Climate Change Plenary Session

As climate change impacts continue to be felt across our energy systems and economies, we are discovering new vulnerabilities and new challenges, which vary by region. This variation requires resilience, mitigation and adaptation approaches that are suited for the region, underpinned by technology advancement and innovation. Four topics will be addressed in detail: the increasing threats and vulnerabilities to the energy system; policy, regulatory, and business roles in addressing them; speeding up the adoption of technology to address them; and how everyone in the audience has a role to play.

Key Takeaways:

a deeper understanding of regional approaches and challenges to resilience, adaptation and mitigation;
how policy, regulation, and facts on the ground affect the implementation of technologies;
opportunities created by the challenges of climate change and how every member of the audience can contribute to developing solutions

Biographies

Annika Moman has over 20 years experience in the energy sector, holding progressive management roles, developing strategy and delivering services to utilities and public and private sector clients in support of the transition to cleaner, decentralized energy systems, including distributed generation and storage, transmission and distribution, smart energy, and energy efficiency. Her greatest strengths are creating and communicating strategy, working with clients to develop solutions to complex problems and leading diverse technical teams.

Rosa Serrano is a professional with over two decades of experience in the energy sector. She recently completed her PhD in the Department of Electrical and Electronic Engineering at the University of Manchester, where she developed tools to enhance the resilience of power systems to wildfires.

Prior to her PhD, Ms Serrano held various roles across the public and private energy sectors in Chile, including positions at the country’s largest distribution company, the National Energy Commission, the Ministry of Energy, consultancy firm Synex, and the Chilean Association of Electric Utilities (EEAG). Her professional experience has fostered a strong interest in public policy and energy market regulation. She currently serves as Chair of the IEEE PES WiP UK & Ireland and as Secretary of the IEEE PES UK & Ireland Chapter.

Pauline Anaman is a lawyer and green transition specialist with expertise in legal reforms, finance, and sustainable development in Africa. She leads the Green Transition Practice at AB & David Africa, a pan-African law firm supporting governments and businesses toward net zero. From 2020 to 2024, she served as External Advisor on Africa to the EU’s H2020 NEGEM Project, contributing to carbon removal policy and climate targets. Previously, she headed policy at the Africa Center for Energy Policy, where she led initiatives on energy and extractives governance. Pauline is an alumna of the US IVLP and holds degrees in Public Policy (Oxford), Development Finance (Ghana), Law (GIMPA/GSL), and Land Economy (KNUST). She has published widely and contributed to works by Springer Nature, Chambers and Partners, and Palgrave MacMillan.

Dirk Van Hertem obtained his masters degree and PhD KU Leuven, Belgium. In 2010, Dirk Van Hertem was a post-doc at the Royal Institute of Technology (KTH), in Stockholm. Since spring 2011 he is back at the University of Leuven where he is currently professor and member of the ELECTA division. His special fields of interest are decision support for grid operators, power system operation and control in systems with FACTS and HVDC and building the transmission system of the future, including offshore grids and the supergrid concept. The research activities of Prof. Van Hertem are all part of the EnergyVille research center, where he is the director of the Energy Transmission Competence Hub. Dr. Van Hertem is an active member of both IEEE (PES and IAS) and Cigré.