Richenda Van Leeuwen

Richenda is Managing Director for Emerging Clean Economies at the Rocky Mountain Institute, leading RMI’s emerging markets energy teams. As Chair, International Institutions at the Global LPG Partnership she worked on African residential energy solutions from 2016-2019 and as a member of the World Bank's Energy Program's (ESMAP) Technical Advisory Group. From 2010-2016 she was Executive Director for Energy Access at the United Nations Foundation.

Beyond the Grid: Driving an Economy-wide Energy Transformation by Cities and Industry in Asia

Cities and industry play a pivotal role in driving a comprehensive energy transformation within Asian economies. The session unpacked the energy transformation outside of the power sector, shared case studies from low-carbon cities in China and new business models that promote the energy transformation of manufacturing in India.

The Opportunities and Challenges for Climate Mitigation Actions (NDCs and NAMAs)- The Case of Pakistan

Pakistan is a developing country, despite low emissions, it is ranked fifth when it comes to being affected by the impacts of climate change. During the period 1994-2013, the extreme climate events caused an economic loss of 4 billion USD. Pakistan having ratified Kyoto Protocol and Paris Agreement is working to achieve the greenhouse gas emission reduction goals set by the two. Currently, there are eight Nationally Appropriate Mitigation Actions (NAMAs) that have been submitted by Pakistan of which six are still seeking support for implementation.

Enhancing Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) by Developing Energy Roadmaps

This presentation gave an overview of the global and regional progress in climate action and emphasized the need for an integrated approach to 2030 energy transition. It also discussed the National Expert SDG Tool for Energy Planning (NEXSTEP), an online tool to help develop national SDG7 roadmap and options to achieve NDCs.