Perspective: International Clean Energy Day and the case for proximate leadership

Sarah Alexander, Global Technical Advisor, off-grid electrification.

In the second edition of International Clean Energy Day, the global conversation spotlit the milestone of renewables becoming the largest source of electricity and the urgent need for a just and swift transition away from fossil fuels. Key focus areas included aligning national climate plans with ambitious global goals, tripling renewables capacity by 2030, and as the UN Secretary General’s message indicates, mobilising finance for clean energy in developing economies, just transitions, finance flows, and national commitments.

Through all this, while much attention is given to technology, policy frameworks, and financial investments, the need to centre genuinely local leadership in clean energy transitions is often overlooked.

For millions across underserved regions, clean energy is not just about reducing greenhouse gas emissions; it’s a matter of health, resilience, and dignity. Without prioritising localised, inclusive approaches, the world risks missing the mark on Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 7, which looks to ensure access to affordable, reliable, sustainable, and modern energy for all.

The global energy landscape remains starkly inequitable. Over 600 million people in sub-Saharan Africa still lack access to electricity, and nearly 900 million rely on polluting and inefficient cooking fuels.  

Despite the technological maturity of renewable energy and declining costs, several countries across Asia and Africa bear a disproportionate burden of energy poverty, compounded by their vulnerability to climate change.

This failure stems from a fundamental disconnect: clean energy access is too often treated as a technical challenge or a climate solution, ignoring the deeper social, financial, and structural inequities that perpetuate energy poverty.

Addressing these barriers requires a fundamental shift in how we plan, fund, and implement energy projects, with local voices and expertise at the centre of decision-making, ensuring no one is left behind.

Proximate leadership is the need of the hour. This isn’t just about geographic closeness to the issues. As leaders in the sector, Angela Jackson, John Kania, and Tulaine Montgomery note in their article for the Stanford Social Innovation Review (SSIR), proximate leadership is about designing solutions informed by firsthand knowledge of local challenges, cultures, and aspirations. Leaders who are proximate to communities' lived experiences understand the nuances of energy access and are better equipped to address them sustainably.

For instance, solar cooling systems may seem like an innovative solution to address food storage challenges in sub-Saharan Africa. However, without understanding the intricacies of local market linkages, agricultural practices, and end-user capacities, such systems often fail to deliver long-term impact.

Kenyan cold storage company SokoFresh is a case in point. They provide solar-powered mobile cold storage to reduce post-harvest losses in horticulture. Backed by a € 236,000 grant from the Dutch Fund for Climate and Development (DFCD) and SNV’s technical assistance, they adapted Indian-manufactured technology from Ecozen, and tested business models like pay-as-you-go and leasing to fit local needs. Eventually, their pay-as-you-store model ultimately increased smallholder farmers' incomes by 18% over three years, making SokoFresh a testament to the reality that beyond technological innovation, it is tailored, proximate solutions that drive impact.

Commonly, centralised models have dominated the energy generation and distribution landscape. These designs fail to account for the realities of dispersed populations and infrastructural constraints. The modular nature of solar and other renewable energy technologies provides an opportunity to rethink this approach.

Integrated systems that combine the strengths of centralised and decentralised energy solutions can address the diverse needs of countries, from urban centres to remote villages.

However, such integration requires more than technical innovation; it demands adaptive institutions, inclusive governance, and policies that prioritise local manufacturing and ownership of renewable energy equipment. Building this ecosystem necessitates the involvement of local entrepreneurs, and cooperatives – actors who can drive change from within. Additionally, civil society organisations (CSOs), like those supported by SNV’s Voice for Change Partnership, play a critical role in advocating for locally-driven energy transitions.

Yet, in many parts of the world, local organisations are underfunded, underrepresented, and often overlooked. This lack of support limits their ability to advocate for policies that reflect the needs of their communities.

Strengthening organisations led by women, youth, and marginalised groups, as well as local entrepreneurs and innovators, through investments and capacity-building initiatives, is essential to foster trust and ownership in energy projects. These groups bring invaluable perspectives and expertise, and can mobilise communities to participate actively in planning and implementation.

Energy access does not exist in isolation. It intersects with agriculture, health, education, and other development priorities. For instance, in regions like Ethiopia, where poultry farming is a critical livelihood, clean energy solutions must align with livestock management practices and agricultural policies. National agendas across sectors remain disconnected but efforts are being made to respond to multi-dimensional local realities, with more integrated governance and cross-sectoral collaboration.

Proximate leadership eventually bridges these gaps by empowering coordination across ministries and stakeholders. This approach ensures that energy solutions are viewed not just as technical fixes but as enablers of broader development goals. Local governments, empowered in terms of resources and capacity, translate lofty national targets into actionable community-level plans.

Still, even as we look to champion the importance of proximate leadership bottom-up, it is critical to examine the role of global stakeholders. Are they truly inclusive in their decision-making processes? Do they adequately support local actors in taking the lead? Too often, global development partners impose top-down solutions that fail to account for local contexts, perpetuating dependency rather than fostering autonomy.

Such introspection is necessary across the development sector to ensure that energy transitions are not only equitable but also sustainable.

Keeping in mind the conversations around Clean Energy Day, it is perhaps a good time to focus more sharply on proximate leadership and more truly locally-led action in just energy transitions.  

This means expanding networks to include diverse local stakeholders in energy planning and supporting policies that enable Asian and African manufacturing and entrepreneurship in renewable energy. These become possible in part through more deliberate investments in grassroots advocacy to amplify the voices of marginalised groups.

If we can bridge the various silos we seem to have built over the years – particularly between sectors – to ensure energy solutions address interconnected development challenges, we can transform clean energy access from a distant goal into a tangible reality for all.

Achieving clean energy access for all requires more than technology and funding; it demands a radical shift in who leads, who decides, and who benefits.