“Climate resilience key challenge for global energy sector”

Climate resilience will turn out to be one of the key challenges for the global energy sector, says Kamia Handayani. Kamia, who is a PhD researcher in climate change mitigation and adaptation in the power sector, presented her views last week at the United Nations Climate Change Conference COP24 in Katowice, Poland.

“Developing countries like Indonesia face challenges to provide universal and reliable electricity access throughout the country”, Kamia says. “At the same time, they also pledge to reduce their carbon emissions under the Paris Agreement. On top of the vital electrification and climate change mitigation goals, the Indonesian power sector has already been affected by severe weather and changes in climate variables. Widespread power cuts due to severe weathers commonly occur in the country. Therefore, future development of the power sector in Indonesia should focus on both shifting to the low-carbon and also to the climate-resilient power grid.”

Kamia took part in an expert session in the Indonesian Pavilion at the Conference of the Parties (COP), in a panel including Dutch climate envoy Marcel Beukeboom and various young experts, reflecting on the challenges for young professionals in tackling climate change. She has been an PhD candidate at the University of Twente since 2016, her research is funded by the Indonesian Endowment Fund for Education (LPDP). She writes regular articles for the Jakarta Post.

Various UT researchers attended the COP24 conference, as the University of Twente is one of the admitted observers for the conference.

Watch the panel discussion below.