Description

While it can be expected that decarbonization efforts will create new opportunities and employment across all economic sectors, it will surely have also disruptive effects on high-carbon fuels production regions and energy-intensive industries. Therefore, the social effects of the transition need to be estimated well in advance, at the planning phase, so that the proper protection mechanisms are developed and the relevant policies preparing the population to the new reality are put in place. 

There is increasing evidence, and recognition, that clean energy transitions require new technologies to serve the energy needs of growing and advancing economies. Coal should not be simply burnt for energy production. To the contrary, its true value lies in its potential to be refined and utilized for high value resources. Recognizing coal’s hidden potential gives an opportunity to preserve coal extraction and thus save jobs and avoid the majority of the negative environmental impacts caused by the current end use of coal.

Building and maintaining resilient and carbon neutral energy systems in Central Asia and adopting the new approach to coal will require developing new innovative solutions, which will in turn require new skills. Universities will play a key role in that process as it will be to large extent their task to develop human capital necessary to meet the requirements of the green economy and to close the skills gap across the region to deliver on green and just energy transition. 

The session brought together university representatives and policymakers to explore how to overcome the barriers and identify solutions to foster the next generation of energy experts across Central Asia

Logistics

The event constituted a part of the 3rd Almaty Energy Forum and took place at the Almaty at Kazakh British Technical University (KBTU) .