GGIS Distinguished Alumnus Colloquium | From Charcoal to Carbon Markets: What Southern Africa Teaches Us About Energy, Justice, and Climate Futures
- Sponsor
- Geography & GIS
- Speaker
- Dr. Leo Zulu (PhD '06), Michigan Stateu University Department of Geography, Environment, and Spatial Sciences
- Cost
- This talk is free and open to the public with a Zoom option.
- Registration
- Zoom RSVP
- Contact
- Geography & GIS
- geography@illinois.edu
- Originating Calendar
- Geography & Geographic Information Science
This talk synthesizes more than two decades of research on biomass energy, household economies, and forest landscapes in southern Africa to examine what geographic scholarship reveals about energy transitions under climate stress.
Drawing on a series of empirical case studies by Leo Zulu, collaborators and others, it shows that continued reliance on biomass reflects adaptation to energy insecurity, livelihood precarity, and ecological variability, rather than resistance to change. Clean energy interventions, including improved cooking technologies and electrification, have produced uneven outcomes, while newer approaches such as forest landscape restoration and carbon credits introduce further trade‑offs.
Using a political ecology lens, the talk situates energy transitions within longer histories of development and environmental governance, and concludes by identifying key research frontiers on energy justice, adaptation, and climate futures.