Context

Although Africa contributes about 4% to global greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, the Paris Agreement provides a framework through which African countries can increasingly realize the benefits of harnessing their abundant renewable energy resources – including wind, solar, hydropower, geothermal, bioenergy and indeed some marine energy, capitalising on opportunities under the Agreement to contribute to global efforts on climate change mitigation. In so doing, African countries can address the huge energy deficit on the continent whilst simultaneously contributing to climate action and socioeconomic development.

Numerous African nations have therefore highlighted renewable energy and energy efficiency actions in their nationally determined contributions to climate action (NDCs) for implementation of the Paris Agreement. Yet, the level of detail complementing renewable energy strategies in NDCs varies from country to country. In some cases, there is specific information on the relevant targets envisaged while in others, countries allude to possible reform of the energy sector to increase the share of renewable energy in their respective national energy mix. Yet there is significant scope for countries to increase their renewable energy and energy efficiency ambition their NDCs if the political will, coherent policies and the enabling environment for enhanced private sector investments are in place - learning from successes in other countries in Africa and other regions.

To capitalise on the continent’s plentiful renewable energy potential to drive social and economic transformation, there is a need not only to understand the technical potential for renewable energy in the countries, but more so to ensure institutional readiness and capacities to attract private sector investment and to facilitate investment planning to support the realisation of that potential. Unlocking transformative financing from various sources to unleash the renewable energy potential of Africa countries requires policy makers to put in place the right market signals through appropriate incentives, policies and regulatory framework. This requires, inter alia, identification and sharing of good practices for enhancing coherence of NDCs in terms of energy actions and related areas. The NDCs of African countries – which all include renewable energy and energy efficiency actions in one form or another – require conditional and unconditional investments of over USD 2.5 trillion. With limited public resources for investment, it is imperative that limited public finances are instead used to leverage private sector resources, including through domestic resource mobilization. Such investments will not materialize in the absence of effective renewable energy and energy efficiency policies and regulatory frameworks.

Objective

The overall objective of the meeting is to bring together state and non-state actors under the framework of the Paris Agreement, including energy policy makers, private and finance sector actors, development partners and civil society organizations to review, enrich and validate a study by the African Climate Policy Centre (ACPC) of the Economic Commission for Africa to evaluate the national renewable energy and energy efficiency policies of all African countries and to identify good practices for enhancing mitigation and adaptation ambitions through enhanced private sector investments, as well as identify areas for greater coherence and ambition in renewable energy and energy efficiency components of nationally determined contributions (NDCs) to climate action in preparation for the Talanoa Dialogue ahead of COP24.

Expected Outcomes

Validated review of opportunities, polices, strategies and compendium of good practice for enhancing renewable energy and energy efficiency climate action ambition in NDCs through active private sector participation and investments.

Date and Venue

The meeting will be held on 29th March 2018 at the United Nations Conference Center (UNCC), Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.

Participants

The meeting will be attended by about 60 participants, namely energy policy makers, private and finance sector actors, development partners and civil society organizations drawn from African countries and institutions involved in the area of renewable energy and energy efficiency.

Information Note

Hotel List

Presentations

Renewable Energy Policy & Regulatory Framework for Enhanced Coherence of NDCs in Africa - Ghana Experience - Wisdom Ahiataku-Togobo

NDCs implementation in Cameroon - Emadak Alphonse

Malawi Perspectives and Experiences with renewable energy policy & regulatory frameworks for enhanced coherence of NDCs - Clement M. Tikiwa

Untapped Potential for Climate Action - Renewable Energy in African NDCs - Toshiaki Nagata

National Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency Policies and Regulatory Framework for Enhanced coherence of NDCs - Lena Mangondo