Policy panel

Advancing policy-relevant energy transitions research in Africa: Challenges and opportunities

Tuesday, June 18, 9:00-10:45 AM

Eastern Time USA

Achieving universal energy access by 2030 while progressing towards net-zero emissions is an urgent and complex challenge, particularly for developing and emerging economies. Currently, about 800 million people globally lack access to electricity, with 600 million of these residing in sub-Saharan Africa. Additionally, 2.6 billion people worldwide lack access to clean cooking technologies. Despite these energy deficits, countries are ambitiously working towards clean, affordable energy solutions as part of their Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) and Long-Term Strategies (LTSs) for net-zero emissions by 2050.

This policy panel will start with a brief overview of SETI’s recent short course experience on “Advancing policy-relevant energy transitions research in Africa: Challenges and opportunities”, which was led by Marc Jeuland and Amin Karimu and hosted by the Economic Policy Research Unit at the University of Cape Town. We will then hear three of the top-ranked proposal ideas that emerged from policymakers and policy-oriented researchers who participated in the course. The roughly 30 participants included alumni from EfD’s Inclusive Green Economy Program and junior researchers from the SETI network. Finally, the session will move to a moderated discussion, gathering feedback from the SETI community. Marc Jeuland (Duke University), and Amin Karimu (University of Cape Town) will chair.