This meeting was held from 9-11 July 2012 in Addis Ababa. The Environmental Economics Policy Forum for Ethiopia (EEPFE) received invitation as one of the most resourceful institutions that could play major roles in moving Africa’s energy agenda forward. Dr. Abebe Damte, Research Fellow of EEPFE, represented the forum on this meeting.
The meeting bought together selected energy experts to interactively produce and disseminate analytical and policy papers on sustainable energy access in Africa reflecting on past and present experiences to inform practical steps towards the future
The meeting was based on the UN
Secretary-General objectives set at the World Future Energy Summit in Abu Dhabi
this year. It was organized by the African Climate Policy Center (ACPC) and
co-partners, to review and analyze past and present efforts in energy access to
inform practical steps towards future efforts in achieving meaningful
sustainable energy access for all in Africa. One major output of this
initiative would be a report on the main gaps and priorities affecting modern
energy access in Africa and solution-based recommendations that will enhance
national and regional initiatives on the “Sustainable Energy for All” agenda.
The findings will feed into the work of the UN Secretary-General’s High Level
Group of Sustainable Energy for All.
This first consultative meeting
aimed at identifying the critical issues and barriers involved in the evolution
of modern and sustainable energy access in Africa with a view of enabling the
deployment, scale-up and replication of the most promising implementation approaches
including funding sources and mechanisms. Its objectives include developing a
common methodology for conducting country case studies, and assigning the
appropriate people to work on the cases.
One of the issues discussed on
this meeting was how academia can position itself to become relevant to energy
policy-makers and practitioners. If the
academia wants to enhance its role one of the
strategies is to identify priorities set by policy-makers and follow a
multidisciplinary apporach to solve the problem. “I think a demand-driven
approach is crucial so researches could be policy-relevant,” claimed Dr. Abebe.
“Great effort is required to bridge the communication gap between researchers
and policy-makers by raising awareness of studies that are undertaken by
academia.”
For more information on the
meeting, please contact Dr. Abebe Damte on abebed2002@yahoo.co.uk.