Social Impacts of Clean Energy Policies

Equality and inclusion should be built into clean energy policy design to prevent any risk of disproportionate or unintended consequences for certain segments of society.

This workshop, organised as part of the IEA’s people-centred clean energy transitions work programme in collaboration with the IEA Experts’ Group on R&D Priority-setting and Evaluation (EGRD) will explore existing research assessing the social impacts of clean energy policies on low-income households. 

Drawing on examples and research from around the world, it will address the following questions:

• What is the state of the art of research about the social impacts of clean energy policies targeting low-income households? What is the latest research on the distributional patterns of these impacts? What does this research tell us about how to achieve positive outcomes?
• How can policymakers design progressive clean energy policies? How can the benefits of clean energy policies be distributed fairly and equitably?
• What are best practice examples of clean energy policies that have helped reduce poverty and inequality?

Agenda

Welcome and Introduction

• Opening remarks by Birte Holst Jørgensen, Senior Researcher, DTU Wind Energy; Chair, EGRD
• Brian Motherway, Head of Energy Efficiency, IEA

Moderator: Divya Reddy, Energy Analyst, IEA

Setting the Scene: Assessing the social impacts of clean energy policies on low-income households

• Angela Picciariello, Senior Researcher, IISD

Session 1: Evaluation of energy efficiency programmes targeting energy poverty and low income households

• Anna Realini, Researcher, Ricerca sul Sistema Energetico (RSE SpA)
• Mariana Weiss de Abreu, Energy Research Analyst, Brazilian Energy Research Office (EPE)

Session 2: Evaluating the social impact of renewable energy programmes

• Kate Anderson, NREL Strategy Lead
• Dr. Festus Boamah, University of Bayreuth

Moderated Panel Discussion

Workshop Conclusions and Closing 

• Birte Holst Jørgensen, Senior Researcher, DTU Wind Energy; Chair, EGRD
  

About the Experts’ Group on R&D Priority-Setting and Evaluation (EGRD)

The EGRD examines analytical approaches to energy technologies, policies, and RD&D on targeted, timely topics. The results and recommendations support the IEA’s Committee on Energy Research and Technology (CERT), feed into IEA analysis, and enable a broad perspective of energy technology issues. Recent topics analysed include “Climate Neutral Heating and Cooling: RD&D needs and perspectives for international collaboration”, “International Collaboration for ensuring Secure and Sustainable Critical Minerals in Clean Energy Technologies”, and “Hydrogen in the Energy System Decarbonization”. Workshop summaries are available here.