Lecture
ASCL Seminar: The politics of net zero in Africa. Insights from ongoing work
- Jessica Omukuti
- Date
- Thursday 5 February 2026
- Time
- Location
-
Herta Mohr
Witte Singel 27A
2311 BG Leiden - Room
- Seminar room 0.31
The past seven years have seen net zero - the state in which the greenhouse gases going into the atmosphere are balanced by removal out of the atmosphere - become a core framing concept for climate action globally. Both governments and private sector have set net zero targets, developed and implemented transition plans. However, action on net zero has not been homogeneous across the globe. Regional differences between the Global North and South in the understanding of net zero, ambition and willingness and capacity to implement net zero action have emerged. Africa’s engagement with net zero stands out. This seminar by Jessica Omukuti, Senior Research Fellow at Oxford Net Zero, will highlight the politics shaping engagement with net zero in African countries, based on our work on climate finance, justice and equity, just transitions, carbon markets and carbon dioxide removal.
Image: Azuri Technologies. Flickr.
About the speaker
Jessica Omukuti is a Senior Research Fellow at Oxford Net Zero, based at the Institute of Science Innovation and Society (InSIS) and the Smith School for Enterprise and the Environment (SSEE) of the University of Oxford. Her research critically examines whether and how the net zero climate action enables greater equity and justice in climate action in the Global South, and Jessica has led research on governance of climate action, climate finance, just transitions, carbon markets and carbon dioxide removal. Prior to joining the University of Oxford, she was a Research Associate at the University of York, working on climate financing of climate change adaptation. She has also previously worked at the Green Climate Fund Mercy Corps and CARE International. She has a PhD in climate justice and climate finance from the University of Reading (2020), an MSc in Climate Change and Development from the University of Sussex and a BSc in Meteorology from the University of Nairobi.
Register for this seminar on the African Studies Centre Leiden website.