DATE / TIME:

July 16, 2021    14:00 - 15:30

Location:

Accra

Date: Friday 16th July 2021

Time: 2 PM (GMT) | 10 AM (EDT)

Duration: 1 hr 30

REGISTER HERE

There has been criticism that low-carbon development emphasises the ‘green’ over the ‘justice’ elements.

The African continent is responsible for just 3% of global emissions, yet industrialisation has not been achieved, and energy poverty is abysmal. In addition, the continent possesses huge potential for carbon offsetting through carbon sequestration from its natural resources like forestry. That being said, an ever-growing young population and high urbanisation is likely to change the continent’s low emissions as development and infrastructural needs grow. Thus, early action will matter for climate mitigation and adaptation.

Nonetheless, green transition is a choice, and has a price that entails opportunity costs. While Africa’s compliance is vital to global climate ambition,  who bears the social and economic costs is of global significance. The ability to determine the speed, scale and timing of the transition will matter, as will the relevant knowledge and skills to enable important transition decisions to be taken.

Understanding the depth of the political economy implications of transitions towards low carbon development is essential for more inclusive green transition pathways. 

This webinar will discuss the political economy of just transitions, covering some of the more controversial issues such as the right to use gas as a bridging fuel. In so doing, it is hoped that a fair and balanced discussion on Africa’s green transition pathways can be had to enable a wider understanding of justice and policy recommendations that speak to local realities and contexts.

The webinar format will take the form of a debate to ensure a deep and dynamic discussion.

Speakers

Challenger

Register here

More details on the theme and webinar structure can be found here:

Nature Speaks Blurb – Webinar 2 Just Transitions – 5 July

A concept note for the Nature Speaks Webinar Series can be found here:

GREAT Pathways Nature Speaks Webinar Series – Concept Note

Speaker bios

Speaker Bios – Just transitions 16 July

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This webinar is the second of a four-part series as part of the Green African Transformation (GREAT) Pathways project, led by United Nations University’s Institute for Natural Resources in Africa (UNU-INRA) and funded by the German Federal Ministry of Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ).

The project explores Africa’s development priorities, in the context of the new cycle of Africa-Europe partnership, and outlines ways in which the European Green Deal could be beneficial for both Europe and Africa. The resulting Discussion Paper and Briefing Note raise questions around political economy issues such as what to do about stranded assets, examines transitional strategies to support Africa’s recovery and green development pathways, and whether poses the question of whether natural gas is a strong contender for a bridging fuel.

The project makes use of a knowledge consortium including the African Union Commission (AUC), the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (UN-ECA), the African Development Bank (AfDB), Adelphi, the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GiZ), and others. Several associated knowledge products were produced, ranging from a series of op-eds authored by a network of high-level Champions to policy briefs and human interest stories.

The main aim of the webinar series is to present the key messages of the project and provide recommendations for Africa’s green transition and opportunities for Africa-Europe partnership. It is hoped that this will push forward visionary African perspectives that may lead to higher ambitions for cooperation between the regions ahead of the upcoming Africa-Europe Summit in 2022. The outreach will provide a platform to facilitate dialogue for policymakers, academics, civil society and other stakeholders to better inform policy options and negotiations during the Summit.

See the last event here:

Bolstering Africa’s green transitions: The role of an African-European partnership