Energy Efficiency for Energy Access: Appliance Efficiency in Resource-Constrained Settings (Webinar)

The Clean Energy Solutions Center, in partnership with the Rexel Foundation and the United Nations Foundation’s Energy Access Practitioner Network, hosted this webinar on energy efficiency for energy access, with focus on the importance of appliance efficiency in resource-constrained settings. This webinar was part of the broader work that the UN Foundation is undertaking on energy access within the UN and the World Bank’s Sustainable Energy for All initiative.
Speakers in this webinar showcased their respective organizations’ experience in the nexus of energy efficiency and access, discussed work being undertaken under the broader umbrella of the Clean Energy Ministerial’s Global Lighting and Energy Access Partnership (Global LEAP) program and the new Efficiency 4 Access (E4A) Coalition and provided collective best practices.
Richenda Van Leeuwen, Executive Director, Energy Access, United Nations Foundation provided an overview of the UN Foundation’s work on scaling energy access in developing countries through its 2000+ member strong Energy Access Practitioner Network and discussed their collective work around appliance efficiency.
Pascale Giet, Rexel Foundation Vice-Chairman and Rexel Group Senior Vice President Communications and Sustainable Development, and Franck Legardeur, Rexel Group Energy Efficiency Marketing Director, Rexel Foundation, showcased Rexel’s accomplishments providing dedicated solutions as a leading supplier of products and services for the energy world operating in 35 countries and provided perspective on efficiency aspects relevant to resource-constrained settings.
Matt Jordan, Senior Manager of Clean Energy Access at CLASP, provided an overview of the Clean Energy Ministerial’s Global LEAP efforts to catalyze the global market for high-quality, super-efficient off-grid appliances as well as the new E4A Coalition.
Harry Verhaar, Head of Global Public and Government Affairs at Philips Lighting, provided an industry representative focus on the role of energy efficiency in developing countries, highlighting Philips’ work at the intersection of energy access and energy efficiency.
Presentations were be followed by an interactive question and answer session with the audience.
Panelists
RICHENDA VAN LEEUWEN, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, ENERGY ACCESS, UN FOUNDATION
Richenda Van Leeuwen leads the work on energy access at the United Nations Foundation. She founded and leads the work of the Energy Access Practitioner Network, and also works on the Secretary-General’s Sustainable Energy for All initiative. She has more than 20 years of executive experience in emerging markets development across a range of international organizations and in the private sector as well as with a range of non-profits. Immediately prior to joining the Foundation, she spent a number of years in global private equity focusing on commercial renewable energy investment in emerging markets with the investment firm Good Energies. She also supported a range of energy access and climate change mitigation and adaptation projects around the world as a founding trustee of the Good Energies Foundation. From 2001 to 2005, Richenda was the executive director of the Trickle Up Program in New York, which focused on micro-enterprise development in developing countries among the extreme poor. She is a frequent international speaker on energy access as well as gender development and poverty alleviation. She holds both a B.S. in Geography and an MBA from the University of Durham, UK.
PASCALE GIET, SENIOR VICE PRESIDENT COMMUNICATIONS AND SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT OF THE REXEL GROUP REXEL FOUNDATION VICE CHAIRMAN
Pascale started her career in the Expand Group before joining ComDev in 1990. She joined Vivendi Universal in 1994 as Communications Director for TDR. In 1997, she was promoted within the group to Advertising Director for Cegetel. In 1999, she joined e-TF1 as Communications Director before moving to Europ Assistance Group in 2004 as SVP Communications & Sustainable Development and member of the Group’s Executive Committee. In 2010, she joined Rexel as Group SVP Communications and Sustainable Development and member of the Executive Committee. She has created the Rexel Foundation en 2013.
HARRY VERHAAR
Harry Verhaar has over 20 years of experience in the lighting industry and is Head of Global Public & Government Affairs for Philips Lighting. He is responsible for the strategy, outreach and stakeholder management on energy and climate change, and resource efficiency and sustainable development, with a key focus on the role of the LED lighting revolution. He is an active member of several partnership and stakeholder networks, including The Climate Group; Regions20 and the World Green Building Council and is a member of the Advisory Boards of The Lisbon Council and the Global Cities Institute (and their World Council on City Data). He is responsible for Philips’ relationship management with the UN and the World Bank and is a founding member of UNEP’s en.lighten program and the SE4All’s Global Energy Efficiency Accelerator Platform. He is chairman of the European Alliance to Save Energy and is president of the Global Off-Grid Lighting Association. Harry is a recipient of the 2011 UN Leader of Change Award, and he has received the Carbon War Room’s Gigaton award on behalf of Philips at COP17 in Durban. In May 2015, he received the Energy Efficiency Visionary Award from the Alliance to Save Energy in Washington D.C. He holds an MSc in Solid State Luminescence from the University of Utrecht, The Netherlands.
MATT JORDAN, SENIOR MANAGER OF CLEAN ENERGY ACCESS, CLASP
Matt Jordan leads CLASP’s Clean Energy Access program, which focuses on leveraging energy efficiency to accelerate the affordability—and social and environmental benefits—of access to clean energy throughout the developing world. CLASP is an NGO with over 15 years of experience in appliance energy efficiency and market transformation. CLASP is responsible for the Clean Energy Ministerial’s Global LEAP Awards program, and it has developed and manages several Global LEAP off-grid appliance market development initiatives on behalf of the U.S. Department of Energy, Energising Development, ClimateWorks Foundation and other partners. CLASP also advises and supports the United Nations Foundation’s Global Alliance for Clean Cookstoves, the World Bank Group and others.
FRANCK LEGARDEUR, REXEL GROUP ENERGY EFFICIENCY MARKETING DIRECTOR
Franck has two decades of sales and marketing experiences working for different groups starting by Hager Group, General Electric (GE), where he has occupied different positions, always at the international level. He joined Rexel three years ago as Group Energy Efficiency Marketing Director to deploy and support Rexel countries with the implementation of Energy Efficiency initiatives. He is closely collaborating with a community of 25 energy efficiency leaders representing energy efficiency through Rexel Group. He graduated from ESIDEC International Business School from Metz and possesses a solid technical background.