The governance of clean energy transitions

1. The governance of clean energy transitions Lucy Baker, Development Studies UEA

2. ESRC climate change fellowship on the governance of clean development PHD research question: How are governance factors having an impact on energy transitions for clean development in South Africa and India?

3. Presentation outline • The problem • Conceptualising governance • Defining ‘clean’ energy • Conceptualising clean energy governance • Methodology

4. The problem • Climate change: stabilise emissions at 2°C by 2015 or dangerous tipping point (IPCC 2007). • Energy poverty: 1.6 billion people lack access to electricity. • Question of equity. • Electricity demand in developing countries projected to increase three to five times over the next 30 years. • 70% of expected rise in GHG to come from LDCs (IEA 2008) • Financing gap. How much investment? $300 billion. • Carbon based trajectory –north and south- no longer viable. • Need for large-scale transitions to equitable low carbon economy.

5. Why South Africa and India? • Emerging markets: power to attract donors and investment. • Neither has binding emission limits under the Kyoto Protocol. • High levels of energy inequality. • Potential influence on regional energy development e.g South Africa, SA Power Pool. • South Africa • one of the few SSA countries with CDM-registered projects. • continent's greatest emitter of GHG. Large coal reserves. Export-oriented growth (Winkler 2009). • third of households, mainly rural, lacking access to electricity. • power sector reform since 2000, privatisation of Eskom. • India • 14 per cent of total CERs in CDM • 500 million people without access to modern energy services.

6. Conceptualising ‘governance’

7. Conceptualising ‘governance’ • “Governance is broader than government, covering ‘the distribution of both internal and external political and economic power” (Rhodes 1996) • “governance refers to the development of governing styles in which boundaries between and within public and private sectors have become blurred” (Stoker, 1998:17)

8. Institutions at the international level

9. Conceptualising ‘governance’ • An evolving process. Political, economic and social power structures • Central to the policy-making process (Keilly and Scoones, 2003) • Institutional architecture: which institutions hold the power of decision making? • Political economy approach to the governance of clean energy transitions (Fine and Rustomjee 1996).

10. Definition and analysis of ‘clean’ energy • No universally accepted definition of ‘clean’ or ‘renewable’ energy • CCS, ‘clean coal’, nuclear, large hydro? • Disparities between multi-lateral institutions and civil society e.g World Bank (2007), WWF (2008). • Discourse under definition. A contested space.

11. Research gap: Conceptualising ‘clean energy governance’ • No world energy regime. Fragmented decision-making. • Energy is multi-disciplinary: industrial policy, technology, service delivery, economy, environment. • Multi-scalar approach. Governance arrangements at different territorial levels. Interface between local, national and international levels • Role of cross governmental and institutional networks, hierarchies and partnerships. • “The move from government to networked, multi-levelled governance has been helpful in recognising multiple interactions across scales between types of ‘actor’ whose status and boundaries are often fuzzy” (Leach et al 2007: 24).

12. Methodology • Sector based approach- analysis of power sector and relevant institutions in both countries • Consult national data • Field work in both countries • Identify projects at local level • Interviews with international, national and local key decision-makers, stakeholders, affected communities • Participation in climate and energy conferences e.g Copenhagen

13. Selected references • Backstrand, K. (2008). "Accountability of networked climate governance: The rise of transnational climate partnerships." Global Environmental Politics 8(3) • Fine, B., & Rustomjee, Z. (1996). “The Political Economy of South Africa. From minerals-energy complex to industrialisation”. C.Hurst & Co (Publishers) Ltd, London • IPCC, Ed. (2007). Climate Change 2007: Mitigation of Climate Change. Contribution of Working Group III to the Fourth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. Cambridge, United Kingdom and New York, USA, Cambridge University Press. • Leach, M., G. Bloom, et al. (2007) "Understanding Governance: Pathways to Sustainability." STEPS Working Paper 2 Volume • Rhodes, R. A. W. (1996). "The New Governance: Governing without Government." Political Studies XLIV: 652-667. • Stoker, G. (1998). Governance as Theory: Five Propositions. Oxford, UNESCO. • Winkler, H. (2009). Cleaner Energy Cooler Climate: Developing Sustainable Energy Solutions for South Africa. HRC Press, Cape Town. • World Bank (2007). Catalyzing Private Investment for a Low-Carbon Economy: World Bank Group Progress on Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency in Fiscal 2007. Washington, World Bank • WWF (2008). The World Bank and its Carbon Footprint: Why the World Bank is still far from being an Environment Bank. London, WWF: 35.