The Just Transitions and Interdisciplinary Peace (JTIP) research group welcomes you to their second seminar in their JTIP seminar series with Ms Carmella Uwineza. This event will be hybrid, attendees can also join online.

Climate justice principles suggest that responsibilities for addressing climate change should be attributed to countries that contribute the most to the problem, while also addressing systemic, socioeconomic, and intergenerational inequalities. This perspective promotes the narrative that Africa's energy transition requires international support, though it risks perpetuating patterns of inequality, neocolonial extractivism, and dependency. As global economic governance shifts, it is crucial to critically assess this narrative, specifically regarding the opportunities and challenges that international climate finance presents in supporting Africa's transition to sustainable energy practices. This research examines the possibilities and implications of current climate finance models to support Africa's energy transition.

Focusing on energy projects funded between 2014 and 2024 by institutions such as the World Bank, the Green Climate Fund, and the Global Environment Facility, I conducted a content and narrative analysis of key project proposals from Kenya and Senegal. These countries serve as case studies for examining the evolving relationship between climate finance and energy development over time, offering an in-depth exploration of these processes.

This analysis reveals trends in funding instruments used, amounts allocated, and prioritized components of energy systems and infrastructure. The analysis also explores whether proposals either address justice and equity or reinforce existing power imbalances, highlighting the tension between advancing Africa's just energy transition and perpetuating extractivist dynamics through energy development. Based on patterns across proposals, the findings offer insights into how international finance could evolve to better support Africa's just energy transition and avoid extractivism.