Making the Leap
The need for Just Energy Transition Partnerships (JETPs) to support leapfrogging fossil gas to a clean renewable energy future
This brief argues that Just Energy Transition Partnerships (in South Africa, Indonesia, India, Vietnam and Senegal) should support leapfrogging from fossil to renewable energy.
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South Africa, Indonesia, India, and Vietnam source a large proportion of their coal domestically, but an energy transition using gas would expose their economies to the types of volatility and high prices currently being experienced by European countries, which has led to a cost-of-living crisis
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36.9 million people in the JETP countries lack access to energy. Many people who lack access to modern energy live in rural areas, and the modularity and lability to be installed without needing expensive grid extensions makes wind and solar energy ideally suited to meeting this energy access need.
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Stranding of assets and the misuse of valuable economic capital through misplaced investments in fossil fuel infrastructure, including for fossil gas, can be avoided through investing in renewable energy infrastructure that is better future-proofed.
Just Energy Transition Partnerships (JETPs) are a new funding model created to help South Africa, Indonesia, India, Vietnam, and Senegal transition away from fossil energy and toward clean energy in a way that also addresses social issues associated with such an energy transition. They are also expected to leverage parallel investments in the energy systems of the JETP countries. While there is pressure from some of the JETP countries to make a bridging transition to gas, this is technically unnecessary, economically disadvantageous, and dangerous for the climate. Each of the JETP countries has significant solar and wind resources they should be supported to develop. JETPs need to support a direct transition to clean energy that provides signals to the wider investment community that participating governments are committed to a global clean energy transition.
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