September’s focus was on the launch of Power for All’s long-awaited Powering Jobs Census 2022: The Energy Access Workforce report at a series of global, regional, and national events that brought together DRE experts and thought leaders to coordinate a global response to the report’s call to action and shape the #PoweringJobs advocacy agenda. While renewable energy is a resilient and growing source of jobs in emerging markets, the global community must take action to ensure the sector realizes its full potential to deliver modern energy (SDG 7), as well as good work and decent jobs (SDG 8).
Global launch: The first event was the virtual global launch at Climate Week NYC on 19 September. It covered highlights of the census report findings followed by a compelling panel discussion and recommendations on how the global community can ensure the necessary human capital is in place to support the sector's growth to end energy poverty while also creating jobs. Panelists included: Suman Sureshbabu, Global Energy Alliance for People and Planet of The Rockefeller Foundation; Radhika Thakkar, Sun King/Greenlight Planet; Debra Rowe, U.S. Partnership for Education for Sustainable Development; Divyam Nagpal, International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA); Joshua Wycliffe, International Solar Alliance (ISA); and Isaac Kiema, International Labor Organization. The event was moderated by Power for All’s Director for Campaigns and Partnership, Suranjana Ghosh.
On the same day, September 19, Power for All’s CEO, Kristina Skierka, also spoke to CNBCAfrica about the findings of the report.
Power Lunch, New York city: As part of #PoweringJobs’ series of launch events, Power for All, facilitated a roundtable discussion on September 22 with industry experts and innovators. The event was a solutions-oriented dialogue that will help shape the Powering Jobs advocacy agenda through 2025. Every stakeholder on the table brought a valuable perspective on opportunities to transform the global energy system, and broaden thinking on how to mobilize the human capital needed to #EndEnergyPovertyFaster. Some of the organizations represented in the room included Power Africa, United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs (UN DESA), The Rockefeller Foundation, Schneider Electric, The Global Energy Alliance for People and Planet, SE for All, Arnergy, Sun Culture, East African Power, Solar Sister, Columbia University, Duke University, Catalyst Advisors, Collaborative Labeling and Appliance Standards (CLAS), Student Energy and Zyed Sustainability Prize.
APAC on The Global Stage - Energy Security in Asia Pacific: Power for All joined a Reuters Events webinar on Energy Security in the Asia-Pacific (APAC) region held on September 22, 2022 and where CEO Kristina Skierka was one of the speakers. She was joined by Sandro Aboitiz, Commercial Operations at Aboitiz Power, Jyoti Kumar Bansal, Chief of Branding, Corporate Communications & Sustainability at TATA Power, and Jun Arima from ERIA (Economic Research Institute for ASEAN and East Asia), who moderated the webinar.
The discussions focused on how countries and companies across the APAC region can collaborate to ensure a stable energy supply and the distribution of local natural resources, whilst ensuring economic profits.
APAC bears the brunt of climate change impacts, and issues of resilience and poverty alleviation are still major concerns. The prevention of power outages is the key focus of short-term electricity security, as the ASEAN+6 region is one of the most disaster-prone in the world. Never has energy security been such an urgent issue that needs resolving now - with clear plans and strategies.
This event was a curtain raiser to the main event, the Reuters Events Energy Transition APAC 2022 on November 30 - December 1, 2022, where Kristina will be moderating a panel discussion on Energy Security in the Asia-Pacific regions where she will once again share solution-driven insights using the recent Powering Jobs report and Utilities 2.0 pilot project.
Click here to watch the webinar.
Economist Impact: Future of Energy Week Asia: Kristina Skierka, CEO, Power for All, participated in The Economist Impact: Future of Energy week, Asia as a panelist on September 19, 2022. She shared insights on the Powering Jobs census 2022 report and the need for Accelerating DRE systems to end energy poverty.
UN Energy, Energy Now: SDG7 Action Forum: UN Energy organized Energy Now: SDG 7 Action Forum marking a year from the High Level Dialogue on Energy. Power for All CEO, Kristina Skierka was a panelist for the Powering the World: Universal Access to Electricity roundtable along with Sohel Ahmed, Managing Director, Grameen Shakti and Shifaana Thowfeequ, Programme Management Officer, UN OHRLLS United Nations Office of the High Representative for the Least Developed Countries, Landlocked Developing Countries and Small Island Developing States) . Kristina spoke about Power for All’s efforts towards the achievement of SDG 7 while highlighting the interlinkages with SDG 8 (decent jobs) and the trends found in the latest Powering Jobs report.
Clean Energy Ministerial (CEM) Forum: Dr. Carolina Pan, Research Director, Power for All, participated at a panel Discussion held by the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA) t the Global Clean Energy Action Forum as part of the Clean Energy Ministerial (CEM) forum at the Pittsburgh on September 23, 2022. She presented the Powering Jobs report findings.
Powering the Energy Access Workforce of the Future: India report launch: This was the first #poweringjobs country level report launch. It was organized in partnership with the Skills Council for Green Jobs (SCGJ) on September 27. The keynote speaker was Dr. Praveen Saxena, CEO, SCGJ who pointed out the importance of the report findings and the need for active involvement of technical institutes and stakeholders in bridging the skill gaps in India. This was followed by a panel discussion moderated by Debanjana Choudhuri, Country Director-India, Power for All. Panelists included Upendra Bhatt from cKinetics, Abhishek Jain from Council for Energy, Environment and Water, Rohit Chandra from OMC Power, Surabhi Rajagopal from Selco Foundation, Praveen Saxena from Skill Council for Green Jobs and Grace Perkins from Shortlist.
India #PoweringJobs Census 2022 report: https://www.powerforall.org/resources/reports/powering-jobs-census-2022-focus-india
Press release: https://www.powerforall.org/news-media/press-releases/power-all-releases-distributed-renewable-energy-job-report-focus-india
Live recording of the event: https://www.linkedin.com/video/live/urn:li:ugcPost:6980398042310938625/
PoweringJobs: Building the Energy Access Workforce of the Future to Accelerate Universal Energy Access and Create Jobs: Power for All organized a virtual panel discussion on September 28 at the Sankalp Global Summit. Panelists included Olasimbo Sojinrin from Solar Sister, Andrew Amadi from Kenya Renewable Energy Association (KEREA), Abhishek Jain from Council for Energy, Environment, and Water (CEEW), Bankole Oloruntoba from Nigeria Climate Innovation Center (NCIC) and Suranjana Ghosh from Power for All.
Live recording of the event: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rVlVHV089ZQ&t=16s
Upcoming Events
Powering the Energy Access Workforce of the Future - Nigeria report launch: This virtual event co-hosted with Clean Tech Hub will be held on September 30. The keynote address will be given by Dr. Segun Adaju, President, Renewable Energy Association of Nigeria and Dr. Sanusi Ohiare, Executive Director, Rural Electrification Fund. This will be followed by sharing of the Nigeria report and a discussion by a panelists comprising of Anita Okuribido - President, Women in Renewable Energy Association;, Betty Anyanwu-Akeredolu, First Lady, Ondo State / Founder Beemore Empowerment Foundation, Tobiloba Fadesere, Business Advisory Associate from All ON, Uche Ugorji – Project Manager, Nigeria Electrification Project (NEP), Rural Electrification Agency (REA) and Yusuf Adamu Khalil from National Power Training Institute Nigeria (NAPTIN). The session will be moderated by Damilola Asaleye, COO, Ashdam Solar.
Africa Renewables Investment Summit (ARIS), Cape Town, South Africa: Our Research Director, Dr. Carolina Pan will be presenting a short video on the findings of the #PoweringJobs census 2022 report at a session titled “Off-Grid and Energy Access – High Growth Markets Investors Should Watch out for” at the Africa Renewables Investment Summit (ARIS), Cape Town, South Africa on September 29, 2022.
GOGLA Off-grid Solar Forum & Expo, Kigali, Rwanda: Dr. Carolina Pan, will also participate in a panel discussion on "Maximizing Impact in the Off-Grid Sector: through the lens of Domestic Content, Ownership and Employment Generation" to share her expert views on the DRE job market at the GOGLA Of-fgrid Solar Forum & Expo on October 19, 2022.