Green Learning Network

This IEA Commentary was written in August 2023 and covers how enhancing energy efficiency and community benefits through local generation and sharing, digital tools boost the potential of local energy communities, community initiatives are empowering citizens, energy communities add to local value-chains gain, and citizen engagement is key to accelerating clean energy transitions.

For many countries but not all:

Nearly one in three people, most of them in the poorest regions of the world, still lack access to clean cooking facilities. And women bear the brunt of the consequences of not having electricity or clean cooking fuel. The task of collecting firewood or other dirty fuels falls predominantly on them, wasting scarce time and effort. Household air pollution, mostly from cooking smoke, is linked to around 2.5 million premature deaths a year, with women and children being the most exposed. This problem is particularly acute in Sub-Saharan Africa and the needs of African women, be they economic, social, or health-related, cannot be ignored in our path to ensuring inclusive energy transitions across the world. IEA's analysis shows that achieving universal access to clean cooking would require investment of USD 8 billion annually in stoves and infrastructure between now and 2030. This is less than 1% of what governments spent in 2022 globally on measures to keep energy affordable for their citizens. Building up on this policy priority, the Agency will soon convene global leaders for a Summit on Clean Cooking in Africa and lay the foundation for ensuring clean cooking access for all. Held on 14 May in Paris.

An IEA report prepared for the Ministerial, Reducing the Cost of Capital, shows that emerging and developing economies (outside China) account for less than 15% of total investment, despite being home to 65% of the world’s population and generating about a third of global gross domestic product. The report provides detailed insights into the risk factors that affect financing costs across seven clean energy sectors in emerging and developing economies and recommendations of what can be done to address them, based on case studies and best practices from Brazil, Colombia, India, Indonesia, Senegal, South Africa and Uganda.

This report on Just Transition Finance shows how the financial sector, particularly private banks and insurance companies, can support a just transition and outlines the social and economic impacts of the low-carbon transition. It also provides strategies to banks and insurers on how to promote the achievement of a just transition towards a sustainable future, including by redirecting funds to green technologies and innovative ventures.

This policy brief [Skills for Social Justice: Advancing social justice through stronger skills systems] focuses on skills for social justice, and specifically the powerful tool developing these skills can be. The strategic integration of skills in policies for greener jobs, structural transformations, social protection, digital transitions, and transitions to formality is necessary for creating an equitable and sustainable future for all. How will you use this information to further social justice and climate action?

Please take this survey concerning the working environment in which energy knowledge producers operate if you're a researcher, technician, expert, academic, or practitioner engaged in scientific and technological knowledge production for the energy sector. The collected data will be used to create project reports and scientific publications, accessible to the public. The analysis of survey results will contribute to a policy brief supporting inclusive knowledge production for a just energy transition.

Two Green Career Guides for All -- One showcases an inclusive approach to 'green jobs' and explains that these go much beyond windfarms and wellies. The other provides support for staff within institutions - careers advisors, curriculum coordinators, tutors, student support staff, placement supervisors, lecturers, and anyone else who supports students on progression and employment. It takes an inclusive and accessible approach to green jobs to help staff understand what a green job can look like, and some of the best ways to guide students to find a role that’s good for them and the planet. https://www.eauc.org.uk/green_careers_guide

The Anticipatory Social Protection Index for Resilience (ASPIRE) diagnostic tool is designed to assess the readiness of a country's existing social protection programmes to deliver climate resilience. Working at two levels, the tool assesses a country's overarching social protection policies and systems, guided by 36 indicators that cover policy objectives, innovation, risk definitions, target specifications, planning and budgeting process, and types of assistance. At the second level, ASPIRE examines specific programmes being implemented, evaluating their design features and functions using a combined set of 33 indicators. These indicators cover aspects such as cash transfers, public works, food assistance and their efficacy in delivering resilience outcomes such as prevention, protection and promotion.

Have you used this toolkit yet? - Integrated Policymaking and Empowering Communications for the Clean Energy Economy and Workforce . Produced by the Clean Energy Ministerial Empowering People Initiative and focused on workforce development for an inclusive clean energy transition, it is filled with practical tools, samples of good policies, strategies to build effective coalitions for change, building a green economy and more!

The IRENA-led session discussed how governments can successfully align Long-Term Energy Scenarios (LTES) and Long-Term Low-Emission Development Strategies (LT-LEDS). After a short presentation on IRENA's findings on LT-LEDS by Dr Asami Miketa (IRENA), Dr Melisande Liu from the CEM Secretariat moderated a panel discussion with two experts Dr Stelios Pesmajoglou, Manager Mitigation Division, UNFCCC Secretariat, and Dr Marius Oosthuizen, Director for Scenarios at the World Energy Council, who shared their thoughts on how governments can ensure that LTEDS reflect the interest and expertise of a wider range of stakeholders, making the planning process more robust and transparent, and thereby building trust and acceptance among the wider public. Following the event, LTES and the UNFCCC Secretariat agreed to explore further opportunities for collaboration, particularly in the area of training countries in the skills needed for LT-LEDS development.