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New Thinking: The IGov institutional framework for energy governance
The IGov institutional framework for energy governance: Co-ordinated national and local governance of electricity, heat and energy services Catherine Mitchell, Rebecca Willis, Richard Hoggett, Tom Pownall, Richard Lowes, Jess Britton 9th July 2019* Since 2012, the IGov research project has examined how the energy system is governed, in GB and elsewhere, and what changes are necessary to bring about a secure, fair, zero-carbon system. In this blog, we bring together our proposals for the institutional frameworks that we argue are required. IGov has already published (in draft form) its proposals for the institutional framework at
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MOOC: Reflections on People, Scale and Society
Transforming Energy Systems – why governance matters Reflections on Week 3 – People, Scale and Society 8th July 2019 In our third week we looked at action at different scales and the roles people can play in transforming our energy system; this has prompted more busy and interesting discussions on a variety of topics. Hopefully, by now you feel ready to talk about what governance changes are needed in order to bring about the rapid, decarbonising system change we need. Demand reduction The issue of demand reduction has come up a few times in this
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New Thinking: Governance for local energy transformations
Governance for local energy transformations Jess Britton, IGov Team, 3rd July 2019* It is an understatement to say that there has been a refocussing on local level coordination in energy system change. I have written before about the momentum at this scale, as well as the renewed attention of Local Enterprise Partnership (LEPs) and emerging Local Industrial Strategies in this area. There has also been the announcement of major demonstrator funding for smart, local energy systems via the Industrial Strategy Challenge Fund. But despite these developments there remains a significant mismatch between activity at this
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MOOC: Reflections on Emerging Energy Systems
Transforming Energy Systems – why governance matters Reflections on Week 2 – Emerging Energy Systems 1st July 2019 Week 2 of our course has continued to raise multiple comments. From our perspective, we are trying to lay out the system and the way it is operated, its features and so on so that the more detailed stuff about how people interact with energy (week 3) and what governance changes need to happen (week 4) are understandable. The format of these online course mean that we have to take decisions about what we talk about –
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Presentation: Decentralising Energy & Communities
Decentralising Energy & Communities From: Prof. Catherine Mitchell Presentation to: Community Energy in a Climate Emergency – City Hall, London, 27 June 2019 Summary Climate budget and net zero Central role of people System change Governance Coordination Conclusion Download the presentation: CM Energy For London 27 June
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The significance of Parliament’s Citizens Assembly on net zero
Viewpoint: The significance of Parliament’s Citizens Assembly on net zero By Dr Matthew Lockwood, Senior Lecturer in Energy Policy, SPRU 20th June 2019 The announcement today from six House of Commons Select Committees that they are to hold a Citizens Assembly (CA) on how we might achieve a pathway to net zero emissions is a major step. The move is clearly inspired by (and made under pressure from) the upsurge of activism on climate change – school strikes, Extinction Rebellion protests, the resurgence of the Green New Deal and the declaration by numerous institutions, including Parliament,
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Building gender balance in the energy research portfolio
How to build gender balance in the energy research portfolio – we need a Power Shift Basia Cieszewska, Jess Britton, Julie Smith, 17th June 2016 The challenge of rapidly decarbonising our energy system can’t be addressed if only half of the population is involved. Unfortunately it’s old news that women are significantly underrepresented in Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths (STEM) subjects, with the UK having the lowest proportion of female engineers in the EU[1]. Across all academic disciplines women account for 58% of Postgraduate students but only 25% of Professors[2]. Chris Skidmore, Minister of State
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Sign Up for Our Free 4 Week Online Course: Transforming Energy Systems: Why governance matters
The issues of climate change, its impacts, and our collective responses are rising in the consciousness of civil society, industry leaders, and politicians. Last October’s IPCC report on Global Warming of 1.5°C; this month’s CCC report on Net Zero; and declarations of a state of climate emergency at both national and local levels have highlighted the urgency of the issue and the scale of the challenge. Importantly, the challenges are not (just) technical in nature. Rather, there is an urgent need to shift to more effective forms of governance in order to tackle climate change
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New Thinking: Where is IGov on net zero?
Where is IGov on Net Zero? Catherine Mitchell – IGov Team, 3rd May 2019 Given all the discussion over the last few days about when the UK and the world should reach net zero, we thought IGov should be clear on where we stand. The CCC has said that the UK ‘should set and vigorously pursue an ambitious target to reduce greenhouse gas emissions (GHGs) to ‘net-zero’ by 2050, ending the UK’s contribution to global warming within 30 years. Reflecting their respective circumstances, Scotland should set a net-zero GHG target for 2045 and Wales should
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New Thinking: we have a plan
We have a plan – good governance to achieve a net-zero target Rebecca Willis and Catherine Mitchell, 2nd May 2019 This morning, the Committee on Climate Change recommended that the UK should strengthen its climate change targets, to move Britain to net-zero carbon by mid-Century. The advice, coming the day after the UK Parliament voted to declare a ‘climate emergency’, provides welcome evidence that far-reaching climate action is both feasible and economically sound. Throughout the report, the CCC stresses the crucial role of policy and governance in achieving a transition to zero-carbon. The target will,
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