Exclusive interview with Aradhna Pandarum, head of department: just energy transition at the impact catalyst, formerly of the energy centre at the CSIR. at the inaugural Africa’s Green Economy Summit in Cape Town in February 2023, she delivered a keynote address on “the dynamics of the local energy market and the just transition.”
Please introduce yourself and tell us more about your role at the CSIR.
I am Aradhna Pandarum, and I am a principal researcher at the CSIR. I am currently in the energy industry team, which focuses on the just energy transition, specifically looking at what the just element of energy transition needs to be and how we can actually implement such in the country.
The theme for the next edition of Africa’s Green Economy Summit is: “Mobilising green investment towards a just transition.” What in your view is a just transition?
A just transition is one that leaves nobody behind, not only in relation to jobs, but it’s also related to improving the socio-economic status of the country by creating new and sustainable opportunities for the country. It also ensures that the process for the transition is an inclusive one with all forms of stakeholder participation and input.
Any specific projects at the CSIR that you are working on that you are particularly excited about?
I’m currently running a programme with the Energy and Water SETA (The Energy and Water Sector Education Training Authority), so it’s co funded by the CSIR and the Energy and Water SETA, the programme is called an Energy Industry Support Programme. It looks at empowering SMMEs in the energy sector, so that they can actually be part of the transition, they can understand what opportunities the transition offers and were they can actually play a part in the transition and value chains of these different technologies that are going to be within the transition.
What in your view are the biggest challenges in terms moving towards a green economy for South Africa and the wider continent?
The biggest challenge includes a lack of skills and a lack of prioritisation of policy intent. It seems like we have very big aspirations to achieve everything, but no prioritised actions and no prioritised plans. We are currently in an energy crisis and need new capacity to be added to the grid. But we’re still focusing a lot of our resources on the future vision rather than trying to solve the problem at hand. And I believe that it we come together to solve problems, we will be able to move faster forward, rather than everyone trying to figure out what is to be done in the future and what technologies we should be focusing on. So I think we need to just prioritise actions and activities. And that needs to come from a government perspective, it needs to be driven from the government itself.
You are very passionate about what the just energy transition can mean for employment.
So, the just energy transition in terms of employment, it is there to create more employment. The just element, in terms of the research that we look at, is trying to combat the triple challenge that we currently have of poverty, unemployment and inequality. Here, we are trying to look at opportunities to actually expand the energy sector to look at other sectors, other economic diversification that can be implemented to ensure that we actually increase the jobs that we have in the country, that we actually create sustainable jobs and good paying jobs within the different technologies that we implement. And this needs to include proper analysis. It needs to come from data and it needs to come from an inclusive process that would have involved the communities and the civil communities that are and will be involved in employment.
Are our training and education centres geared to produce the right employees to meet the future energy demands?
No, we are not. I think we’ve realised that our education system is not demand driven. And this needs to change. We need to ensure that the economic sectors that are driven in terms of the demand and what we are currently doing in the country, speaks to the education system and how we actually develop skills. We need to develop skills that are readily utilised within the current work environment. And we probably need to change skills development approaches from early childhood development as well. We need to actually motivate kids to choose maths and science, as these will provide them with opportunities within the sustainable futures and the green economy going forward.
What influence will carbon markets have on a just energy transition in your view? Do we know enough about carbon markets yet?
In terms of carbon markets, there’s a significant gap in the price of green or low-carbon products compared to the high-carbon-intensive products due to many reasons: the technology is new, we’re still trying to understand what technology to actually implement and given the commercialisation of these specific technologies that are going to be selected, it’s probably very nascent.
One of the ways that we can try to close the gap is to implement carbon markets and related mechanisms. This is definitely driven by the need for the net zero vision or the net zero targets in terms of our greenhouse gas emissions. However, it must not come at the cost of poor people’s livelihoods. Unfortunately, should this be implemented the way it’s currently envisaged, it will lead to the price of living increasing and may even result in worsened socio-economic issues, especially in developing countries. I recommend that the impacts should be properly analysed and understood in terms of what it would do to the economy of especially the poor people and poor livelihoods and how we can actually create an environment where we don’t really affect their lives and their livelihoods. There could be some innovative solutions that we can come up with that may not necessarily increase the price of food and such living issues that they will be experiencing in the future.
So, I think that significant analysis and significant research are required, especially for developing countries. And I think maybe they might even need to be a different target and a different measure put out for developing countries versus developed countries. And I think definitely more research is required.
Are there examples of specific green projects that you have seen to be successful that are good case studies? How have these changed people’s lives?
In terms of green projects that have been successful, I think, definitely in South Africa, we have renewable energy projects, and also had projects implemented as part of the Renewable Independent Power Producer Programme (REIPPP). In terms of the inclusion and the justness of those projects, I think they’re still lacking. And that’s one element that I would like to try and motivate large power producers to actually include and be more specific about this in how they develop their projects and how they implement the projects. They are some projects internationally that have community involvement. Some models known as community-shared PV and community shared micro grids. This can be something that we can pilot within the country and find out what the barriers are and how this would actually work in the South African context.
We need to try to create some sort of ownership from communities within these large infrastructure projects and see whether we can actually take along the communities with us while we are implementing the projects and post-implementation in terms of operations and maintenance. I think this can definitely be a good way to have green projects implemented in the just way. In terms of the green projects that would have changed lives; I know that yes, sometimes, some large power produces build PV plants for communities that have never had electricity. Obviously, this is a significant change within that specific community, because they’ve never had electricity before, or they would have built a school and developed some of the community participation within that and provided some opportunities within that. But I think that’s still small, we need to do more. We need to ensure that we have a larger impact in terms of the justness. We need to ensure that the broader picture is looked at and the whole country is actually thought of when we are looking at these different projects and technologies.
At the inaugural Africa’s Green Economy Summit in Cape Town in February 2023, you delivered a keynote address on “The dynamics of the local energy market and the just transition.” How was the event and how important is such an event for the continent in your view?
The event was great. It brought together many different stakeholders involved in driving the green economy. I think it is very important that we actually start speaking as a continent in the green economy. And I think that’s what’s lacking. We need to bring together all of the countries that will be part of this economy. Note that the global north needs us. They need our minerals, they need our resources, in terms of solar and wind, and they need to have us included in their transition as well. So, we need to come together to have a larger voice in what we want as a continent. And I think events like this actually bring those opportunities and enable such debates so that we ensure that we’re talking the same language and we’re trying to push for the betterment of the continent and the society within the continent.
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