Duke University experts will share insights about international climate policy with university students across the nation in a free virtual seminar series funded by the U.S. Department of State. The series is also open to the Duke community, including students, faculty, staff, and alumni.

Duke Today took a look at new opportunities emerging around the university for Duke scholars and students to have a greater climate impact—with more on the way.

Jonathan Phillips was among four experts who shared a breadth of options with the World Economic Forum for new solutions to the energy transition.

A group of graduate students from the Saïd Business School at the University of Oxford took first place in the ninth annual Energy in Emerging Markets Case Competition as part of Energy Week at Duke.

Agriculture value chains are critical for climate-resilient development. So why are agtech companies unable to attract climate finance to accelerate scale-up, and what’s needed to mobilize agtech investment in low- and middle-income countries? A team from the James E. Rogers Energy Access Project at Duke write about potential solutions in a post for The Brookings Institution's Future Development blog.

The Energy Access Project at Duke has received a new gift from M.A. Rogers to boost its work developing sustainable energy policy and market solutions in emerging economies. The organization was established in 2017 through an earlier gift from Rogers and her late husband Jim, the former CEO and chairman of the board of Duke Energy. It will adopt a new name in Jim’s memory: the James E. Rogers Energy Access Project at Duke.

In developing countries, reliable energy access for health facilities is essential to maintain cold storage for COVID-19 vaccines. Rob Fetter and Cyrus Sinai write for The Conversation about how solar power could provide a solution in sub-Saharan Africa.

The Bass Connections program offers Duke students of all schools and levels an opportunity to collaborate on research addressing nuanced societal challenges. Guided by Duke faculty, students gain experience applying knowledge, research, and skills in interdisciplinary projects. Most project teams collaborate with partners outside Duke, including companies and government agencies.

Jonathan Phillips and Victoria Plutshack co-authored a new report "Lessons for Modernizing Energy Access Finance, Part 2 – Balancing Competition and Subsidy: Assessing Mini-Grid Incentive Programs in Sub-Saharan Africa" reviewing 20 mini-grid incentive programs in sub-Saharan Africa, 17 of which are still being implemented. A new blog post at Brookings summarizes their findings.

COVID-19 has led to the postponement of next month’s international climate talks at the annual Conference of the Parties (COP) to November 2021. In a post for the Brookings Institution's Future Development blog, Victoria Plutshack and four co-authors look at Chile’s ambitious voluntary coal retirement scheme as an example of how informal conversations between international stakeholders at COPs can become leverage for policy change at home.