Low Carbon Energy Development Network (LCEDN) Second International Workshop

Julia Day

The second international workshop of the Low Carbon Energy for Development Network (LCEDN), titled Transitions to low carbon energy systems: which pathways to energy access for all?, will take place at the University of Sussex in Brighton in the UK on the 10th and 11th September 2012.

This second LCEDN event is intended to identify and discuss priority questions that need to be answered to meet the UN goal of “Sustainable energy for all”. Reflecting on the outcomes and implications of Rio+20, the workshop will have a particular focus on the extent to which low carbon development can simultaneously address concerns around energy access, poverty reduction, human development and economic growth.

The workshop is international in both its scope and significance and it will be hosted by the STEPS Centre and SPRU – Science & Technology Policy Research and at the University of Sussex, and is supported by the UK Department of Energy and Climate Change (DECC) and the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC).

The event will involve participants drawn from across a wide array of academic communities, government departments, private sector organisations and NGOs, as well as a range of countries.

Workshop goals
Intended outcomes include the forging of new south-north partnerships for addressing the research priorities emerging from the workshop and will be designed to address a series of questions, such as:

  • In addition to the technical issues of low carbon energy technologies, what are the challenges to achieving energy access for all?
  • What are the links between energy technologies, energy services, development and poverty reduction?
  • What are the implications for energy access of rapid urbanisation and what can we do as researchers, policy makers and practitioners to ensure the provision of sustainable energy for the urban poor?
  • What financing mechanisms work, and what else needs to be done to make finance work for the poor?

Planned sessions include

  • The development benefits of low carbon energy access: what is the evidence?
  • Transformative energy pathways: the political economy of low carbon energy access
  • Group consultations on the evidence and the challenges
  • Low carbon energy technology transfer, development and poverty reduction
  • Financing sustainable energy for all: what works, and what needs to change?
  • Plenary discussion identifying follow-on workshops, partnerships and research priorities

We are currently in the process of securing a number of excellent speakers and will provide updates on this over the coming weeks. In the meantime, please do save the dates and we hope to see you in Brighton in early September. See the event website for more details and how to register online.

Contact:
For specific enquiries and for further conference, transport and accommodation details, please contact:
Dr Rob Byrne Research Fellow SPRU and STEPS CentreFreeman Centre, University of Sussex, Brighton, BN1 9QE, UK
E-mail: [email protected]T: +44 (0)1273 873217

STEPS work on energy and climate change: