energy-efficient technologies in the sector.

Significance

• BEE has observed through its programmatic projects, a large section of these MSMEs lacks the consistent technical capacity to identify, access, and adopt better technologies, measures, and operating practices.
• Recognizing the importance of MSMEs in promoting energy efficiency, BEE provided hand-holding service support to the sector, through its various programs, to improve its technical capacity to identify, access, and adopt better technologies and operating practices.
• The BEE- SME program aims at improving the energy efficiency of the MSME sector in India through accelerating the adoption of energy-efficient technologies, knowledge sharing, capacity building, and development of financial of innovative financial mechanisms.

UNIDO

• The United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO) is a specialized agency of the United Nations that assists countries in economic and industrial development.
• It is headquartered at the UN Office in Vienna, Austria, with a permanent presence in over 60 countries.
• UNIDO comprises 170 member states, which together set the organization's policies, programs, and principles through the biannual General Conference.
• UNIDO was established in 1966 by the UN General Assembly to promote and accelerate the industrialization of developing countries, which were emerging from decolonization in record numbers and with little to no industrial base.
• Since its founding, the organization has restructured and reformed several times; the 2013 Lima Declaration expanded its mission to include promoting "inclusive and sustainable industrial development" (ISID), defined as benefiting greater numbers of people while safeguarding the environment.
• UNIDO is a member of the United Nations Development Group, a coalition of UN entities aimed at fulfilling the Sustainable Development Goals.

BEE

• The Bureau of Energy Efficiency is an agency of the Government of India, under the Ministry of Power created in March 2002 under the provisions of the nation's 2001 Energy Conservation Act.
• The agency's function is to develop programs which will increase the conservation and efficient use of energy in India.
• The government has proposed to make it mandatory for certain appliances in India to have ratings by the BEE starting in January 2010.
• The mission of Bureau of Energy Efficiency is to "institutionalise" energy efficiency services, enable delivery mechanisms in the country and provide leadership to energy efficiency in all sectors of the country.
• The primary objective would be to reduce energy intensity in the economy.

GEF

• The Global Environment Facility(GEF) is a multilateral environmental fund that provides grants and blended finance for projects related to biodiversity, climate change, international waters, land degradation, persistent organic pollutants (POPs), mercury, sustainable forest management, food security, and sustainable cities in developing countries.
• It is the largest source of multilateral funding for biodiversity globally, and distributes more than $1 billion a year on average to address inter-related environmental challenges.
• The GEF was established ahead of the 1992 Rio Earth Summit and includes 184 countries in partnership with international institutions, civil society organizations, and the private sector.
• It supports country-driven sustainable development initiatives in developing countries that generate global environmental benefits.
• In addition to funding projects through grants and blended finance, the GEF also serves as financial mechanism for the following conventions:

• Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD)
• United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC)
• United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD)
• Stockholm Convention on Persistent Organic Pollutants
• Minamata Convention on Mercury

The GEF also supports implementation of the Montreal Protocol on Substances that Deplete the Ozone Layer (MP).

https://pib.gov.in/PressReleasePage.aspx?PRID=1882057