Wednesday 24 February 2016 6.30pm – 8.00pm (doors open at 5.30pm)

Royal Geographical Society (with IBG)

More than a billion people live without electricity for lighting, cooking, heating, refrigeration, communication and transport. With global energy demand set to double by 2050, how can we help the world’s poorest communities gain access to a reliable, affordable and sustainable energy supply?

Join us to hear inspirational stories of local entrepreneurship, find out more about how access is changing around the world, and share ideas of how we can make energy for all a reality.

Speakers

Dr Gabrielle Walker (Chair), Chief Scientist, Xynteo

At strategic advisory firm Xynteo, Gabrielle works with CEOs and senior executives from a wide range of global companies on reinventing growth and creating business models that are fit for the future.

She has been Professor at Princeton University, Climate Change Editor at Nature, Features Editor at New Scientist, has presented programmes and series for BBC radio and television and has written for a host of international newspapers and magazines.  She has written four books including co-authoring the bestselling book The Hot Topic, covering the energy transition and climate change, which was described by Al Gore as “a beacon of clarity” and by The Times as “a material gain for the axis of good”.

A self-confessed ice addict, Gabrielle has also made more than a dozen trips to both poles. She has climbed trees in the Amazon rainforest, swum with piranhas, been sneezed on by a hump-backed whale, dived with David Attenborough on the Great Barrier Reef, hooked lava out of a live volcano, and flown in zero gravity. She has a PhD in Natural Sciences from Cambridge University

Dr Simon Bransfield-Garth, CEO, Azuri Technologies
Simon is CEO of Azuri Technologies, a world leader in Pay as you Go solar systems for rural off-grid communities. A serial entrepreneur he has 25 years global experience building rapid growth, technology-based businesses in sectors including Semiconductor, Automotive and Mobile Phones.

He currently sits on the Governing Council of the African Centre   Studies, and his career includes 7 years at Symbian, the phone OS maker, where he was a member of the Leadership Team and VP Global Marketing. Simon was founder of Myriad Solutions Ltd and was previously a Fellow at Cambridge University. He holds a Ph.D in Engineering from St John’s College, Cambridge UK and is a Chartered Engineer.

Sarah Best, Senior researcher, International Institute for Environment and Development (IIED)

Sarah is a Senior researcher in the Sustainable Markets Group at the International Institute for Environment and Development (IIED) where her work focuses on energy access and renewable energy, productive uses of energy, and on citizen engagement in policy and debates on energy and mining.

She has expertise in civil society advocacy for policy and practice change, a range of energy and extractives issues, renewable energy and climate change. Her current research is focused on East Africa.

Before IIED Sarah was Policy adviser in Oxfam’s advocacy unit (UK, Brussels, Bolivia) and held various research and policy roles across industry. She has an MPhil in Development Studies, from the University of Sussex and a BA in Modern History from the University of Oxford.

Credit: IIED

Anna Halpern-Lande, Senior Venture Principal, Shell Technology Ventures

Anna is Senior Upstream New Business Development for Shell International BV.  As part of her role she spearheads renewables use and deployment in Upstream projects. She is a senior member of the Shell Technology Ventures and leads deals on its behalf; she is the focal point on Shell Technology Venture’s water platform. Before joining Shell in 2010, she was Vice President, Co-Founder, and Board Member of Tellurian Biodiesel, a leading California biodiesel company. She also co-founded Cyrnel LLC, a consulting firm specialising in the renewable energy and clean high tech sector. In 2005, she co-founded the CleanTech Open. Previously she has worked for Booz Allen & Hamilton and Wells Fargo & Company.  She has an AB from Harvard University and a MBA from MIT Sloan.

Please note that speakers may be subject to change

Tickets: £10 | £7 RGS-IBG members | £5 Students
Book online: http://www.rgs.org/WhatsOn/21st+Century+Challenges/Energy+for+all.htm
Tel:  0207 591 3100 (RGS-IBG switchboard)

Photo © Abbie Trayler-Smith / Panos Pictures / Department for International Development