John Hamilton, Chargé d’Affaires at the British Embassy in Ashgabat, writes about the transition to cleaner energy sources, timed for COP26 Energy Day on 4 November 2021:

We are at a critical moment for the future of our planet. Temperatures are rising, storms are raging and crops are failing across the world. Thus, accelerating the global energy sector’s shift from oil, natural gas and coal production and consumption to renewable energy sources like wind and solar is essential if we are to limit global temperature rise to 1.5°C.

Today, on 4 November, the COP26 Energy Day is bringing together governments, businesses, investors and organisations from across the world to demonstrate that the shift to clean power generation is inevitable and rapidly accelerating, and that ordinary people and their livelihoods are at the heart of this transition. Today we will hear how countries are increasing their climate ambition and celebrate action to make clean energy accessible and affordable and to improve energy efficiency. We will use this opportunity to share good practice globally and explore what further steps need to be taken to align and strengthen our collective efforts in support of the clean energy transition.

Accelerating the transition to renewable energy sources is a key part of the puzzle. To meet the goals of the Paris Agreement, the global transition to clean power needs to be four to six times faster than at present, according to the International Energy Agency (IEA) and IRENA.

The UK is bringing countries, development banks, investors, industry and civil society together to ensure that every country can access the investment and assistance to more rapidly scale up renewable energy.

Countries often face barriers in expanding their renewable energy capacity, such as high capital costs, difficulty accessing finance, and lack of support with the technical aspects of the transition to clean power. That’s why, alongside leaders in the politics, finance and technology of the global power sector, we’ve launched the COP26 Energy Transition Council, which will harness multilateral convening power and sector expertise to more rapidly find solutions to drive forward a transition to clean energy in developing countries.

Additionally, the UK will increase its International Climate Finance (ICF) support to at least £11.6 billion over the next five years, between 2021 to 2022 to 2025 to 2026. This represents a doubling of the UK’s commitment to spend at least £5.8 billion on tackling climate change up to 2021, announced ahead of the landmark Paris meeting, COP21, in 2015. This funding will accelerate innovative clean energy technologies such as energy storage in developing countries. To further mitigation efforts, the UK in March also adopted a policy to end its public support for fossil fuels overseas and ramp up investment in clean energy.

Speeding up the move to renewables isn’t just good for the environment, it’s good for jobs and growth too. The cost of renewable power is falling rapidly, driven in part by path-breaking public finance investments. Since 2010, the cost of solar power has fallen by 85%, and that of wind power by 49%. Solar and wind are now cheaper than new coal and gas power plants in two thirds of the countries of the world and soon it will be cheaper in all countries. As IRENA has shown earlier this year, boosting investment in renewables would increase jobs in the sector to 42 million globally by 2050, four times more than today.

Despite the economic slowdown, there was an 82% net capacity expansion in the global share of renewables in 2020. Global renewable generation capacity now stands at 2799 GW, with a net increase of 261 GW in 2020, exceeding expansion in 2019 by almost 50%. It is also important to note that 27% of global power demand was met by renewable generation in 2020.

Investing in fossil fuel energy projects increasingly entails both social and economic risks, especially through the form of stranded assets, and has ensuing impacts on government revenue, local employment, taxpayers and utility rate payers. From a development perspective, such incorrect assumptions may incur unnecessary financial costs, e.g. investment in fossil-based power generation assets with high operating costs may become stranded before end-of-life. Investing in fossil fuel infrastructure risks locking countries into a high-carbon pathway for the next 30 to 40 years, while renewables become cheaper. A recent study has shown that investments in renewable energy have seen a 367% greater return than fossil fuels since 2010.

The arguments for a clean energy transition are clear. By speeding up the move to renewables, we can both reduce emissions and support a green and resilient economic recovery. At this critical turning point for our planet, there is no time to waste.

There are also a lot of opportunities for Turkmenistan in clean energy. With its vast alternative energy resources Turkmenistan has great potential in renewable energy generation and in reducing its greenhouse gas emissions. Current research shows that with its enormous solar and wind potential Turkmenistan could cover all of its energy needs from renewable sources by 2050 while cutting greenhouse gas emissions from electricity generation to zero.

Solar energy can help Turkmenistan to capture more value from its natural gas. Research suggests that raising temperatures will lead to a sharp increase in electricity demand, especially in residential air-cooling. This demand could be met by solar energy reducing the demand for gas to generate electricity making more available to be exported or processed.

In addition, Turkmenistan has plenty of scope to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from flaring, methane leakage and venting. According to International Energy Agency about 40% of Turkmenistan’s current methane emissions could be easily captured at little or no cost and used for export, to generate power and produce high value-added products ready for export. This will bring additional hard currency to the national economy.

Methane emissions being detected by satellite surveillance in Turkmenistan represent a very significant loss of value that could be monetised. Measures to contain leaks are usually not too expensive and could be profitable. The leak fixes like replacing worn-out valves or rebuilding compressor engines are often relatively cheap and the financial gain from reducing need to flare or vent gas by investing in building more of already existing infrastructure like processing, storage, and pipeline capacity might offset the costs, especially when there’s a buyer for the additional gas, for example China or Russia.

I am very pleased to see that Turkmenistan is continuing to form up the necessary legislative environment and set institutional framework for encouraging cost-effective investments in renewable energy. Green energy is an area where the UK has significant expertise and we hope that further commercial opportunities might arise from Turkmenistan’s exploration of renewable energy sources. The UK and Turkmenistan have always been working towards developing new commercial opportunities and Green Energy is the potential sphere we could constructively work together.

We look forward to supporting the Government of Turkmenistan in developing and implementing their greenhouse gas emissions reduction ambitions that hopefully will be stated in the country’s new Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs).

4 November 2021

John Hamilton

Chargé d’Affaires

British Embassy in Turkmenistan

Rafael Mariano Grossi, Director General of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), saw first-hand the progress being made in cleaning up Europe’s largest nuclear site.

It was the first visit to Sellafield by an IAEA Director General since 2001 and was arranged to coincide with Mr Grossi’s attendance to the COP26 climate change summit in Glasgow.

He was joined by David Peattie, CEO of the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority (NDA), and Martin Chown, Sellafield Ltd’s Chief Executive Officer.

Mr Grossi said that know-how gathered at Sellafield was beneficial to the IAEA and to the world.

He added:

Through innovative technologies, including robotics and digitalisation, Sellafield is addressing the decommissioning and waste management challenges that are a legacy of the very first days of the nuclear age.

The NDA is sharing its skills and experiences internationally, including through the IAEA, to help countries ensure that the benefits of low-carbon nuclear energy remain safe, secure and sustainable for decades to come.

Mr Grossi viewed decommissioning progress at Sellafield’s Pile Fuel Cladding Silo, one of the site’s oldest facilities and highest priority projects, and toured Calder Hall, the world’s first commercial-scale nuclear power station.

Mr Peattie said:

This is a great opportunity to show how the UK is meeting its obligation to deal with the legacy of the earliest days of the nuclear industry, in a safe and sustainable manner.

Sellafield was a pioneer in the very early days of the nuclear industry, now it is a centre of expertise for decommissioning and waste management.

The NDA group is committed to playing a leading role in IAEA activities, as it has done for many years.

This kind of international collaboration means the valuable lessons learned at Sellafield, and across the rest of the NDA group, can be used for the benefit of the global nuclear industry.

Mr Chown said:

I was delighted to be able to show Mr Grossi the huge progress we’ve made at Sellafield in the 20 years since an IAEA director-general last visited.

We were able to demonstrate how we’re achieving our purpose to create a clean and safe environment for future generations.

This year’s Analysis in Government Awards celebrates those inspirational people and teams doing phenomenal work in every government department across the Analysis Function.

Make sure your fantastic colleagues get the recognition they deserve

Joint winner of the Collaboration Award in 2021 for the COVID-19 Infection Survey, Ruth Studley told us she is “thrilled to be involved in this year’s Analysis in Government awards. So much fantastic work occurs right across the analytical functions that has a phenomenal impact on society. I am extremely proud to be involved with a winning entry last year and I’d actively encourage colleagues from across government to nominate themselves and their teams. Please do get those awards submitted!”

Who do you think of when you consider the stand-out achievements of the last year? We all know people who have delivered above and beyond – those influential team players, enthusiastic and engaged colleagues who can always be relied upon to produce the highest calibre work when needed and now is the time to celebrate them.

How it feels to be nominated

It’s easy to see why being nominated for an Analysis in Government award can instil a feeling of pride as Vincent Harold told us, speaking on behalf of the COVID-19 International trends team: “It was great to be shortlisted for an award last year. It means a lot to receive that recognition from your peers, which is enhanced by the fact these awards exist exclusively for the analytical community. The calibre of the nominations – both within our category and across the board – was so high, it was a shock and a privilege to be listed alongside them.”

The ultimate thank you

These highly esteemed awards recognise the best of the best, giving individuals and teams exposure at the highest level and is the ultimate thank you for their contributions over the last year.

Not only that, but all shortlisted entries will also be invited to a prestigious virtual awards ceremony where the award winners will be announced by high-profile speakers such as Sir Ian Diamond, Head of the Analysis Function and National Statistician, Jen Gold, Director of Research at the Economic and Social Research Council and Liz McKeown, Director of Public Policy Analysis at the Office for National Statistics. They will give an overview of each nomination and highlight feedback from judges.

What happens if I’m shortlisted?

All shortlisted nominations will have a short video made about them by the Analysis Function Awards Team and be celebrated on GOV.UK, our newsletter and social media. Those shortlisted will receive an exclusive Analysis Function digital gift bag, including social media banners and frames to share and celebrate your success on LinkedIn, Twitter or Facebook, bespoke Teams backgrounds, email signature buttons and more.

So, what happens if I win?!

And it doesn’t end there. We want to celebrate the work of our winners throughout 2022.

• You’ll receive a letter of thanks from Professor Sir Ian Diamond
• Your team will win a fabulous Analysis in Government Award trophy
• We’ll update your Shortlisted digital gift bag with a Winners pack, full of digital assets you can use to share and celebrate your success
• We’ll feature a headline news article focusing on the winners in the first AF newsletter of 2022
• You’ll be given a guaranteed opportunity to join us and be part of Analysis in Government month 2022
• We’ll offer to make a short video about your Award-winning work that you can then use in your department or profession
• You’ll receive an exclusive invitation to have your say on some of our highest profile work and determining the future of the AF.

We’ll also spotlight the work of winning entries in our Civil Service Live session next year.

Tips for writing a great nomination

• Competition is fierce and we’d like to see as many great entries as possible, so we’ve put together these tips for writing an outstanding nomination:
• Use Plain English by writing in short, clear sentences and using everyday words without acronyms and unnecessary jargon. Remember that the judges may not be familiar with your topic area, so use simple language.
• Use the STAR method by explaining the Situation, Task, Action and Result of your work. In particular, judges really want you to showcase the impact of the nominee’s work.
• Be clear on the criteria and address each point of the award you are nominating for. These can be found in the nomination form.
• Include any appropriate links to your work to demonstrate any outputs you may want to showcase.
• Keep within the word count of 1,000 words.

Visit our Analysis in Government Awards 2021 article for more detail on each category and what would make a winning entry.

A preview of the nomination form

Before you complete the Analysis in Government Awards nomination form, we understand that you might want to put in some planning and prepare your statement. To help you along, here is a short guide on what you’ll need to provide:

• Your name, job title, department, contact details and profession so that we can get in touch with you about your nomination
• Title of the work being nominated, along with the name, department and list of contact details for those you are nominating
• A brief description of the award you are nominating for (max 100 words)
• Considering the award criteria, describe how the nominee achieves excellence in one of the six award categories. Please also supply any URL links to the work to support your entry (max 1,000 words)

Any questions? Email the team at AF.Awards@ons.gov.uk.