Alok Sharma Visits South Africa

The president of COP26, Alok Sharma, is to visit South Africa in the hope of supporting a just energy transition. This reaffirms the UK’s ongoing commitments to the Just Energy Transition Partnership as well as highlights the unique opportunities for South Africa.

During his visit, he will meet key stakeholders involved in the process of a clean and just energy transition and discuss how the partnership will support their ambitious goals. This is alongside an additional £1.5 million in funding announced for new technical assistance and partnerships on supporting South Africa’s just energy transition.

This visit will take place between the 19^th and 21^st of June as work continues to support the implementation of the South Africa Just Energy Transition Partnership (JETP), which was announced during COP26 last year.

South African government ministers, communities, business leaders, and officials involved in the energy transition will meet with Alok Sharma to discuss the opportunities and challenges presented. From here, they will move towards solutions and how the partnership can support them in accelerating a move to renewable energy.

The South Africa Just Energy Transition Partnership is a long-term political agreement between South Africa and an International Partner Group of the UK, France, Germany, US, and the EU. The partnership aims to accelerate decarbonisation of South Africa, focussing on bolstering the electricity system and a move away from coal. This will help to achieve the goals set out in their Nationally Determined Contribution.

Interestingly, in his first visit to South Africa, Mr Sharma will meet with coal mining communities to hear about their perceptions of the energy transition. Here, he will emphasise the opportunities that green growth will provide the country.

Alok Sharma, COP26 President, had this to say –

“A clean, just energy transition not only delivers enhanced climate action, it will help create new jobs, economic growth, clean air and a resilient, prosperous future… Providing financial support and technical partnerships is fundamental to support this transition in developing and emerging economies… The South African Just Energy Transition Partnership embodies the ambition we called for at COP26. This country-led approach puts fairness at the heart of the transition from coal to clean energy and will deliver high levels of finance and support to South Africa in achieving this ambitious transition… With less than six months before COP27, my visit is about demonstrating our continued support to South Africa to drive forward this commitment and build on key next steps.”

The UK will provide a further £1.5 million in support to South Africa, targeting provision of technical assistance to South African government stakeholders working on just transition sector job resilience, climate transition pathways for reaching net-zero in various economic sectors, and energy sector decarbonisation. There is a clear growing global appetite for the strategic energy security that increased investment in renewables can bring – with work ongoing to assessing the scope of similar partnerships with other nations in advance of COP27.

Customer Billing – Will I Be Affected?            

As already mentioned, energy costs are spiralling – and the price rises are affecting all of us. For UK energy customers it is difficult to say how your bills will be affected due to the serious volatility in the energy markets. It is important to remember that energy prices as a whole are rising, and this will be passed onto consumers through energy bills, making it something to keep a close eye on.              

Different suppliers will feel the pinch in different ways so it is crucial to be aware of the current situation your energy supplier finds themselves in. It is possible to view up to date supplier profiles with any recent changes for all of the energy suppliers in the UK, here.             

At a time where bills look set to rise due to market volatility, it is also a good idea to ensure that you are not being overcharged for any of your utilities. It can be a tricky task to navigate but there are free online tools to remove the hassle available.           

You can find a free online Gas Bill Calculator to see if you are being overcharged, here.         

You can find a free online Electricity Bill Calculator to see if you are being overcharged, here.            

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Manchester University Hosts Energy Conference

Manchester University hosts the world’s largest energy research and social science conference. Energy sector academics, experts, practitioners, decision-makers, advocates, and business sector representatives from across the world were in attendance of the 3^rd International Conference on Energy Research and Social Science from June 20^th to June 23^rd.

This conference is the largest of its kind and is unique in its global commitments to voicing the cutting-edge issues of conceptual, methodological, and policy concern at the intersection of energy, society, and low-carbon futures. Discussions were led by presenters from all continents and covered all aspects of energy, from production to consumption. Topics such as energy poverty, the role of gender, and just transitions. The aim of the conference is to examine both theory and practice by focussing on tangible steps to confront the climate crisis.

Over 400 delegates were in attendance of the event that included 198 oral presentations and 225 posters across more than 40 sessions.

The conference was organised by a committee chaired by Stefan Bouzarovski, a professor of Human Geography at the University of Manchester. The committee is made up of nine esteemed acaemics and three conference chairs from across the world. Five eminent keynote speakers are featured here: Cara Daggett, Assistant Professor of Political Science at Virginia Tech; Prince K Guma, Research Fellow and Assistant Country Director at the British Institute in Eastern Africa; Dr Benjamin K. Sovacool, Professor of Energy Policy, the University of Sussex Business School; Jennie C. Stephens, the Dean’s Professor of Sustainability Science and Policy and Director of Northeastern University’s School of Public Policy and Urban Affairs; and Janette Webb MBE FEI,Edinburgh University Professorial Fellow in Social Studies of Energy.
Professor Stefan Bouzarovski, conference chair, said this –

“The conference aims to offer a vibrant and innovative forum for discussing the latest research on low-carbon energy policy transformations. We were heavily oversubscribed, having received a total of 1116 abstracts for oral and poster presentations. “