Global energy challenges targeted through China-UN collaboration

In a collaborative effort to identify capacity gaps in the global energy transition, a Chinese international NGO and United Nations agencies have launched a joint research program.

Its findings will guide the development of targeted training initiatives aimed at promoting a just global energy transition.

The program is based on the Global Energy Interconnection Development and Cooperation Organization's experience in delivering capacity-building training, said Lyu Xinchang, a senior manager with the organization's operation bureau.

Established in 2016, GEIDCO is the first international organization in the energy sector initiated by China.

Since then, it has organized more than 30 international training programs, drawing over 10,000 participants from more than 80 countries, Lyu said at an event held on the sidelines of the ongoing UN climate change conference, or COP30, in Belem, Brazil.

Lyu said these projects have shown that "different regions of the world are in different development stages with various capacity-building gaps and diverse training needs".

He added that participants from Africa tend to focus more on distributed renewable energy development and project financing, while those from West Asia are often interested in the latest technologies and emerging topics in industries such as hydrogen energy.

"Therefore, we believe that a comprehensive global energy transition capacity gap and needs analysis is crucial," he said.

Finding shared priorities, GEIDCO decided to launch the research program jointly with the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change and the Paris Committee on Capacity-building.

Established in 2015 alongside the landmark Paris Agreement, the PCCB works to address current and emerging capacity-building gaps and needs in developing countries.

The goal is to accurately identify capacity gaps and shortcomings in the energy transition, laying the foundation for more targeted training programs in the future, Lyu said.

The research will examine energy transition policies, technologies, talent development, investment, financing, and international cooperation across global regions, he added.

Specific areas include assessing gaps in core sectors, evaluating capacity needs among different stakeholders, and conducting in-depth analyses of selected regions and countries.

Gloria Alvarenga, director of Integration, Access and Energy Security at the Latin American Energy Organization, welcomed the initiative.

"Sharing practical experiences, assessing needs, and exploring collaborative mechanisms can accelerate the transition in climate action," she said.

The success of the energy transition will depend heavily on the ability to train, update and connect human talent, Alvarenga added.

"That will make a more sustainable, more competitive and, most of all, more inclusive region possible," she said.

In a video address, Riad Meddeb, director of the Sustainable Energy Hub at the UN Development Programme, underscored the need to address capacity gaps to ensure a just transition.

"Although we have made progress since the Paris Agreement, as described by Secretary-General (Antonio) Guterres in his COP30 opening remarks, our moral failure to remain below 1.5 C signifies the urgency of not only scaling and accelerating, but centering a just energy transition across all sectors," Meddeb said.

This transition requires necessary skills and capacity, he said. But while the tools exist, the benefits are not distributed equally. About 60 percent of global energy production remains inefficient.

The Paris Agreement aims to keep the global temperature rise this century well below 2 C above pre-industrial levels, while pursuing efforts to limit the increase to 1.5 C. There is a growing global consensus to keep the rise below 1.5 C to avoid catastrophic consequences.

Meddeb said digitalization could transform clean energy systems, but digital access remains sharply uneven. While 68 percent of the world is online, only 27 percent of people in low-income countries have internet access.

"As technological advancements accelerate and transform energy systems, ensuring these tools are equitably accessible will determine whether this transition is just," he said.