Joint High Level Community Meeting: Closing Session, 18 March 2026, 16:30 - 17:00 (CAT)
As part of a three-day conference organised by African Energy Futures (AEF), Presidential Climate Commission (PCC), and Climate Compatible Growth (CCG), in Cape Town from 16 – 18 March 2026, the representatives of the organising institutions closed the meeting, summarising the key points and next steps for the community.

Agenda

Event Speakers

Errol Andile Mlambo

Errol Andile Mlambo is a commissioner at South Africa’s Presidential Climate Commission (PCC). He is a climate justice defender and activist with strong grassroots, youth leadership, and advocacy experience across local and international forums. He has served as Youth Lead for the Planet One project, contributed to Grassroots for Climate Action with Earthlife Africa, and participated in COP27, COP28, and COP29. An active participant in the PCC since 2021, he brings a youth perspective rooted in grassroots mobilisation and global advocacy to strengthen the Commission’s Just Transition agenda.

Jairo Quiros-Tortos

Prof. Jairo Quiros-Tortos is an internationally recognised expert in energy systems and climate change, with a focus on decarbonisation strategies in Latin America and the Caribbean. He served as Professor of Integrated Assessment Modelling at the University of Costa Rica from 2008 to 2024 and is currently Professor of Practice – Sustainable Transitions at Loughborough University, as well as Deputy Director of the UK Aid-funded Climate Compatible Growth Programme (£95 million). His work emphasises socially inclusive climate action through modelling tools, open data, and participatory approaches. He has led more than 40 studies across 20 countries, securing over USD 15 million in funding from organisations such as the Inter-American Development Bank, the World Bank, and the United Nations. His work has informed major climate policies, including Costa Rica’s National Decarbonisation Plan and Honduras’s Green Recovery Strategy. Dr. Quirós-Tortós co-developed the Data-to-Deal framework, which has mobilised billions of dollars for climate initiatives in Costa Rica. Academically, he has supervised over 100 graduate researchers and published more than 100 peer-reviewed articles. His expertise spans energy systems modelling, robust decision-making, and the fiscal implications of decarbonisation, and he is widely recognised for translating complex analysis into actionable policy insights.

Steve Nicholls

Steve Nicholls is the Director of African Energy Futures (AEF), where is is leading the work to establish a network of African energy research hubs. Steve’s past experience is in connecting climate issues with economic impact and building the strategic case for integrating climate considerations into economic planning, strategy, risk management, investment planning, policy development and implementation. Before joining AEF, he led the mitigation team at South Africa’s Presidential Climate Commission (PCC). Prior to joining the PCC, Steve led the Environment and Society programme at the National Business Initiative. In this role, he ran the programmes that harnessed the collective effort of South African business across the areas of Energy, Climate Change, and Water. Steve has worked in the consulting industry in the United Kingdom and South Africa and has worked on projects in Europe and Southern and East Africa. He has worked across several sectors including Mining, Telecoms, Government, Electrical Energy, Oil and Gas, Financial Services and Retail.

Event Details