THE GREEN INSTITUTE
What does a truly just energy transition look like when viewed from the communities that must live with its consequences?
That question was at the heart of Energies 3.0, The Green Institute’s flagship energy conference held from April 22–24, 2026, alongside the Advanced Certificate in Energy Transition and Sustainability for Oil, Gas, and Allied Sector Professionals.
Across three days of hybrid engagement, researchers, policymakers, legal experts, energy practitioners, industry leaders and emerging voices examined the future of energy through a distinctly Global South lens. Rather than treating decarbonisation as a purely technological exercise, Energies 3.0 placed access, justice, participation, resilience, local ownership and human dignity at the centre of the conversation.
The urgency of this perspective was captured in the opening remarks by Dr. Adenike Akinsemolu, Founder and Global Director of The Green Institute. Recalling a visit to a community with highly unreliable electricity, she shared the words of a young girl: “We don't plan our lives around time, we plan our lives around light.” For Akinsemolu, the encounter was a reminder that energy is ultimately about far more than infrastructure: it determines people’s ability to exercise control over their lives and futures.
That human-centred framing set the direction for a conference committed to asking not only how much renewable energy can be deployed, but who decides, who participates, who benefits, who carries the risks, and who may still be excluded.
Rethinking Africa’s “energy transition”
The keynote address by Prof. Youba Sokona, former Vice Chair of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), challenged conventional assumptions about what an African energy transition should mean.
Sokona argued that Africa’s most fundamental transition remains the movement away from traditional biomass, fuelwood and charcoal towards adequate, reliable and affordable modern energy services. He positioned the challenge at the intersection of energy, climate and development, stressing that African pathways must first deliver livelihoods, equity, economic transformation and climate resilience.
Importantly, he rejected a one-size-fits-all approach. African countries enter the transition from vastly different levels of electricity access, institutional strength, renewable resources, financing costs and development priorities. Consequently, individual countries—and even communities within them—need solutions grounded in their own circumstances.
The implication was clear: the Global South should not simply inherit transition pathways conceived elsewhere. Energy futures must be development-led, context-specific and capable of reflecting local priorities.
Watch Prof. Youba Sokona’s keynote address | Read the press release
Decentralisation as a strategy, not an afterthought
One of the strongest practical illustrations came from Dr. Abba Aliyu, Managing Director/CEO of Nigeria’s Rural Electrification Agency.
Aliyu reframed Africa’s electricity challenge as not simply an absence of energy resources, but a delivery problem: how can reliable power reach people quickly, affordably and sustainably? His answer placed decentralised systems—including solar home systems, mini-grids and interconnected mini-grids—at the centre of the strategy rather than at its margins.
He discussed Nigeria’s use of public finance to catalyse significantly larger pools of private investment, alongside efforts to strengthen renewable-energy companies, local financing, domestic manufacturing and skills development. For Aliyu, decentralisation is increasingly becoming a mechanism through which energy access, industrial development and local capacity can advance together.
Watch Dr. Abba Aliyu’s session | Read the press release
Building institutions that can sustain decentralised energy
Technology alone, however, cannot create resilient electricity markets.
Wolemi Esan, SAN, Deputy Managing Partner at Olaniwun Ajayi LP, examined the legal and institutional dimensions of decentralisation in Nigeria. His presentation explored opportunities arising from decentralised markets—including locally tailored energy solutions, more responsive tariff structures, streamlined licensing, community-owned mini-grids and improved resilience—while positioning energy justice as an important objective of reform.
The deeper message was that sustainable decentralisation depends on regulatory sequencing, institutional coordination, durable legal frameworks and mechanisms capable of addressing commercial disruptions—not merely new technologies.
Watch Wolemi Esan, SAN | Download the presentation
Energy democracy: access is not enough
Several Energies 3.0 speakers pushed the conversation beyond physical electricity connections towards agency and participation.
Dr. Xavier Lemaire of UCL Institute for Sustainable Resources asked whether energy democracy can actually achieve energy justice. His presentation cautioned that renewable energy deployment can still reproduce inequality through high upfront costs, unequal land impacts, concentrated capital ownership, unaffordable tariffs and differences in households’ ability to turn electricity access into socioeconomic benefit.
He therefore highlighted citizen assemblies, community energy structures and meaningful participation as mechanisms for connecting national policy choices with local decision-making.
Similarly, Dr. Aritra Chakrabarty of the University of Exeter stressed that “local” does not automatically mean equitable. Community energy can remain embedded in inequalities of gender, class and ethnicity, with uneven access, participation and distribution of benefits. His contribution shifted the discussion from energy access to energy agency—asking who controls systems, who participates in decisions and who ultimately benefits.
Watch Dr. Xavier Lemaire | Download his presentation
Watch Dr. Aritra Chakrabarty | Download his presentation
From “social licence” to genuine community power
Dr. Grant Gutierrez, Head of Community Impacts at Carbon Direct, extended this discussion into project governance.
His presentation, From Social License to Social Contract, argued for moving beyond community engagement models in which populations are merely informed or consulted after important decisions have effectively been made.
Gutierrez proposed three principles with wider relevance to energy development: establish accountable governance before allocating money; define beneficiaries according to the real social and economic territory affected by a project rather than only its legal footprint; and create long-term, revenue-linked benefits that endure throughout a project’s lifecycle rather than ending after permitting or construction.
This represents a significant shift in thinking: communities should not simply receive compensation for hosting energy infrastructure. They should have a meaningful role in governance, benefit allocation and long-term value creation.
Climate intelligence is energy infrastructure too
Resilience also depends on understanding a changing climate.
Prof. Alberto Troccoli, Co-founder and CEO of Inside Climate Service and the World Energy & Meteorology Council, explored how climate and weather affect global energy systems.
His central message was that climate variability is already reshaping energy planning. Changes in temperature, wind, solar and hydropower conditions mean that climate information must increasingly inform investment and operations. Better observations, seasonal forecasts and region-specific planning tools can strengthen grid resilience, operational readiness and risk-informed investment—particularly across regions with rapidly growing electricity demand.
Watch Prof. Alberto Troccoli | Read the press release
Financing a just transition—and financing the right transition
The availability of finance emerged repeatedly as both an opportunity and a constraint.
Litu Sethi, Ph.D. Research Scholar at the National Institute of Technology Rourkela, examined community-led energy transitions through the energy trilemma of security, equity and environmental sustainability.
His research found that energy investment and stronger financial systems can improve energy security and equity in developing countries by expanding access and enabling infrastructure investment. Yet the findings also issued a warning: financial expansion does not automatically improve environmental sustainability when investment continues to flow towards carbon-intensive technologies.
The financing challenge, therefore, is not simply to mobilise more capital. It is to direct capital towards solutions that improve access, affordability, resilience and decarbonisation simultaneously.
Watch Litu Sethi’s session | Download the presentation
Innovation from waste, law, youth and communities
Energies 3.0 deliberately expanded the meaning of energy innovation beyond solar panels and electricity grids.
Darlington Ekechukwu explored energy recovery from waste in Nigeria, presenting waste-to-energy as a pathway for converting non-recyclable materials into electricity, heat and recoverable resources while supporting circular-economy objectives, reducing landfill dependence and potentially improving energy security.
Dr. Eghosa O. Ekhator, Associate Professor of Law at the University of Derby, examined corporate accountability and the potential of climate litigation in Nigeria. His session considered the evolving legal basis for climate action, including opportunities and limitations within Nigeria’s Climate Change Act and debates over access to justice for communities and individuals affected by climate harm.
And Adesuyan Omojadesola brought an important youth perspective through Youth Action for Community Clean Energy. Her presentation connected clean energy to health, economic development and environmental protection while emphasizing young people’s capacity to influence household behaviour, spread new ideas and lead community change. Watch the session | Download the presentation
These contributions reinforced one of the conference’s defining principles: innovation must be understood as technical, social, legal, financial and institutional.
A transition measured by dignity
By the close of Energies 3.0, one idea connected discussions spanning law, finance, climate science, electricity regulation, gender, youth participation, community governance and renewable technology: a transition cannot be considered successful merely because it is cleaner.
It must also be fair.
It must expand meaningful access. It must strengthen rather than weaken communities. It must recognise different local realities. It must allow people affected by energy decisions to participate in making those decisions. And it must create durable opportunities for livelihoods, ownership and resilience.
The closing reflections captured that collective direction: energy should be understood not simply as infrastructure, but as a foundation for justice, resilience and human dignity, while Global South transitions must remain inclusive, context-specific and community-led.
That is the challenge Energies 3.0 leaves with policymakers, investors, researchers, companies and communities: not simply to build a low-carbon energy future, but to decide together what kind of future that energy should make possible.
Continue the Energies conversation
Sessions from Energies 3.0 are available to revisit online. Watch the conference sessions and explore the individual presentations, press releases and recordings from speakers across the programme.
The Advanced Certificate in Energy Transition and Sustainability for Oil, Gas, and Allied Sector Professionals, presented alongside Energies 3.0, further extends this conversation into professional learning and capacity building—supporting the knowledge and skills needed to navigate an energy system undergoing profound technological, regulatory and social change.
Energies 3.0 demonstrated that the future of energy in the Global South will not be determined by technology alone. It will be determined by whose knowledge counts, whose voices shape decisions, where capital flows, how institutions respond—and whether communities themselves have the power to lead.
