A man and woman smile and laugh while holding produce next to a solar panel with forests and mountains visible in the background.

Farmers in Chiang Khan, Loei Province, Thailand, use solar energy to boost their crops and income. | Photo Credit: Dararat Weerapong for USAID
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Blog | Newsletter Recap

December 2024 Newsletter Recap: Year in Review

January 9, 2025

By Climatelinks

Did you miss the Climatelinks December newsletter? We’ve got you covered. Please find a recap of the December ‘Year in Review’ theme below. You won’t want to miss this short list of top resources and blogs from the month. Subscribe to our newsletter today. Do you want to contribute to the Climatelinks community? Send us a resource, blog, or event.

In 2024, Climatelinks published more than 100 resources and nearly 150 blogs to share technical guidance and knowledge related to USAID’s climate and development programs. Much of this content was tied to Climatelinks’ monthly and bimonthly themes, which varied from climate finance to youth-led climate action to resilience.

Fresh Blog Posts

New Climate Risk Profiles Available to Help Missions Strengthen Resilience

In 2024, countries around the world experienced shifting rainfall patterns, rising temperatures and sea levels, and receding glaciers. As climate variability and change accelerate, the past no longer provides a reliable indication of what the future will bring. To combat this uncertainty, USAID has begun updating its country-level climate risk profiles to improve climate risk management and support adaptation and resilience efforts.

Unlocking Potential: How USAID Partnerships Enable Access to Climate Adaptation Finance

USAID’s Climate Adaptation Support Activity (CASA) supports the African Adaptation Initiative (AAI) to unlock critical adaptation funds from the Green Climate Fund (GCF). In 2024, CASA and AAI developed the Adaptation Finance Academy, a structured training program covering GCF policies and procedures to build technical skills in climate analysis and modeling, financial structuring, economic impact assessments, and environmental and social safeguarding.

Year In Review

Climatelinks content offers technical guidance for practitioners, shares successful interventions from countries where USAID works, and explores the intersections between climate change and other development sectors. In the Year in Review series, Climatelinks highlights the most-viewed blogs and resources from the past year along with some that may have flown under the radar.

New Resources

The Role of Watershed Management in USAID Resilience Food Security Activities

Watershed management interventions contribute to the USAID Bureau for Humanitarian Assistance’s (BHA) early recovery, risk reduction, and resilience framework. By incorporating watershed management into its activities, BHA helps address the root causes and drivers of food insecurity in ways that strengthen the capacity of both formal and informal institutions, reduce risks, and provide engines of growth, opportunity, and change.

Learning Agenda of the Watershed Community of Practice

Since February 2021, BHA Mission colleagues and members of the Infrastructure, Natural & Water Resources Management Team in Washington, DC, have engaged in an internal BHA Watershed Community of Practice (COP). This group holds meetings focused on discussing ongoing watershed interventions, exploring implementation challenges, identifying best practices, and remaining informed on advances in the field of watershed management. To facilitate more strategic collaboration and knowledge sharing, the COP decided to develop and implement a learning agenda.

Climate Risk Management Spotlight

Climate Risk Management in Action

A primary goal of USAID’s Climate Risk Management (CRM) policy is to increase the sustainability and cost effectiveness of USAID projects. Missions and partners are taking CRM actions that produce diverse benefits in all sectors across USAID’s broad portfolio. This blog series on the benefits of CRM showcases examples of activities in which CRM has reduced damages to infrastructure, protected public health, restored ecosystem services, and built the capacity of local decision makers and community members to better manage climate risks.

Call for Content

Share your events and resources or write a blog related to an upcoming monthly theme! Check out our upcoming themes to see if your climate work aligns:

January 2025: Innovation
February and March 2025: Infrastructure

If your USAID-related climate change work relates to these themes, Climatelinks would love to feature your work and share your resources. Send us a resource or blog.

Sectors

Climate

Strategic Objective

Adaptation, Integration, Mitigation

Topics

Adaptation, Climate Finance, Climate Risk Management, Locally-Led Development, Resilience, Training, Water Management, Youth

Region

Global

Climatelinks is a global knowledge portal for USAID staff, implementing partners, and the broader community working at the intersection of climate change and international development. The portal curates and archives technical guidance and knowledge related to USAID’s work to help countries mitigate and adapt to climate change.