Download Energy and the MDGs

Energy and the Millennium
Development Goals
How important is energy ?
What do you use energy for?
On separate pieces of paper or
post it notes write down as
many things as you can that you
use energy for in your life.
In your group see if you can
group them together into
categories e.g. heating,
communication
Feedback to the class
Imagine a life without
energy
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=usISdE-WSWU
Energy is important for
everyone
Thinking about the film, in your
group discuss anything else you
have found out that energy is
important for.
Write any new ideas on pieces of
paper and add to your categories.
You may want to add new
categories.
Information from images
Look at each of the 8
pictures. All these show
something happening that
needs energy.
If there is something new
your group didn’t think of
before write it on a piece
of paper and again add to
your categories.
The Millennium
Development goals
In 2000 a large number of
countries around the world who
form the
United Nations
agreed on 8 goals they would
try to reach by 2015 that would
dramatically improve the lives
of poor people around the
world. They called them the
Millennium Development Goals
or
MDGs
The 8 Millennium
Development Goals are…
Eradicate extreme hunger and poverty
Achieve universal primary education
Promote gender equality and empower women
Reduce child mortality
Improve maternal health
Combat HIV/AIDs, malaria and other diseases
Ensure environmental sustainability
Develop a global partnership for development
Watch this short video about
the MDGs
http://binged.it/1d1oXUj
Energy is important if we are
to reach the MDGs
In your groups cut out all the MDG symbols and
their meaning and match them e.g.
With
Improved maternal health
• Stick onto your A3 sheet.
• For each MDG write down at least two things
energy is needed for using everything you have
identified so far to help you e.g.
- Light… to deliver babies safely at night
- Hot water… to sterilise equipment needed
A reminder of the problem
Energy is vital for poor people to escape poverty and
important if we want to achieve the MDGs. The
problem is right now a third of the world’s population
has no access to modern energy services.
33.3333
1/3
33%
What happens after 2015?
The United Nations are working with organisations
like Practical Action to put together a new set of
goals for 2025…these will be called the Sustainable
Development goals or SDGs.
?
If you could write a goal for
energy what
would it be? Discuss in your group. Think about
- how many people should have energy?
- do you think energy needs to be renewable?
Write your own SDG
Write your own goal and design a logo
for it like the logos for the MDGs
Send your goal and logo to Kandeh Yumkella at
the UN who is working on the new goals,
[email protected]. Include a short note
saying why you feel helping people get energy is
so important in ending poverty.
Please also send it to us, we will put it on our
website [email protected]
To find out why Kandeh Yumkella is so passionate about giving
everyone energy go to http://bit.ly/1aqLnID
Kandeh
Yumkella
What else can you do?
Try the moja island activity to find out
about renewable energy in a fun way
practicalaction.org/moja-island 1
Help people in poverty by your own
actions…reduce your carbon footprint to
help reduce climate change and
therefore its impact on the poor, and
think about a career where you can make
a difference.
practicalaction.org/careers
What else can you do?
Look at how simple, affordable and
sustainable technologies are being
used to help reduce poverty such as
the ‘litre of light’, clean cookstoves
and low voltage fridges.
Show your support for organisations
like Practical Action who help
people get access to energy by
fund-raising
http://practicalaction.org/school-andyouth-groups
http://bbc.in/1gqADOg
Want to find out even more?
practicalaction.org/energy