The Ashden Awards Conference is unique in bringing together ‘energy champions’ from the UK and the developing world. These experienced, successful practitioners are bringing the benefits of clean energy - improved health, income generation and education opportunities - to the lives of millions.
The morning session of the 2011 conference was introduced and chaired by Jonathon Porritt of Forum for the Future and included a debate about Green Deal with panelists Christoph Harwood from Marksman Consulting, Dan Monzani from DECC, David Hall from Behaviour Change, Abigail Burridge from the Local Government Association and David Adams from Willmott Dixon.
Our 2011 UK finalists presented their work through a mix of films, presentations and panel debates offering a chance to hear in depth what’s working at a local level in the UK. Ashden Award finalists have one goal in common – helping us achieve our emission-reduction targets. With significant changes afoot such as the localism bill, calls for a ‘big society’ and the new energy bill, debate centred around what this will mean for the transition to a low-carbon economy in the UK.
Madeline Bunting from the Guardian chaired the afternoon session. Following an introduction from Stephen O’Brien, Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for International Development we heard from our 2011 international finalists, who are improving lives and cutting carbon emissions through technologies ranging from efficient cook stoves in Africa to biomass schemes in India. With short films about their work, presentations and a Q&A session, this offered a rare opportunity to hear directly from those working in the field. A panel discussed the future for local clean energy, with contributions from Steven Hunt at Practical Action, Matthew Lockwood from the Institute of Development Studies, Audrey Selian from Rianta Capital and Mike Mason, founder of Climate Care.
Download a copy of the full programme here (PDF)
Conference partners
This year we welcomed the support of a number of organisations who share our commitment to raising awareness of the potential of local clean energy to improve lives and save the environment.
