Driving forth an inclusive and equitable clean energy transition
5 December 2025
In October 2025, the Clean Energy for Development initiative gathered in Johannesburg, South Africa for a cross-cohort in-person workshop. On Friday 17 October, we held a policy event, entitled ‘Unlocking the Potential of Small and Medium Businesses and Entrepreneurs in the Clean Energy Transition’.
The event brought together key policymakers, activists and researchers working on a clean energy transition, with opening remarks from James Christoff, High Commissioner for Canada in South Africa, and keynote remarks from Devan Pillay, Presidential Climate Commission. A panel discussion was chaired by Bipasha Baruah (Western University) between Tanya van Meelis (Congress of South African Trade Unions, COSATU), Gerald Nienaber (Local Content Compliance Unit, LCCU), James Musonda (Institute for Economic Justice, IEJ), and Jane Mariara (Partnership for Economic Policy, PEP).
During the event, the panel discussed recommendations and steps for including MSMEs in the Clean Energy Transition. These recommendations have been distilled into our latest briefing paper, with seven key recommendations to the G20.
Watch members of the Clean Energy for Development cohort deliver their calls to action for the G20, to drive an equitable, sustainable and just clean energy transition.
Webinar: Clean Energy Transitions: A care economy lens
Wednesday 16 September 2026
Clean energy transitions: what changes when we put care at the centre? Join us for an engaging webinar exploring how clean energy transitions can do more than expand access to power: they can also reduce drudgery, shift how unpaid care work is recognised and shared, and open up new opportunities for women and young people in […]
Smallholder farmer testing INFoCAT renewable energy powered groundnut pod plucker in Gomoa (Central Region, Ghana). Photo by UNU INRA.
Clean Energy Transitions: A Care Economy Lens
20 April 2026
How can clean energy transitions reduce energy poverty while also addressing the unequal burden of unpaid care work? This is an increasingly urgent question as the global shift to clean energy reshapes not only energy systems, but everyday life within households. Across many low- and middle-income countries, women and girls continue to shoulder a disproportionate […]
Decentralised renewable energy for rural SMEs in Bolivia: benefits, opportunities and challenges for women
8 July 2026
Bolivia is facing an energy crisis marked by shortages of diesel and petrol, and by high energy costs. For small and medium-sized rural family-based enterprises (SMEs), which play a central role in food production and in sustaining rural livelihoods, this situation increases operating costs, affects productive continuity and limits competitiveness, especially in territories with limited […]