The CEDEJ Environment and Social Policies Seminar Series
Discussion on renewable energies and carbon-free transition
Webinar in English ( Simultaneous translation is available during the webinar in Arabic )
Register here
Summary:
In the coming decades, fossil fuels will have to give way to renewable and sustainable sources of energy if the world is to avoid catastrophic climate change. Given the demand for energy, transforming energy infrastructures to renewable resources will require significant investment and will demand new supply chains of materials. Current technologies for renewable electricity require rare earth minerals for batteries or wind turbines, for example. There is a danger that supposedly sustainable energy relies on ‘extractive mentalities’, reinforcing geopolitical powers rather than liberating indebted countries to source their own energy supplies.
Simone Abram
Professor of Anthropology at Durham University (UK). Her books include ’Tourists and Tourism’ (1997) and ‘Green Ice: Tourism ecologies in the European High North’ (2016).
She has authored or edited 10 books, and over 60 journal articles and book chapters.
Maged K. Mahmoud
Sustainable energy expert and the Technical Director of the Regional Center for Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency (RCREEE). He has multidisciplinary expertise and solid accomplishments in the fields of sustainable energy transition in the Egyptian, Arab and African arenas.
Valentin Karam
Regional Coordinator for East and Southern Africa for the Barefoot College International (BCI), a global social enterprise based in India that addresses rural challenges around the world by training women from the local communities on several aspects, including on solar technologies and servicing. Through more of 10 years of experience, BCI has seen the many impacts that renewable energy has on areas as diverse as education, health, economic empowerment, etc. BCI has worked in 96 countries from Latin America to the Pacific Islands, with most of the governments, and with stakeholders like UNDP and the International Solar Alliance (ISA).
Moderators:
Marie Vannetzel
Research fellow in political sociology CEDEJ/CNRS
Waleed Mansour
Program Manager-Climate and Energy, Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung Egypt Office.
