United Nations Independent Expert and Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN), Prof. Damilola Olawuyi, has called for urgent financial and technical support for clean energy innovators and entrepreneurs, warning that over-reliance on imported technology could derail global progress toward a just and inclusive energy transition.
Prof. Olawuyi, who is also the UNESCO Chair on Environmental Law and Sustainable Development at Hamad bin Khalifa University, Qatar, made the call while delivering a keynote lecture at the 2nd International Conference on Just Transition and Environmental Justice, organised by the Department of Law and Criminology, Aberystwyth University, Wales, United Kingdom.
The conference, themed ‘Emerging Developments and Implications for a Just Transition,’ convened leading practitioners, academics, students, and stakeholders in international law, energy, and environmental justice.
Professor Mathew Jarvis, Associate Faculty Pro-Vice Chancellor for Research at Aberystwyth University's Faculty of Humanities, opened the event, andy Professor Engobo Emeseh, Head of the Department of Law and Criminology, convened ity.
The session was moderated by Dr Irekpitan Okukpon, Assistant Professor at the University of Bradford, UK.
In his keynote address, Prof. Olawuyi emphasised that slow global progress toward environmental sustainability, energy security, and a green economy stems largely from a persistent lack of homegrown technologies.
He argued that relying solely on imported technology may not deliver the clean, affordable, and sustainable solutions needed to accelerate the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
"The world is at a critical juncture where we must rapidly accelerate progress towards homegrown clean energy innovations, technologies that advance clean energy transition, energy security, and environmental justice.
“Yet energy laws and policies drafted decades ago are increasingly ill-equipped to keep pace with the real-world challenges of scaling and commercializing clean energy innovations,” he said.
Prof. Olawuyi lamented the high costs of imported solar panels, wind turbines, and related accessories, noting that excessive dependence on technology importation results in a lack of local ownership, fails to create long-term domestic economic opportunities, and often excludes poor and vulnerable groups.
"In many countries across Africa, nearly all solar panels and accessories are imported. Some of those panels struggle to function optimally or last long under different weather, geography, sunshine intensity, and other local conditions.
“This raises the urgent need to do more to support small and medium-scale energy entrepreneurs to unlock African energy solutions. This requires us to swiftly address legal, regulatory, and financial barriers that energy entrepreneurs continue to face across Africa and beyond,” he said.
The legal luminary, who also serves as an Independent Expert on the UN Working Group on Business and Human Rights, identified financial constraints, limited capacity development, and the absence of supportive regulatory frameworks as key barriers limiting private sector participation in clean technology investments.
“The energy transition cannot replicate or create new forms of exclusions and technology dependence. A justice lens is therefore required to achieve a just energy transition,” he warned.
He urged targeted financial empowerment and reskilling initiatives to enable African environmental and energy entrepreneurs, particularly youth, women, and Indigenous communities, to lead locally made solar panels, decentralised micro and mini-grids, and other homegrown solutions that enhance energy access in remote areas.
“We cannot achieve a just energy transition without addressing barriers that energy entrepreneurs and private sector investors face, and there are a plenitude of them,” he noted.
Presenting findings from his latest co-edited book, ‘Sustainable Distributed Energy Resources Law and Policy’ (Oxford University Press), Prof. Olawuyi outlined risk mitigation strategies and contractual techniques to address these barriers.
The book covers climate-aligned sustainability reporting, financing, green procurement, climate-smart infrastructure development, transparent climate disclosures, gender justice, and other sustainability safeguards.
“To tackle the different dimensions of a just transition, we need a comprehensive approach, one that not only reduces environmental impact but also promotes social and economic justice,” he said.
A highlight of the conference was the formal launch of the Society for Just Transition and Environmental Justice, which aims to spearhead discussions on legal pathways for advancing just transition and access to environmental justice at global and national levels.
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