GREEN GRID 2
Dear Friends and Colleagues, 
 
I am delighted to invite you to attend the launching of a major new global initiative which will be announced on November 2 at the COP26 climate summit in Glasgow. At its centre is a new coalition of governments called the Green Grids Initiative – One Sun One World One Grid, which will be announced in the World Leaders’ Summit during the first two days of COP26 by a group of presidents and prime ministers. The Climate Parliament, an international network of legislators which has been developing this initiative over the last few years, is organising a simultaneous virtual event. We’d be delighted if you could join us.  
 
Our objective is to accelerate the construction of the new energy system, powered by the sun, that’s needed if we’re to run the entire world economy on renewable energy. Solar panels on every rooftop need to be combined with a massive expansion of desert solar power stations and large-scale wind farms, including offshore. Continental-scale grids need to link together the best locations for wind and sun to ensure a reliable supply of affordable, clean energy for everyone. Villages that have no electricity need to be equipped with mini-grids to harness their local renewable resources. The new green grids need to deliver enough power to run our transport system on clean energy. And all this needs to happen extremely fast if we’re to have any hope of staying within a safe global carbon budget to keep the planet’s temperature rise below 1.5C. 
 
The Green Grids Initiative represents a parallel strategy alongside the ongoing climate talks. While discussions about emissions targets continue, our aim is to just get on with building the new energy system in all parts of the world as fast as possible. With the right grid infrastructure, there are ample resources of sun, wind and water to power every home, every car and every factory, thus eliminating the fossil fuels that cause more than 75% of greenhouse gas emissions. 
 
Invitations are going out to governments now to participate in the intergovernmental coalition. The UK is playing a leading role as the summit host, as is India. France has informally confirmed its participation, as have a number of African governments. We are hoping that the US will participate. 
 
We’re also well aware that in most of the governments that will participate in the Green Grids Initiative – One Sun One World One Grid the level of political will is not yet sufficient for an energy transition at the speed and scale required. That’s why, alongside the coalition of governments, we are bringing together Members of Parliament and Congress, as well as citizen groups, who all have a key role to play in pressing governments to move faster. The Climate Parliament has created a Green Grids Leadership Forum to engage interested civil society organisations, philanthropies and youth movements in the initiative, as well as companies who are pursuing the energy transition. 
 
Regional working groups of the Green Grids Initiative have been established in Africa and Asia, involving international organisations such as the African Union and the African Development Bank, the Asian Development Bank, the Green Climate Fund, the International Energy Agency, the International Renewable Energy Agency, the UN Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific, UNIDO, the World Bank and many others. 
 
Given the central importance of increasing political will, we’re planning to get started right away with a virtual launch event that will bring together influential voices from many parts of the global community over the course of an hour or two, with Members of Parliament and Congress playing a central role.  
 
Our global online event will be convened by the Climate Parliament, which has been laying the groundwork for the Green Grids Initiative over several years in conversations with energy ministers and heads of government. (A short documentary describing this process can be found on Amazon Prime Video, or here, entitled The Energy Internet.)  
 
The event will begin with a five-minute film, and then tune into the announcement at the World Leaders’ Summit, where ten presidents and prime ministers will be on the stage. This will be followed by a global discussion. Through our network of legislators we will assemble a large audience of journalists as well as concerned citizens, so that the event will serve as a kind of global press conference among other things. After the first hour, we will divide into a parallel series of regional discussions in all parts of the world, in which questions from journalists and citizens can be addressed by legislators from that region. This is an opportunity for you to ask questions on key issues you are concerned about.  
 
Our virtual launch event will begin at 2 PM Greenwich Mean Time on Tuesday, November 2. The event being online, you can participate from anywhere. We very much hope that you might be interested in joining us. The Green Grids Initiative represents an extremely ambitious effort to build the new energy system at unprecedented speed. It will face many obstacles from special interests and bureaucratic inertia, and it won’t succeed without pressure from its friends. 
 
There is a link to register on the home page of the Climate Parliament website here.
 
 
We look forward to hearing from you. 
 
Kind regards, 
 
Secretary-General
Climate Parliament