Cleaning Up: Leadership in an Age of Climate Change14 Okt

How Energy Security Became National Security | Ep278: Alexander De Croo

The world is facing a new era of geopolitical instability, rising energy costs and declining development finance. For many countries, access to reliable, affordable energy is no longer just an economic priority, it is a question of security.

Recorded in New York during the United Nations General Assembly and Climate Week, this episode of Cleaning Up sees guest host Ana Rovzar, Chief of Staff at the Global Renewables Alliance, speak with Alexander De Croo, former Prime Minister of Belgium and now Administrator of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP).

They explore how renewable energy can reduce dependence on volatile fossil fuel markets, how decentralised energy systems can strengthen resilience, and what Ukraine’s experience reveals about protecting critical energy infrastructure. The conversation also examines how to attract investment in grids and clean energy, the decline in development assistance, and AI’s potential to accelerate progress.

Topics covered in this episode:

Energy security as national security
Renewables and fossil fuel dependence
Financing the global energy transition
Ukraine's decentralised energy reconstruction
Why grids are holding back progress
De-risking investment in emerging markets
Turning climate targets into action
AI's potential to accelerate development

Leadership Circle:

Cleaning Up is proud to be supported by its Leadership Circle. The members are Actis, Alcazar Energy, Arup, Climate Imperative Foundation, Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners, Cygnum Capital, Davidson Kempner, EcoPragma Capital, EDP, Eurelectric, KKR, Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, National Grid, Octopus Energy, Quadrature Climate Foundation, Schneider Electric, SDCL and Wärtsilä. For more information on the Leadership Circle, please visit cleaningup.live.

Links:

Alexander De Croo’s bio: https://www.linkedin.com/in/alexanderdecroo/
Ana Rovzar’s bio: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ana-rovzar-2546b149/
Achim Steiner on Cleaning Up: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2prrV1dPSUI
Subscribe to our newsletter: https://cleaninguppod.substack.com/
Michael Liebreich’s Pragmatic Climate Reset: https://about.bnef.com/insights/clean-energy/liebreich-the-pragmatic-climate-reset-part-i/

Acronyms:

UNDP: United Nations Development Programme
UNGA: United Nations General Assembly
UNEP: United Nations Environmental Programme
ODA: Official Development Assistance
SDG: Sustainable Development Goal
OECD: Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development

Chapters:

00:00 Intro
04:56 UNDP’s Mission
07:11 Rethinking Development
14:19 Energy Security
17:39 Grids and Resilience
25:52 From Ambition to Action
28:23 Financing the Transition
36:44 Development and Security
41:27 De-risking Investment
45:05 UN Funding
50:06 AI and Development
57:03 Outro

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