Table 1. Objectives of the evaluation of UNDP support to energy access and transition and services assessed

The evaluation assesses all three objectives described in signature solution 5:

1. Increasing energy access

2. Transition to renewable energy and energy efficiency

3. Restoring energy access in post-crisis contexts

Across these objectives, UNDP services combine upstream (policy, institutional and investment support) and downstream activities with on-the-ground investments, which range from community-level to utility-scale systems. The organization is foremost focused on the development benefits of energy and promotes a range of technologies across the portfolio to improve energy service delivery and productive uses, particularly for the most vulnerable groups. As many intervention types may contribute to more than one objective, in order to form clear lines of inquiry, the evaluation assesses services in relation to objectives as set forth in table 1 below.

TABLE 1. Objectives of the evaluation of UNDP support to energy access and transition and services assessed

Objective Services* assessed:

Increasing energy access

• Support for meeting the electrical, thermal and mechanical energy needs of households, businesses and communities. • Promoting access to clean cooking. • Support in the energy-health nexus (where the primary objective is to improve the health service, rather than the efficiency of existing supply).

Transition to renewables and efficiency

• Replacing high greenhouse gas-emitting forms of energy with renewable sources. • Replacing inefficient energy technology and practices with lower-consuming versions in cooling, infrastructure, transport and other sectors.

Restoring access in post-crisis contexts

• Support to restore grid technologies. • Provision of alternative energy solutions for affected populations. • Incorporation of energy into crisis responses. • Support to recovery via zero-carbon development.

*These services were selected based on a document review of UNDP corporate and energy-specific strategies and consultations with the Bureau for Policy and Programme Support.

All forms of UNDP support directed towards these services were covered to the extent that relevant data were available. The report focuses on downstream activities – projects that provide a source of energy or efficiency measures – and upstream activities, covering the array of interventions designed to improve the enabling environment for increasing or improving access, such as policy support, the provision of technical expertise, capacity-building, private sector engagement and knowledge contributions. The evaluation includes a deeper exploration of the UNDP approach to de-risking energy investment, given the prominence of the tool in UNDP approach to energy.