Professor Yacob Mulugetta helps launch global Green Grids Initiative as part of COP26

The Green Grids Initiative was launched this week at COP26 by world leaders as part of a new partnership with India’s One Sun One World One Grid. Founded by the Climate Parliament, the initiative brings together governments, legislators, civil society, business leaders, regulators, transmission system operators and international organisations to accelerate the construction of the new infrastructure needed for a world that is powered by clean energy.

Climate Compatible Growth (CCG), which is led by Loughborough University, is part of a partnership of organisations working on the Green Grids Initiative with Climate Parliament. CCG will undertake research and provide global public goods to help countries develop economic strategies, plans and policies that will attract investment into low-carbon growth opportunities across multiple sectors.

Professor Yacob Mulugetta, Professor of Energy and Development Policy in UCL STEaPP, took part in a global launch event for the Global Grids Initiative under his role as Partnerships Director & International Engagement Lead at CCG. Speakers included Grammy-award winning singer and activist Angelique Kidjo; Alexandria Villaseñor, co-Founder of the US Youth Climate Strike and Founder of Earth Uprising; and Leader of the Australian Greens Party, Adam Bandt MP.

On Friday 5 November, CCG will present a research report, undertaken in collaboration with a working group of the COP26 Energy Transition Council. The report explores how climate finance can be mobilised to meet the large investments needed in grid infrastructure across emerging and developing economies. The paper will be presented as part of a series of CCG COP26 side events at Strathclyde University in which Professor Mulugetta will also take part.

Nicholas Dunlop, Secretary General of the Climate Parliament, said: “There is more than enough clean energy to power the world economy, if we build the right grids. A tiny fraction of the world’s deserts, covered with solar power stations, could produce all the electricity the world uses today. Existing hydro dams, together with batteries, can help to balance fluctuations in wind and sun.

“To ensure a reliable supply of affordable, clean energy, new long-distance grids are needed to connect the most energy-rich locations across borders and time zones. Meanwhile, mini-grids can help communities to harness their local energy resources, bringing electricity to off-grid villages, and ensuring a more resilient supply during the heat waves, storms and floods that are now striking all parts of the planet.”

Plans for the Green Grids Initiative and partnership with One Sun One World One Grid were announced in May 2021 by the UK and Indian Prime Ministers, as part of a shared roadmap to 2030 to tackle climate change. The roadmap includes a package of measures to help limit global temperature rise, support communities that are vulnerable to climate change impacts, protect forests and lead the development of resilient infrastructure in vulnerable countries.

CCG is a multi-million-pound programme, funded by the UK’s Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, to support investment in sustainable energy and transport systems to meet development priorities in the Global South. Working with national and international research partners, including the universities of Oxford and Cambridge, Imperial College London and UCL, CCG will deliver the energy and transport system tools and decision support frameworks needed to make green transitions possible in developing countries. The Climate Parliament forms part of the CCG consortium, helping to connect world leading research into energy access and interconnection with decision makers.

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Loughborough University

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