Energy Efficiency for Energy Access: The Role of Social Innovation in Driving Change (Webinar)

20 September 2016

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The Clean Energy Solutions Center, in partnership with the United Nations Foundation's Energy Access Practitioner Network, supported by the Rexel Foundation, hosted this webinar on energy efficiency for energy access, which focused on the growing role of social innovation in addressing energy efficiency and energy access. The webinar forms part the UN Foundation’s broader work on energy access within Sustainable Energy for All, spearheaded by the UN and the World Bank.

The speakers in this session highlighted their respective organizations' experience in scaling up social innovations related to energy efficiency and energy access, discussed the crucial role of these actors and the ecosystem around them and provided collective best practices.

  • Reid Detchon, Vice President for Energy & Climate Strategy, United Nations Foundation, will provide an overview of the UN Foundation's work on scaling energy access through its 2,300+ member strong Energy Access Practitioner Network and discuss the importance of energy efficiency to achieving Sustainable Energy for All.
  • Pascale Giet, Rexel Foundation Vice-Chairman and Rexel Group Senior Vice President for Communication, Sustainability & Social Impact, will briefly explain why social innovation is critical in the context of energy efficiency and energy access and showcase the Rexel Foundation’s engagement in the support of social innovation, providing real-life illustrations of how it drives energy efficiency and access to energy.
  • Thomas Thivillon, Head of the Energy Unit for Entrepreneurs du Monde, will discuss two case studies that illustrate how social innovation in the energy world enables Entrepreneurs du Monde to reach out to communities otherwise lacking electrification.
  • Richard Caperton, Director of National Policy and Partnerships, Opower, will present Opower's innovative customer engagement platform tailor-made for utilities and share Opower's experiences in Asia around demand management as well as customer care.

Webinar presentations were followed by an interactive question and answer session with the audience.