26 April 2016

ACEF 2016 kicks off in just six weeks (6-10 June), and it is shaping up to be a dynamic and exciting week. This year we received a record total of 285 submissions in response to the Call for Abstracts. The abstracts are now undergoing final review and all applicants will be notified about the status of their submission by next Wednesday 4 May.  For those not accepted, there will be multiple opportunities to participate in ACEF, including through Deep Dive Workshops and Technical Seminars early in the week (6-7 June), as well as a Knowledge Exchange event on the first day of the main forum (8 June).

To learn more about the week’s agenda, and the different clean energy topics in each of the sessions in the Thematic Tracks, click here.

We are pleased to share with you some updates on keynote speakers at the Forum, as well as news related to ADB’s work on energy access, gender, and inclusivity, which will be highlighted at ACEF.

We are pleased to announce that Rachel Kyte and Bartosz Wojszczyk will be giving keynote speeches at this year’s opening plenary this year on 8 June.  They will bring unique and complementary perspectives on the challenges in both implementation and innovation faced by the global community in fulfilling commitments made at the COP 21 meeting in Paris and accelerating the transition to a low-carbon world.

Rachel Kyte is Chief Executive Officer of the Sustainable Energy for All (SE4All) and Special Representative of the UN Secretary-General for Sustainable Energy for All. As a leading advocate for sustainable development, Ms. Kyte drives SE4All’s work to mobilize action towards its 2030 goals of ensuring universal access to modern energy services; doubling the global rate of improvement in energy efficiency; and doubling the share of renewable energy in the global energy mix. As Special Representative for the Secretary General she is the point person in the UN for action towards the recently agreed global goal on sustainable energy. As a previous World Bank Group Vice President and Special Envoy for Climate Change, Ms. Kyte led the Bank Group’s efforts to campaign for an ambitious agreement at the 21st Convention of the Parties of the UNFCCC (COP 21). To learn more about Rachel Kyte, click here.

Bartosz Wojszczyk is the President and CEO of Decision Point Global and is an Adjunct Professor at the University of North Carolina. He served as an Innovation Advisor at AGH University of Science and Technology, Krakow, Poland, is a Board Member of Internet of Things, Asia, and is a member of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers’ Power and Energy Society. He has an M.S. and PhD in electrical engineering from Wroclaw University of Technology in Poland and has worked in over 40 different countries including the Asia-Pacific region. At ACEF this year, Bartosz Wojszczyk will talk about disruptive business models and the challenges of leading sustainable energy innovation in an uncertain world. To learn more about Bartosz Wojszczyk, click here.

Asia’s energy sector has experienced remarkable growth and progress over the last few decades, and its dynamism has driven a significant part of the global energy transition. As the region continues to experience progress over the next several years, it is important to not leave behind the poor, women, and other disadvantaged groups that are all connected to Asia’s clean energy future.

ADB’s work in increasing energy access has gone “beyond the meter” to focus on identifying sustainable, gender, and socially inclusive solutions for greater access to energy resources, services, and technologies. These challenges have been tackled in a number of ADB’s South Asia projects in Bhutan, India, and Sri Lanka. Despite the fact that gender issues were originally not the main focus of the projects, addressing these issues provided many benefits to women such as improved livelihood opportunities, reduced workload, and minimized exposure to air pollution from cooking with traditional stoves.

Through these projects, ADB has identified affordability, health and security, economic empowerment, skills development, and user education as the five key issues that need to be addressed to increase gender equality and social inclusiveness. Providing affordable and reliable street lighting can improve women’s safety and mobility while education on household energy efficiency and conservation can help women become more effective in managing their available energy needs and resources.

ACEF has been dedicated to providing a venue for discussions on cross-cutting issues surrounding clean energy that go “beyond the meter.” Each year, experts and thought leaders within the ACEF community in Asia and across the globe come to present their findings on approaching social issues, such as economic empowerment and health and security in parallel of activities directly related to advancing clean energy in Asia. In addition, connecting the technology, finance, and policy communities is one of the key objectives of the forum.

This year’s ACEF will feature Deep Dive Workshops focused on gender approaches in energy, and also on advancing energy efficiency, on Monday and Tuesday (6 and 7 June). Later in the week, during the parallel sessions in the Energy Access Track, there will sessions featuring experts who will discuss new approaches to economic and social inclusion in increasing energy access and adopting clean solutions for cooking and heating. To view the complete schedule of DDWs and technical seminars, click here, or check out our website for more information. Participants can register for the deep dive workshops and technical seminars when registering for ACEF here.

For more information and updates on ACEF 2016, go to our website at:

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