Foregrounding Global South Solutions at London Climate Action Week

Events/Webinars

CLASP and partner organizations are meeting in the UK to discuss vital solutions like appliance policy.

This week, global climate advocates are converging on the UK capital for the seventh iteration of London Climate Action Week.

CLASP leaders are joining events across the city to discuss the critical role of appliances in climate mitigation and adaptation, with a focus on the Global South.

On Monday, CLASP hosted an event offering a preview of a forthcoming report. The research argues that extending electricity to the hundreds of millions of people who don’t have access—most of whom live in sub-Saharan Africa—will require a new focus on appliances.

Panelists at CLASP's 2025 London Climate Action Week event focused on powering sustainable energy development.

CLASP

In his introduction to the event, one of the report’s authors, Bishal Thapa, CLASP’s chief strategy and impacts officer, provided an overview of its thesis. To date, attempts to provide universal energy access have failed because they have focused exclusively on supply, he said, with the idea that if we “just keep expanding the grid . . . lo and behold, everyone will get electricity.” In practice, however, because people living in the affected areas lack appliances that allow them to translate electricity into useful services, these efforts often don’t work out as intended.

“We’ve got to look at demand creation as a way of stimulating the economic and financial viability of grid expansion,” he said.

Thapa’s remarks were followed by a panel discussion moderated by Ashden’s Ashok Sinha. Panelists included Sam Grant, CLASP’s senior director of clean energy access and a coauthor of the forthcoming report; SunCulture’s Samir Ibrahim; Mirova’s Nicole Kugelmass; Lightrock’s Hanaan Marwah; and Power for All’s Carolina Inés Pan.

A small room full of people seated in chairs facing a stage applauds.

Attendees at CLASP's Powering Sustainable Energy Demand event.

CLASP

CLASP organized a second event on Monday with ZE-Gen, an initiative that promotes zero-emission power generators, with support from UK Aid. Focused on people-centered climate solutions in the Global South, the event presented examples of collaborations between communities, governments, private-sector actors, and nonprofits that create tangible benefits for local stakeholders.

During the panel discussion, Thapa discussed how CLASP’s work on appliance efficiency policy reduces greenhouse gas emissions and helps more people access the appliances they need to thrive in a warming world.

Six people take part in a panel discussion on a small stage.

Panel discussion at a London Climate Action Week event organized by CLASP and ZE-Gen.

CLASP

Another panelist, Dana Crawhall, talked about the Climate and Clean Air Coalition‘s focus on super pollutants—the chemicals most responsible for short-term global warming. Since these pollutants have profound implications for people’s everyday lives in the Global South, affecting everything from food security and economic development to health, reducing them is vitally important. “This [super pollutant] agenda is really, really critical for the development agenda, to make good on the SDGs,” she said.

Additional panelists included the International Institute for Environment and Development’s Kevin Johnstone, KOC Bridge for Peace’s Karana Olivier, and Intellecap’s Santosh Singh. The discussion was moderated by Cipher News’s Anca Gurzu.

CLASP experts are also appearing at several other events during the remainder of the week. Follow us on LinkedIn and Bluesky for more information.