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Webinar - North x South Series: Responding to the Rising Costs of Electricity

Organiser: The Center on Global Energy Policy (CGEP) at Columbia University

Rising electricity tariffs are a concern for consumers everywhere, affecting everything from household budgets to agricultural and industrial viability. Over a third of the households in the United States face some form of energy insecurity, with many having to make difficult choices between paying for electricity, food, and medicine.

The US has introduced several provisions for improving affordability, such as capping the bills to 6 percent of the household income. In other countries like India for example, while the household expenditure on electricity is currently 1.5 percent of the total income, that figure is expected to rise with increasing consumption and tariffs. In Kenya, some domestic consumers saw their tariffs increase by over 60 percent in the summer of 2023.

This webinar is the first of North x South Series (NxSS), an initiative of the Energy Opportunity Lab at Columbia University’s Center on Global Energy Policy. NxSS facilitates interdisciplinary multi-country dialogue on salient energy topics, identifying common themes and cross-learnings among countries in the global north and global south.

You can find more information here and register via this link.

Webinar - World Press Freedom Day - The Intersections of Press Freedom and the Environment

Organiser: Freedom of the Press Foundation (FPF) and the Society of Environmental Journalists (SEJ)

This panel discussion will address obstacles U.S. journalists face when reporting urgent climate change and environmental issues for their communities — whether violence or arrest when covering environmental protests or denials of access and legal obstructions when investigating centers of political and corporate power.

For a global perspective, here’s an excerpt from UNESCO’s “A Press for the Planet: Journalism in the Face of the Environmental Crisis,” a discussion on why climate change, biodiversity loss and air pollution, along with related public health, democracy and disinformation concerns, have been chosen as this year’s theme for World Press Freedom Day (May 3):

“The information ecosystem has a key role to play in responding to this existential crisis. The access to reliable information and the importance of strengthening independent environmental and scientific journalism is more critical than ever. It is important to be very clear: independent journalists as well as scientists are crucial actors in helping our societies to separate facts from lies and manipulation in order to take informed decisions, including about environmental policies. Investigative journalists are also shedding light on environmental crimes, exposing corruption and powerful interests, and sometimes paying the ultimate price for doing their job.

That is why, in 2024, World Press Freedom Day will be dedicated to the importance of journalism and freedom of expression in the context of the current global environmental crisis.”

You can find more information here and register via this link.

Hybrid event - African Voices: African reforms and priorities for Climate Finance

Organiser: European Council on Foreign Relations (ECFR)

The lack of affordable finance for climate projects in Africa is a key barrier for the continent to reach its adaptation and mitigation goals. It is estimated that African countries will require 2.5 trillion USD in external financing between 2020-2030 to implement their nationally determined contributions under the Paris agreement. Current flows fall far short of this goal, with the financing available estimated to be only 12% of what is needed.

COP29, due to its focus on climate finance, provides an opportunity for European policymakers to make significant advances in this area. Nevertheless, current policy discussions overestimate the amount of resources available and overlook the complexity in implementing significant policies.

European policymakers need to engage with an inconvenient truth: political and financial capital are limited, and policymakers will need to prioritise where these resources should flow. The technically, politically, and legally complicated nature of many policies in climate finance mean that implementing any of the proposed solutions is a difficult task. But, until now, Europeans have spread these resources too thinly over an array of policy proposals. This means that Europeans and other actors have struggled to make breakthroughs in different areas. Fixing the funding gap will require greater focus.

Focusing also means that European and G20 policymakers need to prioritise. But in choosing what to prioritise, Europeans should rely on the expertise of African Voices. Not only are African figures best able to identify the needs of African countries with regards to climate finance, but they are also reservoirs of technical expertise. Institutions such as the African Union and the African Development Bank have led the way in financial innovation, such as the use of hybrid capital.

You can find more information on the registration here.

Webinar - Inclusive economic diversification and energy transition

Organiser: Un Trade & Development (UNCTAD)

In October 2023, UN Trade and Development (UNCTAD) launched a new edition of the Commodities and Development Report entitled “Inclusive Diversification and Energy Transition.”  This report highlights that most developing countries depend heavily on exporting commodities and, as a result, they are vulnerable to shocks such as fluctuations in exchange rates, drop in commodity prices, pandemics, and conflicts.  Consequently, these so-called commodity-dependent developing countries experience volatile incomes and slow growth in productivity. Their limited range of commodities exported also affects public revenue and the potential for investing in sustainable development.

The Commodities and Development Report 2023 examines various issues including inclusive diversification, energy transition and green industrial policies. Regarding the member countries covered by UNESCAP, several topics such as economic diversification, inequality, green industrial policies are of interest.

You can find more information here and register via this link.

Webinar - Electrifying Change: Introducing the Electrical Utilities Criteria for Net-Zero Path Certification

Organiser: Climate Bonds Initiative (CBI)

Discover the transformative Electrical Utilities Criteria, now integral to the Climate Bonds Standard for entity certification, in our upcoming webinar. This new framework marks a vital expansion, targeting the electricity sector's significant contribution to global greenhouse gas emissions and its journey towards net-zero.

We'll cover how these criteria offer a robust, science-based approach for electrical utilities to align their financing—with a keen focus on bonds, loans, and sustainability-linked debt—with stringent climate objectives. Designed to limit global temperature rises and enhance energy resilience, this certification plays a crucial role in meeting the Paris Agreement's ambitious targets.

Hear from experts on the importance of Mitigation and Adaptation Requirements and the impact of certification in steering the sector towards a sustainable future. Ideal for stakeholders in the electrical utilities sector, investors, and those interested in climate finance, this session promises essential insights into accelerating the transition to a low-carbon economy. Join us to learn how your entity can contribute to a sustainable future through strategic climate action.

You can find more information here and register via this link.

Webinar - Hydrogen Sales & Purchase Agreement: Challenges Contract Standardization

Organiser: Florence School of Regulation (FSR)

In this FRS Talk, Dr. Nuno Antunes joins us to present some results of the research & development conducted by the Hydrogen Task Force of AIEN, Association of International Energy Negotiators, which ultimately has the purpose of developing model contracts within the hydrogen realm, including the Hydrogen Sales and Purchase Agreement (H2 SPA).

Many projects of renewable and low-carbon hydrogen are currently in the design or pre-FEED stage. The issue of hydrogen offtaking (and offtakers) has proven to be a critical concern. Sale and purchase agreements for hydrogen and its derivatives have thus moved into the spotlight, and have become one of the key contracting instruments for the emerging hydrogen market. The AIEN, known for its track record in developing model agreements for the oil and gas sector, initiated a “Hydrogen Taskforce” in 2022 to explore contract standardization in the hydrogen field. This webinar will provide an overview of some of the task force’s efforts, forthcoming steps, and specific challenges that have been faced.

You can find more information here and register via this link.

Webinar - Integrating Voluntary Sustainability Standards in Trade Agreements: Charting a path for sustainable trade

Organiser: The International Institute for Sustainable Development (IISD)

Before 2018, only 17 free trade agreements (FTAs) had ever referenced voluntary sustainability standards (VSSs). By 2023, that figure had more than doubled. What is driving this trend? Will it lead to more sustainable trade?

IISD and ISEAL are hosting a webinar for different actors engaged in trade policy to learn about the ways that VSSs have been integrated into trade policy to advance sustainability. Focusing on the specific example of FTAs, IISD experts will present recent research and discuss with panelists why more and more FTAs are referencing VSSs and how this integration has played out in practice.

You can find more information here and register via this link.

Webinar - Bridge Building in Baku: Towards a Transformative Climate Finance Goal

Organiser: World Resources Institute (WRI)

Coming to grips with the climate crisis requires unprecedented measures to deeply decarbonize every sector of the economy, conserve and restore nature and better protect people from increasingly severe climate impacts. For many developing countries, making this transition will be impossible without significantly more and higher quality finance. To address this, the world will come together at COP29 in Baku, Azerbaijan to negotiate a new global goal for climate finance for the first time in fifteen years. The “new collective quantified goal” (NCQG) must be defined through a global, evidence-based conversation about the scale of developing countries’ needs to confront the climate crisis.

During this webinar, World Resources Institute experts will: 

• Unpack the key elements of the new finance goal and the critical choices that negotiators will grapple with in the coming months. 
• Lay out principles that can help bridge differences on major issues such as the goal’s size and scope and which countries should contribute. 
• Cover how this new finance goal is situated within broader multilateral financial reform and how the outcome in Baku will shape whether developing countries have the confidence to substantially increase their climate ambitions in the next round of Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) which are due in early 2025.

You can find more information here and register via this link.

Webinar - Powering the future: Smart cities leading on climate action

Organiser: International Energy Agency (IEA)

The decarbonisation of cities is a global priority, and local governments are instrumental to achieving national commitments and objectives. Improved access to and use of data for decision making can support faster and more targeted implementation and help align city and power system planning. Digital solutions and systems can be particularly powerful in cities, where high-density environment creates economies of scale, creating new opportunities.

During this webinar, the IEA will launch the Digital Demand-Driven Electricity Networks (3DEN) Initiative's second flagship report “Urban Energy Futures: Towards smarter cities through smart grids” as part of IEA’s support to the Italian governments’ Presidency of the G7. Exploring a large range of projects and initiatives implemented in power systems and cities around the world, the report provides insights on emerging best practices, innovative approaches and how barriers and challenges can be tackled. It also focuses on ways national governments can help cities accelerate clean, affordable, and inclusive energy transitions and ensure resilience and ability to adapt to climate change.

The webinar will also bring diverse perspectives by convening leading international experts on city-level climate and energy project implementation, to share insights on urban-oriented inclusive policy in action in areas such as energy, transport, buildings, and digitalisation.

You can find more information here and register via this link.

Webinar - EU’s climate action - What's the way forward?

Organiser: Euractiv

Join this Euractiv Hybrid Conference to discuss the way forward for a successful transition and the next steps to achieve the EU’s climate goals. Questions to be addressed include:

- What are the main challenges the EU faces in meeting its objectives, and how does it plan to address them?
- What will be the key priorities for the next European Commission to achieve the EU’s climate goals?
- What role does innovation play in achieving the EU's climate goals?
- What are the strategies to ensure a just transition for all communities and sectors affected by the shift towards a sustainable economy?

You can find more information here and register via this link.

Webinar - Experimentalist governance in energy: insights from the EU

Organiser: Florence School of Regulation (FSR)

Dr. Bernardo Rangoni will illustrate some of the results of his extensive research on the governance of various industries, which was recently published in a book by Oxford University Press (Experimentalist Governance: From Architectures to Outcomes). He will focus on two issues at the heart of both the electricity and gas industry – network access and tariffication – and also touch upon more recent ones, such as market manipulation and renewables. By comparing the developments within and across the two sectors, he will show what conditions can lead to the emergence and resilience of non-hierarchical governance in energy and beyond.

You can find more information here and register via this link.