The Energy Modelling Platform for Africa (EMP-A) Joint High Level Community Meeting started today in Cape Town, South Africa. The meeting, which takes place from the 16th to the 18th of March, is convened by African Energy Futures (AEF), Climate Compatible Growth (CCG) and the South African Presidential Climate Commission (PCC) and it brings together researchers and policy makers involved in energy planning and modelling across Africa.
The event will facilitate learning exchanges, promoting South–South collaboration and strengthening human and institutional capacity for integrated energy modelling and investment planning. The workshop will deliver case studies, including presentations on Turkey’s use of Climate, Land, Energy and Water Systems (CLEWs) modelling in the design of its Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs), and the PCC’s experience in establishing and coordinating a Community of Practice (CoP) of researchers across a range of modelling areas in South Africa. Finally, the conference will provide a matchmaking ‘marketplace’ where researcher needs will be matched to resources, including: peer mentoring, coaching, tool and data support, curriculum assets, policy linkages, facilitating ongoing learning and networking between institutions, across multiple countries.
Jurgen Olivier, Secretariat of the PCC, comments: “From our perspective we want to encourage our colleagues – from academics to policymakers – to remember when they are doing their analysis and planning, that people will be affected by the decisions they take. These choices are not theoretical, they have real impact on people’s lives. We’re excited to see this dynamic conference take place”.
Steve Nicholls, Project Director at AEF, adds: “AEF was established to build institutional capacity, and our goal is to establish a continental network of energy planning and research hubs that will continually exchange knowledge and resources. This event brings together the nascent African network to begin to learn from each other.”
Prof. Mark Howells, Programme Director at CCG, concludes: “It’s crucial that our potential philanthropic and funding partners understand that this conference is where they will find the climate solutions they are looking for: the clean energy projects with credible business cases, and the data-driven realities that enable them to know that their investment will make a difference because it’s targeted in the right place, for the right people. And they’ll find a community grounded in economic reality and using data to provide real actionable insights to support projects that will benefit all aspects of life – health, education, economic growth, female empowerment – fuelled by sustainable solutions. We need them, now, to help African countries scale up and reinforce this momentum through investment – to deliver the change the continent needs.”
To get updates on the conference, follow AEF, CCG and the PCC on LinkedIn.