IAM COMPACT capacity development in Mombasa (Kenya), 2023: Stakeholders' Workshop
The workshop aimed at demonstrating the use of open source and accessible energy system, economic and environment modelling tools largely used by the scientific community and by the UN to support energy and environment policy goals in Kenya. As such, it dedicates particular attention at the planning needs of Kenya - brought forward through discussion with the participants - and how they may be met with existing and expanded modelling capacity in the country.
The first day kicked-off with a presentation by Bruegel, showcasing the use of energy system models & scenarios in policy, their relevance, success cases, and examples. Participants discussed how subsidies and energy prices in the EU can affect prices in other regions, and whether EU’s energy policy could lower interest rates in developing countries. Stakeholders’ noted that Kenya should pose its own climate agenda and sustainable financial model, as external solutions risk being seen as a new form of climate neo-colonialism.
The next session featured Mr. Martin Mutembei from the Climate Compatible Growth Programme; he presented an overview of Kenya-CCG initiatives, including energy planning support, national ownership, the creation of a whole energy system modelling toolkit for Kenya, and capacity development activities through Summer Schools, and OpenLearn courses.
The next presentation featured Ms. Salsabila Abdulhalim, who will lead the Kenyan team of IAM COMPACT for the creation of an open-access model, presenting a Kenyan case study on integrated policy planning using the CLEWs nexus framework which was created during her participation in ICTP Joint Summer School for Sustainable Development 2023. The results were preliminary, as more datasets will feed into the model, building a more advanced representation of Kenya’s energy system.
The second day kicked-off with a presentation of interlinkages among water, energy, land use, and climate, and the need for a "nexus" approach to ensure policy coherence. A simplified diagram of a climate-land-energy-water system model was constructed step-by-step to demonstrate these interconnections. Next, Mr. Samson Soshyo, TUM lecturer, presented a conference paper on an optimised hybrid wind-solar energy system for irrigation pump load sites in Kenya, and together with Mr. Absae Sedah from Kenya’s Meteorological Department, discussed the possibility for data exchange with IAM COMPACT, especially on climate and future projections.
The next session provided an overview of integrated assessment models (IAMs) and how IAM COMPACT aims to use and develop IAMs to support the assessment of global climate goals, progress, and feasibility space, as well as the design of the next round of NDCs and policy planning beyond 2030. It then focused on Kenya’s NDC targets, as well as future challenges for the country’s planned energy and climate transition. Participants discussed the need to prioritise local challenges, placing afforestation as the most pressing issue, followed by lack of sustainable finance and widespread corruption – as most investments in infrastructure are currently driven by China in the form of loans, causing also “institutional degradation”.
The workshop ended with a hands-on exercise, using the CLEWs interface as a tool to inform debates on sustainable development policies and the interlinkages among climate, land, energy and water. Participants were asked to implement three policy interventions using the OSeMOSYS modelling tool in a Mauritius case study, discuss the benefits and impacts of each policy, analyse their food-energy-water implications and propose mitigation measures to address any negative impacts from each policy.