This was the topic of a breakfast seminar organised by NORCAP, NRC, Innovation Norway and the Norwegian Solar Energy Cluster on 19 November at Sentralen. The seminar took place on the occasion of the visit of energy experts from the Global Platform for Action (GPA), giving an update on energy needs and challenges in the humanitarian sector with a regional focus on Africa. Scatec and Empower New Energy presented from the Solar Energy Cluster.
Some of the messages summarized below:
To achieve a green shift in the humanitarian sector we need that organisations, the private sector and national institutions and authorities on board. For private investors it is key to have projects at scale, which demands increased coordination and cooperation between organisations in a given area. Humanitarian organisations must also ask themselves whether they want to generate their own electricity or to buy this as a service. The private sector in turn needs to be patient and be open to learn – which also means to sometimes fail together with the organisations when finding the right paths to greening humanitarian operations. It is also clear that the orgnisations need more data on their current carbon footprint – and costs related to energy use as for today, knowing your starting point is necessary when planning for the future.
Important conversations – and great to see the will among different stakeholder to make a change. Watch the recording of the meeting in full below. We are looking forward to the next steps!
Passcode: nrcgreenshift
