Blog

In May, Climatelinks explored the important role that women and girls—in all their diversity—play in responding to climate change. We featured how the Advancing Gender in the Environment (AGENT) partnership harnesses data for climate advocacy and action through a gender lens.

• 06/24/2021
• Climatelinks

Climate mitigation is essential for helping communities prepare for the impacts of climate change and prevent worst-case climate scenarios. USAID helps countries achieve more ambitious climate targets under the Paris Agreement and provides the foundations for sustainable growth through renewable energy and natural climate solutions.

• 05/20/2021
• Isabela Barriga

Improving energy efficiency is an integral but often-overlooked part of low-emission development (LED) strategies that can help countries reach their climate targets while meeting growing demands for energy.

• 05/05/2021
• Andrew Fang, Michael McNeil, Katie Koerper

When women are able to fully participate and lead in the workforce, we know that businesses prosper. Research shows that gender and ethnically diverse companies outperform industry standards by 25 percent.

• 03/08/2021
• Corinne Hart, Hayley Samu

Synthia Ontita, Research and Project Management Associate of The Youth Cafe, discusses the importance of youth involvement in Africa’s sustainable development.

• 02/03/2021
• Kate Minden

My passion for entrepreneurship started when I was pursuing my Bachelor’s degree in Clothing Textiles at Egerton University. I started a shop to sell soft furnishing for fabrics such as bed covers, curtains, baby sets etc. This business however did not go as smooth as I had earlier imagined.

• 01/14/2021
• Stella Sigana

In 2020, the Climatelinks community focused on a broad range of monthly themes, including disaster risk management, private sector engagement, energy, and sustainable landscapes. Below you’ll find a selection of great stories that were not as heavily viewed, and that you may have missed when they were originally posted:

• 12/23/2020
• Stephan Hardeman

During this next event in a series of joint Climatelinks-CEADIR webinars, the author of this assessment will present findings and opportunities. Representatives of global reinsurance companies SwissRe and MunichRe will also join to discuss their experiences with parametric insurance for utility-scale VRE in Latin America and beyond.

• 09/24/2020
• Santiago Enriquez

Reliable electricity can mean life or death for a patient. Healthcare facilities need electricity to power lifesaving medical equipment and preserve perishable supplies, such as vaccines. Amidst the COVID-19 pandemic, the stakes are even higher, as more people around the world need treatment and services.

• 08/20/2020
• Kristen Madler, Janice M. Laurente

Open, transparent, and competitive renewable energy procurement, coupled with declining prices for solar and wind technologies, has facilitated billions of dollars of investment at record low prices. According to the Renewables 2020 Global Status Report, 109 countries around the world had held renewable energy auctions by 2019, up from 98 in 2018. Worldwide, auctions have become an emerging best practice to procure least-cost energy.

• 08/04/2020
• Sarah Lawson, Araí Monteforte

According to the International Energy Agency, global energy demand during the first quarter of 2020 declined by almost 4% relative to the same period in 2019 due to the novel coronavirus pandemic and global lockdowns. Electricity demand was down by 20% in several countries, illustrating the magnitude of disruption of our society.

• 06/30/2020
• Stephan Hardeman

Colombia’s Ministry of Mines and Energy (MME) recently completed its first successful renewable energy auction, enabling the government to obtain variable renewable energy (VRE) at globally low-cost prices. The auction awarded contracts that are estimated to attract more than $1.3 billion of private sector investment and will enhance the country’s capacity to provide reliable electricity supplies to its communities.

• 06/23/2020
• Andrew Fang, Kristen Madler, Sarah Lawson

The USAID-funded Kathmandu Vehicle Alliance (KEVA) program, implemented by Winrock International from 2001 to 2006, continues to benefit the environment and people of Nepal due to its role in expanding the electric vehicle market, which has reduced GHG emissions that lower air quality and contribute to climate change.

• 06/22/2020
• Anne Cassidy

Less than half of Nigeria’s 186 million people have access to electricity. But in the rural village of Gbamu Gbamu, newly installed utility poles and wires act as markers of a brighter future, powered by a new solar minigrid. The grid, an effort of local developers Rubitec Solar and Winrock’s USAID-funded Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency Project (REEEP), is empowering citizens and their enterprises, providing them with a better quality of life and more stable sources of income.

• 06/17/2020
• Winrock International