Paul Munro
Dr Munro is a Scientia Associate Professor in Human Geography within the Environment and Society Group, School of Humanities and Languages, at the University of New South Wales (UNSW), Sydney, where he convenes the Environmental Humanities and Geographical Studies majors. He has an established research record in the fields of political ecology and environmental history and has written extensively on forest governance and energy justice, with a particular geographical focus on Sub-Saharan Africa. His current research is focused on the changing geographies of energy poverty: developing an understanding how the emergence of new technologies (e.g., photovoltaic power), new trade dynamics and financial platforms have reshaped how people realise their energy needs in poor rural and urban settings. He is currently engaged in research in Uganda, Kenya, Ghana, Malawi and Vanuatu. Prior to his work in academia, he co-founded Energy For Opportunity (EFO) in 2008 in Sierra Leone, an organisation dedicated to the dissemination of renewable energy in West Africa.

Publications
Title & place of publication![]() |
Author | Research area | Type | Links | Year |
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'Energy economics as an energy justice dilemma: Case studies of normative trade-offs in Malawi, Mexico and Germany', Routledge Handbook of Energy Economics, pp.317-327 | Kirsten Jenkins, Shanil Samarakoon, Paul Munro | Electricity Markets & Restructuring, Energy Efficiency & Distributed Generation, Sustainability & general | Journal Papers | link | 2019 |
Towards a repair research agenda for off-grid solar e-waste in the Global South | Paul Munro , Shanil Samarakoon , Ulrich E. Hansen, Matthew Kearnes, Anna Bruce , Jamie Cross, Sarah Walker, Collen Zalengera | Articles | Link | 2023 | |
The right to repairable energy: A political ecology of off-grid solar repair in Zambia | Paul Munro , Shanil Samarakoon , Matthew Kearnes, Courtney Paisley | Articles | Link | 2023 | |
'Energy solution or future pollution? Applying an energy justice perspective to coal seam gas in New South Wales' Australian Geographer 51(1), pp. 65-95. | Breana Macpherson-Rice, Paul Munro , Kim de Rijke | Sustainability & general | Journal Papers | link | 2020 |
'Workshop Background Paper: Energy Resilience in Pacific Island Countries & Territories' | Darcy Small, Ashleigh Nicholls, Thomas Jeffrey , Anna Bruce , Iain MacGill , Paul Munro , Atul Raturi , Manu Rawali , Long Seng To | Electricity Markets & Restructuring, Energy Efficiency & Distributed Generation, Sustainability & general | Conference Papers | link | 2020 |
'Energy Bricolage in Northern Uganda: Rethinking Energy Geographies in Sub-Saharan Africa', Energy Research and Social Science, 55, pp. 71-81 | Paul Munro , Anne Bartlett | Energy Efficiency & Distributed Generation, Sustainability & general | Journal Papers | link | 2019 |
'Los Proyectos de Muerte: Energy Justice on Mexico’s unconventional gas frontier', The Extractive Industries and Society, 5(4), pp. 481 - 499 |
Letizia Silva Ontiveros, Paul Munro , Maria de Lourdes Melo Zurita | Electricity Markets & Restructuring, Sustainability & general | Journal Papers | link | 2018 |
'On, Off, Below and Beyond the Urban Electrical Grid: The Energy Bricoleurs of Gulu Town', Urban Geography, 41(3)., pp. 428-447 |
Paul Munro | Energy Efficiency & Distributed Generation, Sustainability & general | Journal Papers | link | 2019 |
Off-Grid Electrical Urbanism: Emerging Solar Energy Geographies in Ordinary Cities | Paul Munro , Shanil Samarakoon | Electricity Markets & Restructuring | Journal Papers | Link | 2022 |
Somewhat original: energy ethics in Malawi’s off-grid solar market | Shanil Samarakoon , Anne Bartlett, Paul Munro | Sustainability & general | Journal Papers | Link | 2021 |
'Energy Justice for All? Rethinking Sustainable Development Goal 7 through struggles over traditional energy practices in Sierra Leone Energy Policy', Energy Policy, 105, pp. 635-641 | Paul Munro , Greg van der Horst, Stephen Healy | Sustainability & general | Journal Papers | link | 2017 |
Research and innovation agenda for energy resilience in Pacific Island Countries and Territories | Long Seng To , Anna Bruce , Paul Munro , Edoardo Santagata , Dr Iain MacGill, Manu Rawali , Atul Raturi | Electricity Markets & Restructuring | Articles | Link | 2021 |
The afterlives of off-grid solar: The dynamics of repair and e-waste in Malawi | Shanil Samarakoon , Paul Munro , Collen Zalengera, Matthew Kearnes | Sustainability & general | Journal Papers | Link | 2022 |
The Afterlife of Solar | Paul Munro , Shanil Samarakoon | Large-scale Renewable Energy, Sustainability & general, Technology Assessments | Media | Link | 2021 |