Under the motto “Sustainable Germany”, MISEREOR has for years been calling on industrialised nations like Germany to initiate a radical change of direction on energy policy. To give the countries of the South a fair chance of development, the industrialised nations must make sizeable cuts in their energy consumption and greatly expand the use of renewables. At the same time, in the countries of the South, MISEREOR is pressing for fair access to energy for the poor. After all, energy is indispensable to development and in the fight against poverty. For the poor, energy must be affordable and accessible, and at the same time it should not impact negatively on the environment.

Promoting renewable energies and energy supply is an integral part of many of MISEREOR’s projects. MISEREOR also supports energy projects in which power from the sun, water and biomass is harnessed specifically with poverty reduction and energy-efficient building in mind. Many projects focus more on setting up distribution networks and supporting the poor in forming their own organisations than on the purely technical aspects. It is most of all the poor rural population and urban slum-dwellers who are denied access to energy. The first step is often to encourage these groups to assert their rights.

The next step in many cases is to initiate civil society dialogue in order to explore how the state, private power utilities and the poor themselves can contribute to improving their access to energy. But in poor regions, the economics are difficult: it is hard to recoup high investment costs when purchasing power is limited and profit margins are meagre. The poor are granted access to the electricity grid only when the power utilities are sure that electricity charges will be paid. One payment system which was developed in South Africa and has been the subject of international discussion is the ‘pre-paid card’. It will be necessary to find appropriate forms of payment corresponding to the financial resources of the poor, while providing security for the power utilities.

Educational measures too are a core component of energy supply projects promoted by MISEREOR: technicians are trained so that the energy supply systems in the future can be maintained and repaired by local experts, and social workers upgraded so that they can support the poor in claiming their right to energy. The Stewardship of Creation and environmental awareness-raising are important aspects of youth and adult education activities.