On the afternoon of July 9, 2024 (New York time), during the 2024 United Nations High-Level Political Forum on Sustainable Development (HLPF), the United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs (UN DESA), the ClimateWorks Foundation (CWF), and TUSDG co-hosted the HLPF Side Event——Accelerating the Energy Transition in the Global South. The aim of the meeting was to provide a platform for global experts in the field of climate and energy to discuss low-carbon development strategies, energy transition, renewable energy deployment, and other priorities that must be taken to mitigate climate change in order to contribute to the goal of a just global energy transition.
At the conference, Abdulla Nasser Lootah, Undersecretary of Cabinet Affairs for Competitiveness and Knowledge Exchange and Chairman of the UAE National Committee for SDGs, Li Junhua, Undersecretary General of the United Nations in charge of the Department of Economic and Social Affairs, and Xue Lan, Senior Professor of Liberal Arts at Tsinghua University, Director of Schwarzman College, and President of the Tsinghua SDG Research Institute, made opening speeches. Sonia Dunlop, CEO of the Global Solar Council, and Jiang Hao, Director of the International Business Department of the China Renwable Energy Engineering Institute delivered keynote speeches respectively. Dr. Zhang Jianyu, Chief Development Director of the BRI International Green Development Coalition, Phalkun Out, Program Manager of the Cambodia Energy Lab, Hannah Ryder, CEO of Development Reimagined, and Prof. Xue Lan participated in the expert dialogue. At the meeting, Nora Li, Cooperation and Development Manager, ClimateWorks China, and Bahareh Seyedi, Senior Sustainable Development Officer, UN DESA, moderated the side event and the expert dialogues respectively.
Abdullah Nasser Lootah's speech
Abdullah Nasser Lootah pointed out that the UAE Consensus provides the world with a roadmap for climate action by 2030, which includes a target to triple renewable energy. He emphasized that the world needs to invest at least $6 trillion in renewable energy over the next six years to achieve the 2030 target of 11 terawatts of renewable energy capacity. By 2030, the clean energy sector will require $4.5 trillion annually. He argued that the global South would need special assistance in implementing the UAE Consensus, and welcomed the support of the United Nations in promoting new ambitious nationally owned contributions.
Li Junhua's speech
Li Junhua mentioned that the world is at a critical juncture to actively address climate change and strive to achieve the SDGs by 2030. the results of the first global stocktaking of COP28 reflect the urgency of the mission. In order to achieve the 1.5°C target, there is a need to drive an accelerated global transition to renewable energy. Achieving this will be critical to realizing net-zero emissions by 2050, unlocking the economic benefits of job creation and energy security, and international cooperation, innovation and investment will be key to driving this shift.
Xue Lan's speech
With the United Nations 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development now at the halfway point, urgent action is self-evident, said Xue Lan. Countries in the global south are at the forefront of a potential transition, with rapid economic growth and increasing energy demand. He emphasized that last year China announced the completion of its dual-carbon “1+N” policy system, marking a good start in working towards the “dual-carbon” goal. Meanwhile, the Tsinghua SDG Research Institute is working with Tsinghua University to explore innovations in carbon neutrality and energy transition on campus, combining hard science and technology with talent training, public participation and international cooperation to better address global climate change.
Sonia Dunlop's speech
Sonia Dunlop delivered a keynote address on the theme “Harnessing solar energy: a global strategy for sustainability and resilience” and noted that solar energy had great potential for social development. She argued that the large number of jobs involved in installing solar energy means that the photovoltaic industry can support a just transition by creating jobs in towns and villages around the world. To unlock the potential of PV, we need more energy storage, electrification financing, flexible pricing, more flexible energy systems, and talent development building that can meet these needs.
Jiang Hao's speech
Jiang Hao delivered a keynote speech on the topic of “Illuminating Success: Strengthening Innovative Approaches to Scale Up Solutions”. He mentioned that over the past decade or so, China has adopted innovative measures to achieve world-renowned achievements in the field of renewable energy development, including regional strategic layouts, large renewable energy bases, demonstration projects and power system flexibility. In order to achieve the global tripling of renewable energy targets, South-South and North-South cooperation on renewable energy development should be promoted, and exchanges and sharing of views should be facilitated, so as to join hands in building a greener and more sustainable future.
Subsequently, in the Expert Dialogue on “Bridging the Gap between Energy Transition and Renewable Energy Deployment”, experts discussed in depth the issues of “AI for Energy Transition, Fiscal Contribution to the Establishment of a Fairer and More Equitable Energy System, and Experiences of the South in Realizing Energy Transition”, and so on. In the Expert Dialogue session, experts discussed “AI for Energy Transition, Financial Contribution to Building a Fairer and More Equitable Energy System, Experience of Southern Countries in Realizing Energy Transition”. The session was moderated by Bahareh Seyedi, Senior Sustainable Development Officer, UN DESA.
Expert dialogues
Xue Lan talked about the role of AI in helping to create more modern renewable energy systems, especially in promoting a more efficient role for the Internet. He also mentioned the relationship between financial problems and unclean energy in developing countries, and argued that the current cost of energy transition is very high. Zhang Jianyu mentioned that under the premise of multiple global crises, countries have become more prudent in the use of finances, and cited China's financial investment in the energy transition as an example, suggesting that the country should invest more in the energy transition. Phalkun Out briefly summarized the history of Cambodia's development in the energy transition from the country's experience and discussed the market, competitiveness, technology, and lack of national capacity as a developing country facing the energy transition. Hannah Ryder shared the experience of Africa as a country in the Global South. Hannah Ryder shared Africa's experience as a country of the Global South, which is also full of great potential and challenges, and used the energy transition process in some countries as an example of the barriers that Africa needs to overcome.
Closing Remarks by Zhang Xiaohua
Finally, Zhang Xiaohua emphasized in his closing remarks that achieving the triple renewable energy target is not just a numerical change, but a systemic and revolutionary change for the entire power system. China's practice has proved that vigorous development of renewable energy will bring social, economic, climate and environmental benefits. In his view, many developing countries were facing various challenges and bottlenecks in the process of renewable energy development. In order to achieve the threefold renewable energy target, we urgently need to strengthen international cooperation to help countries, especially those in the global South, to overcome those challenges in order to achieve a breakthrough.
Group photo of guests
Photo | ClimateWorks Foundation
