Sujeetha Selvakkumaran

Co-creation in the societal sphere is becoming important in many parts of the world. However, empirical analysis of co-creation in local energy transitions has been understudied. This paper aims to contribute to the field of local energy transitions by integrating a model-based approach with the municipal co-creation efforts in a local energy transition setting. The study uses a mixed-methods approach, with both quantitative and qualitative methods underpinning the approach. A System Dynamics (SD) model is built to analyse the feedback loops created by the co-creation efforts of the municipalities in Skåne, Sweden to increase the uptake of household solar photovoltaics. Simultaneously, the model is conceptualized and built in coordination with the municipality actors, and qualitative validation provided by them. An iterative process is implemented, consisting of three steps: interaction with the municipality actors (MAs), developing the causal relationships between the model variables and model development. The suggestions and discussions with the MAs were very useful in understanding the social factors and processes which help in the diffusion of a technologically innovative product, such as solar PV. The MAs said that they found the explanation of the modelling variables useful in undertaking the co-creation efforts.

The objective of the study is to assess the linkages between climate-related measures and Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in Ethiopia, Kenya and the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) within the scope of submitted Intended Nationally Determined Contributions (INDC). Given the under-reporting of least developed countries’ and emerging economies’ issues with regards to climate change mitigation and adaptation, this study is important in studying how these three countries are integrating electrification goals (SDG7) with their INDC. The analysis explores the electricity mix, the expected greenhouse gas emissions from electricity generation until 2030, and electrification and related metrics. The INDCs provide a platform to achieve universalization of electrification, catalysing climate finance. Given the bottom-up process inherent to the current climate agreement mechanism, the paper gives insights on how these countries have used the INDC to prioritize sustainable electricity access. The results show that the countries have different storylines as to their electricity access targets and INDC. Ethiopia aims at nearly 100% renewables for power, while Kenya only generates 54% of the total electricity with renewables in 2030. In the DRC, the percentage of renewables is very high, but the per capita electricity consumption remains low while the country becomes a power exporter. The three countries have set a target of 75% electricity access in 2030, but only Kenya comes halfway to the minimum of 2000 kWh/capita of economy-wide electricity generation, which is required for a reasonable level of welfare.

The developing world is currently undergoing fast urbanization, and urban infrastructure systems built today are likely to influence global greenhouse gas emissions and energy consumption patterns for decades to come. This study draws on the analysis of 1994–2014 climate finance investments by five major multilateral climate funds that have a record of directly supporting urban climate mitigation and adaptation actions in cities across developing countries. The analysis indicates that the administered funds provided very limited support to urban climate finance across the developing world. In middle-income countries mitigation projects within transport sector dominated both urban multilateral climate finance and co-finance. Cities in low-income countries attracted non-considerable amounts of urban climate finance, most of which were supporting urban adaptation efforts. The study concludes by outlining that multilateral climate funds should give higher priority to urban climate finance on their investment portfolios with a particular emphasis on rapidly urbanizing cities in low-income countries.

Energy security has become of importance to many countries that are facing the developmental challenge. In this regard, this paper analyses the effect of CO₂ mitigation measures in the power sector on the energy security of three developing Asian countries, namely Sri Lanka, Thailand, and Vietnam. This paper contends that energy security consists of three important themes, namely oil security, gas security, and sustainability. The energy systems of the three countries were modeled using an integer programming-based optimization model called “Model for Energy Supply Strategy Alternatives and their General Environmental Impacts” (MESSAGE), and the time frame of analyses was 2007–2030. Results show that there is significant increase in the sustainability of the energy systems due to CO₂ mitigation measures in all three countries whilst oil security and to a lesser extent gas security were not significantly enhanced.