Renewables for Development

For countries in the Global South, the energy transition is inseparable from their development trajectory. On the one hand, it directly affects access to, cost of, and technology for a key strategic resource that underpins economic growth, poverty reduction, and environmental sustainability. At the same time, it opens a window of opportunity to diversify productive structures, create jobs, and foster innovation in sectors with high potential for future growth.

Despite this promise, the deployment of renewable energies remains highly uneven worldwide-  as do its associated benefits, from exports and job creation to innovation and the strengthening of local capacities. To turn the energy transition into a genuine driver of development —particularly in a context of growing resistance to transition policies— countries must overcome critical barriers such as limited access to finance, weak local capacities, and gaps in workforce training.

This project seeks to generate evidence on how renewable energy deployment can become a driver of development in the Global South. It combines a review of global experiences and trends with in-depth studies in three South American countries—Argentina, Brazil, and Chile. Drawing on comprehensive diagnostics of these cases, the project will identify the financial, institutional, productive, and technological factors that shape the link between renewable energy deployment and socioeconomic development, and will put forward policy recommendations to improve investment mechanisms, strengthen local capacities, and promote job creation.