Yet, research by Prof Sovacool examines and highlights how on the flip side of these efforts, existing social and political injustices within Bangladesh have been re-affirmed and exacerbated. His research reveals that climate change policies implemented under the country’s National Adaptation Program of Action have ended up enabling elites to capture land through public servants, the military, and even gangs carrying bamboo sticks.
PART 2: Energy access projects in Africa and Asia: What works best? (14:00-15:30)
Over one billion people—one in five globally—lack electricity to light their homes or conduct business. Many more only have access to poor quality service. Widespread access to clean, reliable, and affordable energy is critical for achieving inclusive, low-emissions growth and development. But which technologies, and business models work? Which don't? Prof Sovacool will present insights from a comparative analysis of energy access projects from Africa and Asia trying to answer these questions.
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The speaker: Prof Benjamin Sovacool
Dr. Benjamin K. Sovacool is Professor of Energy Policy at the University of Sussex in the United Kingdom. There he serves as Director of the Sussex Energy Group and Director of the Center on Innovation and Energy Demand which involves the University of Oxford and University of Manchester. Professor Sovacool works as a researcher and consultant on issues pertaining to energy policy, energy security, climate change mitigation, and climate change adaptation. More specifically, his research focuses on renewable energy and energy efficiency, the politics of large-scale energy infrastructure, designing public policy to improve energy security and access to electricity, and building adaptive capacity to the consequences of climate change.
Professor Sovacool is the author of more than 400 refereed articles, book chapters, and reports, including solely authored pieces in Nature and Science, and the author, coauthor, editor, or coeditor of 20 books on energy and climate change topics. These include Climate Change and Global Energy Security (MIT Press), Energy Poverty (Oxford University Press), Global Energy Justice (Cambridge University Press), The Political Economy of Climate Change Adaptation (Nature Publishing Group/Palgrave), and Fact and Fiction in Global Energy Policy (Johns Hopkins University Press).
Professor Sovacool is the recipient of 20 national and international awards and honors, including the 2015 “Dedication to Justice Award” given by the American Bar Association and a 2014 “Distinguished Visiting Energy Professorship” at the Environmental Law Center at Vermont Law School.
