Accelerating the global transition to a sustainable and inclusive clean energy future

The PPCA high-level event “Accelerating the global transition to a sustainable and inclusive clean energy future” showcased how the PPCA is bringing together national and subnational governments, private sector organizations and civil society in unprecedented partnerships to eliminate unabated coal-fired electricity and accelerate the clean energy transition.

When? Thursday, September 17, 2020, 08:30-10:00 AM EST (Eastern time US and Canada), 13:30-15:00 BST (London), 14:30-16:00 CEST (Brussels)

The recording of the event is available here.

United Nations: Achieving the Energy Transition Programme

The world has changed radically in the year since the United Nations (UN) Secretary-General’s 2019 Climate Action Summit. At the Climate Action Summit in 2019, nine main initiatives related to energy transition emerged. One year on from the Summit, the UN wanted to showcase the results these initiatives had achieved and discuss how the initiatives could support countries’ efforts to recover better and contribute to enhancing nationally determined contributions (NDCs). UN Energy Transition Track co-leads, the Danish and Ethiopian UN Missions, hosted a webinar event programme for the energy transition initiatives from September 3-17, 2020 in lead up to Climate Week NYC 2020.

PPCA Feature Event: Accelerating the global transition to a sustainable and inclusive clean energy future

COVID-19 has caused unparalleled hardship for billions of people and communities around the world. As the world recovers from the impacts of the pandemic, we have a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to put the global energy sector on a clean, low-carbon, resilient growth trajectory. This event showcased how the PPCA is bringing together national and subnational governments, private sector organizations and civil society in unprecedented partnerships to eliminate unabated coal-fired electricity and accelerate the clean energy transition.

The event highlighted how the PPCA is engaging with the international energy community, including coal-intensive economies, to expand the range of accessible clean energy options and resources including support for a just transition in affected regions. Building on this, the event demonstrated the accelerated actions and economic reforms PPCA members and partners are taking to align with global climate efforts and build a solid foundation for more resilient and sustainable societies.

This PPCA event was a key moment for the Alliance to showcase its progress and impact to a captive international audience, with accomplishments that directly support the UN Secretary-General’s calls for no new coal by 2020 and to “recover better” from COVID-19. The Alliance communicated its desire to press for greater global ambition and its goal to make this next year a defining moment for coal phase-out and climate action, under the United Kingdom’s COP 26 presidency.

Format

The event featured exciting announcements and remarks from top-level public officials actively working to accelerate the global energy transition from North America, Europe, South America and Asia. The event also demonstrated how leading-edge partnerships between governments and the private organizations serve a pivotal function in the energy transition, through featuring insights from private sector senior executives. Insights from distinguished speakers were followed by an interactive roundtable discussion where event participants were asked to reflect on a series of questions relating to the global clean energy transition.

Speakers

• Jonathan Wilkinson, Canada’s Minister of Environment and Climate Change (video message)
• Kwasi Kwarteng, the United Kingdom’s Minister of State for Business, Energy and Clean Growth
• Svenja Schulze, Germany’s Environment Minister
• Gabriel Quijandría, Peru’s Vice Minister for Strategic Development of Natural Resources
• Tomas Anker Christensen, Denmark’s Climate Ambassador
• Yang Seung-jo, South Chungcheong Governor, South Korea
• Dr. Karl Yang, Managing Director of Korea Sustainability Forum
• António Martins da Costa, Chief Sustainability Officer and Member of the Board, EDP
• António Castro, Risk and Sustainability Corporate Director, EDP
• Julian Leslie, Head of Networks, National Grid

Moderator

Antha Williams, Head of Environment Programs, Bloomberg Philanthropies