Blog

Climate change impacts different regions in different ways and, as such, requires tailored initiatives to meet local development needs. Every region will face challenges brought on by the climate crisis and will integrate programs and systems to adapt.

• 01/20/2022
• Sophie Schrader

In Indonesia’s Papua Province, a province on the eastern edge of the Indonesian archipelago that shares an island with the nation of Papua New Guinea, reducing deforestation is the most effective way to decrease greenhouse gas emissions.

• 04/22/2021
• Christine Chumbler

The Congo Basin of Central Africa hosts the second largest tropical forest in the world. The forests of the Congo Basin provide a range of environmental services to local forest-dependent communities, the surrounding region, and globally through climate regulation and carbon sequestration. Fostering the sustainable use of this vast, critical resource is imperative and requires a better understanding of existing forest resources, including changes in forest and land cover.

• 04/22/2020
• Eva McNamara, Olivia Freeman

Since 2012, the USAID Vietnam Forests and Deltas program (VFD) has been helping the Government of Vietnam develop and operationalize a national Payment for Forest Environmental Services (PFES) program that has already directed over USD $500 million to forest owners as financial compensation for maintaining forest cover. For example, Vietnam’s hydroelectric power plants now reward upstream forest owners whose trees keep soil in place, avoiding the sediment buildup that drives up operating costs.

• 03/19/2020
• Lauren Keller

Measurement, reporting and verification (MRV) are essential for transparency between countries as they track their greenhouse gas emissions. By emphasizing common standards, MRV ensures that countries are on the same page when it comes to the methodologies they use.

• 08/01/2019
• Stephan Hardeman

Many countries have committed to establishing national forest monitoring and measurement, reporting, and verification (MRV) systems, but lack the technical capacity to achieve their goals. As the science of forest monitoring and MRV advances, these countries face challenges identifying and implementing cost-effective tools and methods that suit their long-term needs.

• 07/30/2019
• Moses Jackson

According to the United Nations, close to 1.7 billion people – almost 25% of the world’s population - rely on forests for shelter, livelihoods, water, food, and fuel security. Forests renew our air supply, as they take in large amounts of carbon dioxide and release oxygen.

• 05/22/2019
• SERVIR Global

This month, Climatelinks is featuring geospatial tools and analysis. When it comes to climate change, geospatial tools and analysis provide innovative methods of visualizing drivers, threats and impacts. Emerging trends can also be identified and studied through geospatial analysis, which in turn allows for more strategic positioning of resources.

• 05/10/2019
• Stephan Hardeman

“The water is pushing very hard on our islands and communities,” recounted the Bonthe Deputy Mayor, during a recent meeting with USAID staff in the southwestern district of Sierra Leone. His description captures the profound impacts that climate change is having on coastal communities.

• 04/29/2019
• Julia Bradley-Cook

Do you work on a project or activity that is increasing climate resilience or reducing carbon emissions while conserving biodiversity? Have you collaborated with colleagues across USAID to design a project or activity that has biodiversity outcomes and tackles development challenges across multiple programming areas?

• 04/04/2019
• Jennifer Kane, Catherine Wahlen

Many governments recognize agroforestry’s contributions to farmers’ food security and livelihoods, and to climate change adaptation and mitigation, but face challenges in attracting climate finance to expand agroforestry.

• 02/19/2019
• Julianna White

Working with Guatemala’s National Council for Protected Areas and other partners, SERVIR provided technical resources for satellite-based data products to monitor fires across Petén, where fire risk is projected to rise due to higher temperatures and longer dry spells.

• 07/18/2017
• Climatelinks

Mangrove trees serve as a buffer between land and sea in Cambodia, helping to prevent soil erosion and protect livelihoods.

• 07/19/2016
• Climatelinks