Description to update on program and website (edited today, 2/26 by Atul): It is well known that energy consumption is inexorably linked to economic growth. However, even after decades of economic growth, citizens around the world, particularly in Africa and Asia, remain impoverished economically and in their energy use. In 2020 the average annual per capita energy supply of about 40 percent of the world’s population (3.1 billion people, which includes nearly all people in sub-Saharan Africa) was no higher than the rate achieved in both Germany and France in 1860 (Vaclav Smil, 2022). Funding for climate mitigation and adaptation remains woefully inadequate and developed countries have yet to meet the $100 billion/year commitment to developing countries first made in 2009 while billions of dollars are being invested by the US and EU to deploy clean energy technologies domestically. In this conversation we will discuss what is the realistic pace of transition in developing countries, how to accelerate climate finance and technology transfer to emerging economies.