Local Ownership and Engagement for NDC Implementation

 academic article/report  Comments Off on Local Ownership and Engagement for NDC Implementation
Dec 032018
 

Concept idea by SD Strategies (Alexander Ochs, Ieva Indriunaite) and the Ministry of Energy (Esther Wangombe), Kenya, for the NDC Support Cluster of the German Ministry of the Environment

Introduction: The approach proposes a holistic multi-level process for the development of an NDC action plan, which strengthens local-level engagement to connect high-level policy commitments and concrete project implementation. The underlying aim of the local ownership and engagement approach is to provide a way for incorporating community concerns, knowledge, expertise and capacity into the national climate policy formulation and implementation processes (…)

Conclusion/next steps: There is a growing recognition that locally-driven participatory approaches can strengthen the design of climate policy and measures as well as their implementation. A policy, action plan or a project that is designed through the collaboration at all levels of government and that takes the perspectives, knowledge and capacities from local communities into consideration during the formulation stage is more likely to succeed and have a higher impact than traditional approaches that know only one way: top-down. The local ownership and engagement approach outlined in this concept paper offers a promising way towards achieving this goal. Its application in a particular country needs to be well thought through and adjusted to the local circumstances and capacities. It is important to ensure that lessons from pioneer countries such as Kenya are captured and fed back into the global pool of knowledge.

Please find the full paper here: [NDC Cluster]

New SEforALL report is out

 academic article/report  Comments Off on New SEforALL report is out
Sep 202017
 

I am excited to see that the new SEforALL report has just been publised:

TAKING THE PULSE – UNDERSTANDING ENERGY ACCESS MARKET NEEDS IN FIVE HIGH-IMPACT COUNTRIES

I am a contributing author.

Here it is: http://www.seforall.org/sites/default/files/2017_SEforALL_FR3.pdf

 

WEBINAR RECORDING: Energy Low-Emissions Development Strategies: A Regional Overview of Africa and Experiences from Cape Verde and Kenya

 webinar  Comments Off on WEBINAR RECORDING: Energy Low-Emissions Development Strategies: A Regional Overview of Africa and Experiences from Cape Verde and Kenya
Jan 232015
 

LEDS_GP_logoRecording of the webinar from 22 January 2015:

webinar_image

 

 

 

 

 Introduction & Moderation

Alexander Ochs, Worldwatch Institute/EWG Chair

 Regional Overview: Low Emission Energy Development in Africa
John Yeboah, ECOWAS Centre for Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency/EWG co-Chair

 Learning from Cape Verde’s Renewable Energy Plan
Anildo Costa, Consultant to the Government of Cape Verde

 Learning from Kenya’s Renewable Energy Plan
Esther Wang’ombe, Government of Kenya

Q&A

 

Energy Low-Emissions Development Strategies: A Regional Overview of Africa and Experiences from Cape Verde and Kenya

 webinar  Comments Off on Energy Low-Emissions Development Strategies: A Regional Overview of Africa and Experiences from Cape Verde and Kenya
Jan 162015
 

LEDS_GP_logoDear Friends and Colleagues,

I am excited to announce the next webinar in our series on regional leaders in climate-compatible development and their innovative energy approaches from around the world.

Please join us on January 22 at 2 PM GMTfor an online sessionon Energy Low-Emissions Development Strategies: A Regional Overview of Africa and Experiences from Cape Verde and Kenya. Please register for free at https://attendee.gotowebinar.com/register/5131648729578459906.

Our regional leaders series is part of our work within the Low Emission Development Strategies – Global Partnership (LEDS-GP), an international initiative aiming to enhance information exchange and cooperation among countries, international programs and practitioners working to advance climate-compatible growth. Worldwatch, as host of the secretariat of the LEDS Energy Working Group (EWG), facilitates these webinars in cooperation with the LEDS Regional Platforms. Recordings of our previous sessions on Latin America/Caribbean and Asia, as well as other LEDS-EWG webinars, can be found here.

[Here] you can find a flyer. Please help us spread the news about this exciting series. Thank you!

Best,

Alexander Ochs
Director, Climate and Energy Program
Worldwatch Institute

Is Africa’s Nuclear Power Renaissance Heading Into An Abyss?

 online interview  Comments Off on Is Africa’s Nuclear Power Renaissance Heading Into An Abyss?
Mar 212014
 

AFK_logo

By D.A. Barber AFKI Original

South Africa, which currently relies on coal for more than 85 percent of its electricity, wants to wean itself off fossil fuels by using more nuclear power by 2030. Kenya, Nigeria, and other sub-Saharan countries have similar aspirations and are not far behind. (…)

Nuclear power plant construction has stagnated worldwide, according to an October 2013 report from U.S.-based Worldwatch Institute. 

Nuclear is the only mainstream power source – including all of the renewables and all the fossil fuels – that is stagnant and has actually had negative growth, said Alexander Ochs, director of the Climate and Energy Program at Worldwatch Institute, in an AFKInsider interview.

The reason for that stagnation of nuclear? It’s not that countries are forbidden to build them — it’s simply economics, Ochs said. Utilities are unwilling to carry the high costs and the high risks. (…)

“I’m just not sure why you would go down a nuclear route, which is extremely expensive,” Worldwatch Institute’s Ochs told AFKInsider. “You’re not building a nuclear power plant in a couple years. It’s a 15-year project. South Africa has a lot of coal left. I’m not a huge fan of getting the coal out of the ground and burning it, but it gives you time for a transitional strategy towards renewable technologies that are actually using the enormous potentials that you have in the country. To me it doesn’t make any sense.” (…) Continue reading »