Shaping the Future of Energy Governance

UNDP brings together experts across borders and sectors to help countries set up energy governance systems.

February 8, 2023

Multiple, interconnected global crises continue to hit the world’s poorest the hardest, dramatically slowing down progress towards the implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals. For the first time since it was created over 30 years ago, the Human Development Index has declined for two years straight, erasing the gains of the preceding five years. 733 million people still lack access to electricity and the opportunities it brings, and 2.4 billion people lack access to clean cooking. Quickly closing the energy access gap and unlocking the global clean energy potential is critical to ensure a just energy transition.

To help countries address their energy challenges, UNDP has pledged to mobilize partners to provide access to sustainable, affordable energy to 500 million people by 2025 as a means to advance decarbonization while unlocking development opportunities for the world’s most vulnerable communities.

There is strong evidence that accountable, inclusive and effective governance is critical for the sustainable development of our societies. Drawing on its vast governance experience and expertise, UNDP is ramping up its energy governance work. We are taking a systemic approach to better grasp and respond to the complex and intersecting challenges of the 21st century energy system that may span across the social, economic, and political domains at different levels of governance across public, private, and civil society sectors.

“We’re excited to build on UNDP’s substantial governance expertise to help countries put in place the governance systems that are needed to advance a just, inclusive energy transition,” added Sarah Lister, Head of Governance, UNDP. “A just energy transition will bring a formidable array of opportunities for people, communities and countries. Strong energy governance processes will ensure that no one is left behind.”

UNDP has outlined recommendations for countries to put in place energy governance systems, and has convened 23 experts — parliamentary representatives, government bodies, academia, private sector, non-profit institutions, youth, and other civil society groups — from 17 countries in its Advisory Group for Energy Governance. This group will bring an intersectional and interdisciplinary mindset that will be critical for UNDP's work on energy governance to be timely and relevant, and will help us assess future opportunities, challenges, risks, and trade-offs.

“The current global challenge requires a major transformation of the global economy, driven by a complete transformation of energy systems – across all dimensions of people, society, institutions, and the environment,” said Stefanie Held, Director of UNDP’s Sustainable Energy Hub. “Strong governance is fundamental to support this global transformation. Let’s go beyond simply saying that we need to work together and support each other in real collaboration with people in mind. I would like to thank the Co-Chairs and all the members for bringing their experiences to collaborate and work on this one of the most pressing issues of our society today.”

“I am honored to co-chair UNDP’s Advisory Group on Energy Governance," added Sanjay Jaiswal, Member of Parliament, India. "This is a truly diverse and first-of-a-kind international group that brings together experts from a variety of backgrounds, cultures, experiences, and sectors to solve the governance challenges of ensuring a clean and equitable energy system of the future. I look forward to working with the group and helping UNDP in addressing the energy governance challenges across the world”.

“I commend UNDP’s initiative in creating this global platform, which I’m honored to co-chair,” said Teresa Kramarz, Co-Director of the Environmental Governance Lab, and Professor in the School of the Environment at the University of Toronto. “It’s critical that UNDP, a leading actor supporting countries develop strong governance mechanisms, considers a range of opinions, perspectives, and experiences to shape its energy governance work.”

Meet the members of the UNDP Advisory Group for Energy Governance

Sanjay Jaiswal (Co-Chair). Member of Parliament and Chair, Climate Parliament Network, India. Expertise: Parliamentary system, electricity access, off-grid solutions, health system, development policies
Teresa Kramarz (Co-Chair). Professor and Co-Director, Environmental Governance Lab School of the Environment, University of Toronto. Expertise: Environmental governance, energy transition, critical minerals governance, global affairs, environmental accountability and partnerships.
Dhamir Mannai. Former Member of Parliament and Director, Climate & Energy Section, ADDE-Tunisie, Tunisia. Expertise: Climate protection, policy making, empowering parliaments and parliamentarians, with a focus on the Middle East, North and West Africa regions.
Daniel Duma. Research Fellow, Stockholm Environment Institute, Sweden. Expertise: Energy and climate policy, sustainable finance and business, development policy, renewable energy investments, risk mitigation.
Michael Paramathasan. Former Director of the Treasury Board of Canada. Expertise: Geopolitical risk, government policy execution, international trade, institutional partnerships, and technology ventures.
Bharath Jairaj. Executive Director of the India Energy Program and Global Lead of the Energy Governance Practice, World Resources Institute. Expertise: Social inclusion, poverty reduction, energy transition, energy for development, governance improvement, citizen participation.
Michael Thompson. Management and Program Specialist, US Department of Energy. Expertise: Carbon Management and Removal Governance.
Yacob Mulugetta. Professor of Energy and Development Policy, University College London, UK and Africa Policy Research Institute, Germany. Expertise: Energy and Development, energy and climate change, institutional development, behavior change.
Katherine Arblaster. Vice President, Uranium Energy Corporation. Expertise: Corporate governance, mining, investment, with a focus on Africa.
Eduarda Zoghbi. Senior Advisor, Student Energy. Expertise: Gender and energy, energy, and political science, climate investment fund, energy subsidies.
Gopal Nadadur. Vice President, The Asia Group. Expertise: Industry and trade policy, private sector development, poverty reduction, low-skill job creation, economic development.
Dhananjay Ravikumar. Research Engineer, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, USA. Expertise: Energy technology innovations, hydrogen, fusion, public private partnership on technology innovation.
Edi Sartono. Former Deputy Director Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources, Indonesia. Expertise: Island energy system, government processes and challenges, energy efficiency, demand side governance.
Yana Popkostova. Founder and CEO, European Centre for Energy and Geopolitical Analysis, France. Expertise: Geopolitics of energy, energy-climate-security nexus, cross-commodity market trends and strategy, critical raw materials, energy diplomacy and governance, EU net-zero
Sebastian Sahla. Policy Manager, Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative, Norway. Expertise: Governance and sustainability in natural resources, anti-corruption, transparency.
Randolph Brazier. Global Head, Clean Power Systems, HSBC, UK. Expertise: Energy system infrastructure, infrastructure politics and regulation, infrastructure funding, new and emerging market mechanisms, data and digitalization of the energy system, open data governance.
Hanen Keskes. Senior Officer, Middle East and North Africa, Natural Resources Governance Institute, Tunisia. Expertise: Human and women’s rights, civil society capacity building, energy transition, politics and international relations.

Youth Representatives

Nevin Alija. Head of European Affairs at Strategy and Energy Transition Management, Floene, Portugal. Expertise: Consumer protection, competition law, energy law, international private law, trade law, corporate law.
Sadya Toure. British Embassy Bamako, Press and Public Affairs Officer, Mali. Expertise: Civic engagement, Women and youth empowerment, media and press communication, social media policy.
Subramaniam Pulipaka. Chief Executive Officer, National Solar Energy Federation of India, India. Expertise: Solar system value chain, manufacturing policy, public-private partnership, renewables in agriculture.
Fatoumata Diarrassouba. Co-Founder/Managing Partner, Afrik’Energy Connect Inc., Côte d’Ivoire. Expertise: Rural energy access, mini/micro-grids, economics, strategy development, labor migration and development.
David Arinze. Program Officer, Diamond Development Initiatives, Nigeria. Expertise: off-grid energy, energy efficiency and conservation, project conceptualization and implementation.
Francis Sakato. Principal Technical Analyst, Independent Consumer and Competition Commission, Papua New Guinea. Expertise: Regulatory and policy areas of the energy/electricity sector in PNG and other SIDS countries.

For more information on UNDP's Energy Governance work, please email us at energy@undp.org