SE4Jobs Toolbox - Participation

SE4Jobs Toolbox – Laying the foundations for a sustainable development

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Participation

Tools PRODUSE EQuIP CADRE Interactive RE Toolkit AILEG HELIO ELMA

What is the issue participation about? [Expand] The issue refers to involving non-government actors (business, industry associations, civil society, citizens, local communities, media, etc.) in decision-making and implementation of RE/EE strategies to promote local employment and value creation. Better and more open participation can play an important role in achieving improved public acceptance, greater direct investment from local and community actors, reduced political and regulatory risk (e.g. public backlash or opposition) and, in many cases, improved design and implementation of policies and regulations. Forms of participation range from the discussion of government reports via public consultations to inclusion in decision-making to the holding of binding referenda on the decisions taken. Of key importance is the active participation of the private sector as businesses are central to creating supply and demand for RE/EE related goods and services. Why is participation of non-governmental actors important for the expansion of RE and EE? [Expand] You should consider using forms of public participation for a number of reasons: First of all, input from non-governmental actors on the development of RE/EE strategies or policies can improve the quality of their design and ipso facto enhance their effectiveness in reaching their intended goals. Secondly, participation in such processes can reduce uncertainty and opposition, and create ‘ownership’ among stakeholders so that they are willing to mobilise their own resources in support of RE/EE. Thirdly, creating strong stakeholder coalitions for the development of RE/EE will help legitimize the issue in the eye of the public and thus make it harder for opposing interests to obstruct their development. Fourthly, integrating appropriate stakeholder groups in such processes can help identify future challenges arising from scaling-up RE/EE and prepare solutions for them – e.g. enabling the electricity grid to cope with a larger share of fluctuating renewable sources of electricity. What are key questions for addressing the issue of participation? [Expand] The key questions for you to consider relate to which groups to target and what mechanisms to use at what stage of the policy process: In what aspects of the policy process should non-governmental actors be included? What institutions, instruments and criteria can be used for that purpose? Are there particular roles for different kinds of non-governmental actors? For example, for the business community and unions, for environmental NGOs or for the scientific community? How can you ensure that public participation does not create stalemates or bottlenecks and thereby lead to the blocking or hijacking of decision-making processes? How can the issue of participation be addressed? [Expand] An important first step is to identify the most relevant stakeholders within the business community, the scientific community and in civil society, and to understand the issues/aspects that these actors are concerned with. The integration of key non-governmental stakeholders in participatory processes of policy-making and implementation can help address their concerns, make use of their expertise and resources, find compromises for actual or potential conflicts, and abolish barriers to RE/EE. At the same time, participation should also be possible for ‘ordinary’ citizens who are not part of an organized group, but who are directly or indirectly concerned with the roll-out of RE/EE. This can be done ‘upstream’, in the consultation phase, or ‘downstream’, in cases when a public referendum is foreseen. Practical aspects of participation and good practice options [Expand] Membership of civil society in institutions, such as advisory councils The development, implementation and review of public strategies and policies are often accompanied by the establishment of advisory councils and other mechanisms for gathering input. The members of these bodies are usually more or less handpicked by the government, and their role is to inform political decision-makers and provide practical insights from their different perspectives. Therefore, the membership of such advisory councils should reflect the most relevant societal stakeholders and go beyond the various relevant government ministries to also include representatives of the different sectors of civil society, the business community and/or the scientific community. The way that members are nominated and how they conduct their work should be based on the principles of transparency and objectivity, to safeguard their credibility and acceptance in the eyes of the government and the public. Mexico: Advisory Councils on RE and EE The Mexican government has established advisory councils for both special programmes on RE and EE: On RE: the Advisory Council for the Development of Renewable Energy (Consejo Consultivo para las Energías Renovables) On EE: the Advisory Council for the Sustainable Use of Energy (Consejo Consultivo para el Aprovechamiento Sustentable de la Energía) Both advisory councils are led by the Ministry of Energy (SENER) and are tasked with monitoring and evaluating progress toward implementing the country’s energy policy. However, there are significant differences in how their membership is composed. The Advisory Council for the Development of Renewable Energy comprises a wide range of representatives from government, industry and civil society. Table: Membership of government ministries, agencies, industry and civil society representatives in the Advisory Council for the Development of Renewable Energy [INSERT TABLE] By contrast, the Advisory Council on the Sustainable Use of Energy is largely a scientific advisory body, which is composed of six independent scientific experts in the field of EE who are also members of the Mexican “National System of Researchers” (Sistema Nacional de Investigadores). Both advisory councils should be considered good practice in that they include a broad range of diverse actors representing government ministries, energy agencies, business associations, civil society and science, and therefore bring a variety of perspectives into the development and implementation of RE and EE policies in Mexico. Public participation in strategy and policy-making through processes Another option for integrating civil society perspectives into the development or review of a strategy or policy is to organise public consultation processes (which may or may not be followed by a formal decision). Here, participation is open to all and not a priori restricted to certain groups or determined by the government. Factors crucial to the success of this participation approach are the timely publication of the relevant documents and the nature of the possibilities that are available for discussion and comment on them. Brazil: Public participation in the National Plan on Climate Change and in energy planning and policy-making The National Plan on Climate Change prescribes that civil society be involved in its review via public consultation forums, such as the National Conference on the Environment or the Brazilian Climate Change Forum. Similarly in the field of energy planning, public consultations with civil society and businesses in the energy sector are used to adapt the National Energy Plan and the Ten-Year Expansion Plans and improve the accuracy of their predictions (Ministry of Mines and Energy, 2013, p. 8). Public consultations are also used for policy development: the 2001 Energy Efficiency Law established the public participation of civil society in consultations and hearings regarding the setting and revision of minimum energy efficiency standards, i.e. the maximum consumption of the respective equipment and machinery. Brazil can be seen as an example of good practice for providing channels for public participation in a wide range of energy-related matters. Public participation in the development of the South African Integrated Resource Plan South Africa’s central energy planning document, the Integrated Resource Plan was developed with the active participation of civil society stakeholders in two rounds. In a first round of participation, registered stakeholders received the first draft published by the DoE in early 2010 for comments in order to discuss the parameters underlying the modelling scenarios. This commenting period was complemented by a workshop for stakeholders. This revised version led to the energy expansion plan covering the 2010-2030 timeframe. The second round of participation was designed similarly: stakeholders received the draft of the revised IRP and modelling results, and the DoE hosted a series of stakeholder workshops on the draft IRP (Sigwebela, 2013). The IRP – particularly with regards to RE – changed significantly between the first DoE draft and the adjusted final version: the envisioned capacity from renewable energy in 2030 was increased significantly (from 11.4 to 17.8 GW) while the assumed total power demand in 2030 was lowered (Government of South Africa, 2013). The public participation in the IRP process is another example of good practice for being an integral part of the regular further development of the plan. The shift towards a greater role for RE illustrated in the figure below is a clear indicator for the power of public participation in the case of South Africa. [INSERT GRAPH] [Figure: Comparison of the initial Revised Balanced Scenario and the Policy-Adjusted IRP after public consultation,Source: Government of South Africa, 2011] Challenges in implementing the issue of participation [Expand] Avoiding rent seeking and policy capture by special interests. The participation of, in particular, representatives of civil society and business organisations in policy-making processes opens such processes up to all kinds of inputs and pressures from special interests. Still, this might happen to an even greater degree if they were conducted ‘behind closed doors’. Therefore, the best antidote to rent seeking and policy capture by special interest groups is greater transparency (e.g. by using web platforms or holding hearings in public) and broad participation from a wide range of stakeholders. Meaningful and broad participation. Another crucial question for the use of public participation is how it can be organized so that it has a meaningful impact. This means it should go beyond rubberstamping a proposal by the government that ‘cannot be changed’ or simply seeking ex-post legitimization through a pro forma engagement with non-governmental stakeholders – but also avoid blocks, stalemates and bottlenecks or the hijacking of the process by a minority of actors. The most promising approaches therefore appear to be those that assign stakeholders a clear role and voice early on the process, so that the outcome can be determined collectively, and those that combine clear rules of engagement with predefined milestones and feedback loops along the way. This final aspect allows for regular review of the state of discussions and for the government to clarify the way it intends to respond them.

Good Practices Brazil China India Mexico South Africa Turkey

Reference

This article is part of the RE-ACTIVATE project. RE-ACTIVATE “Promoting Employment through Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency in the MENA Region” is implemented by the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH on behalf of the German Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ).