Workshop: Eco-technologies and Knowledge Transfer in the Global South
Hybrid event: in-person at the University of Bristol Law School and online via Zoom.
Eco-technologies and Knowledge Transfer in the Global South: Opportunities and challenges for Africa’s sustainability transitions
Evidence from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), local experts, and lived experiences revealed that climate change disproportionately impacts Africa’s natural and human systems.
African countries must mitigate and adapt to climate-related risks and actively leverage opportunities in the transition to a sustainable world. At the international level, the Paris Agreement provides a vision to facilitate cooperation, including technology and financial transfer. The African Union and subregional institutions are also creating legal and policy frameworks to support this cooperation and address emerging opportunities.
The Centre for Global Law and Innovation (CGLI) and the Centre for International Law are co-hosting a workshop on the legal, policy and other normative frameworks that address sustainability transition challenges and opportunities.
The discussions will cover the topics of knowledge transfer, financing, trade and investment, licensing intellectual property, and related dealings in ecotechnologies that support sustainable transitions in African economies.
The workshop will proceed on the assumption that eco-technologies may deliver social returns, improve the delivery of public utilities such as access to electricity, and enable the implementation of sustainability.
In considering the significant diversity in cultural, economic and resources endowment of African countries, the discussion will take a postmodern, critical perspective on how plural ways of life and knowing shape legal, policy and other normative frameworks to facilitate sustainability transitions in Africa.
Issues covered would include but are not limited to the following areas:
- Renewable energy and energy efficiency, sustainable energy infrastructure, low-carbon markets
- Public, private, and hybrid low-carbon finance, including impact investing
- Competition in the energy sector
- Intellectual property and licensing of eco-technologies
- Transition partnerships with a focus on the UK and Africa
- African states’ accession to the Energy Charter Treaty
- Other areas within the broad theme of eco-transition technologies
- Comparisons with other jurisdictions to draw insights for Africa.
The event will bring together stakeholders involved in providing services in, regulating, and implementing projects related to transition technologies to identify pivotal issues impeding Africa’s sustainable transition journey. It will provide opportunities leading to collaborative research and networking. Contributors will include researchers, policymakers, representatives of UN organisations, as well as trade and investment specialists.
Call for speakers
Academics, policy and industry researchers, and practitioners are invited to give a 10-minute presentation of their work. Please submit the title of the presentation and an abstract (50 words) addressing the workshop theme by Monday 7 August to Dr Lala Ireland and Mr. Temitope Onifade via email at lala.ireland@bristol.ac.uk; t.onifade@bristol.ac.uk.
Date and venue
The hybrid workshop will take place on Thursday 31 August 2023 from 1pm to 4pm (UTC/GMT +1 hour) (UTC/GMT +1 hour) via Zoom and at the University of Bristol Law School. The agenda and Zoom link will be shared with all pre-registered participants in the week before the event.
Registration
Please register via Eventbrite:
Inquiries
Please submit any inquiries to the organisers, Dr Lala Ireland or Mr. Temitope Onifade via email at lala.ireland@bristol.ac.uk or t.onifade@bristol.ac.uk. The workshop is supported by the University of Bristol's Cabot Institute for the Environment.
