Emily Morris leading on UCL-Cuba collaboration project

Dr Emily Morris (Research Fellow, UCL Institute of the Americas) hosted a research visit to the UK from March 2^nd-12^th for two Cuban visiting economists, Dr José Luis Rodríguez, former Cuban Minister of the Economy and currently economic adviser to the Cuban government and Dr Gladys Hernández Pedraza, Cuban economist from the Centro de Investigaciones de la Economía Mundial (CIEM, Cuba). As part of that visit, with the support of Dr Helen Yaffe at Glasgow University, the visitors were invited to a civic reception at Glasgow City Council's office on March 5th 2020, followed by a meeting. The objective was to discuss developing links between our research and Glasgow City Council, which has twinned Glasgow with Havana.

The UCL-Cuba research collaboration project, funded by the British Embassy in Havana, is titled ‘Financing local renewable energy’. It involves working with the two Cuban visiting economists to explore the possible lessons for Cuba (and for Havana in particular) from UK experience in financing local renewable energy. Scotland (and Glasgow in particular) is leading on renewable energy (in terms of its current share of total power generation), and on its ambitions for future development. While the delegation was in the city, it also had meetings with leading academics who have been working with local authorities to develop renewables projects and strategies. Dr Morris and her collaborators are hoping to follow up by bringing a delegation of officials, academics and energy policy people from Havana City to Glasgow (whose twinning officer confirmed that they would welcome the delegation) ahead of the November climate change talks (COP), which Glasgow is hosting. 

From l-to-r: Dr José Luis Rodríguez (background); Dr Emily Morris; Philip Braat; Dr Gladys Hernández Pedraza; Dr Duncan Booker (Glasgow City Council; back to camera); Aristides Hechavarria Torrijo