Blog

There is an urgent need to speed and scale up profitable business models that secure sustainable, deforestation-free supply chains. There is also a need to develop innovative strategies to scale landscape restoration and conservation.

• 10/28/2020
• Climatelinks

Uptake of low emissions agriculture research outputs by policymakers and other stakeholders requires time. Even when researchers are interested in pursuing the scaling and use of research outputs, most are not incentivized to take this on. Allocating targeted resources and donor support, while involving science communicators and outreach specialists can be effective in overcoming constraints to delivering low emission development research to policymakers.

• 10/21/2020
• Arun Khatri-Chhetri

92 developing countries included livestock-related emissions as a target for mitigation in their Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs). One of the biggest challenges to achieving mitigation in the sector is tracking emissions, for which national inventories are a key tool.

• 10/07/2020
• CGIAR Research Program on Climate Change, Agriculture and Food Security CCAFS

Planners at USAID and in host country governments need to choose how to invest funds to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from land. Should they focus on establishing or strengthening protected areas in the east? Restoring mangroves in the north? Improving timber harvesting practices in the south? In each country, there are many choices.

• 09/28/2020
• Tim Holland

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

Although half of global mangrove deforestation since 2000 has been in Indonesia, Bintuni Bay and Mimika District have some of the largest intact areas of mangroves in the world. These two areas are also home to many indigenous groups and have special autonomous governance status and exceptional biodiversity.

• 09/24/2020
• Dr. Eric Hyman

South Africa—the third most biodiverse country in the world—is home to more than 95,000 known species and a diverse range of biomes, from forests to deserts to river delta systems and more. The rich biodiversity of these natural areas plays an important role in the South African Government’s progressive green economy agenda, as it recognizes that those areas provide a wide range of ecosystem services for its people, including food, water, clean air, medicine, resources for livelihoods, recreation, and energy to power daily life and industry.

• 08/27/2020
• Mona Khadr

The amount of development assistance available for clean energy, sustainable landscapes, and climate adaptation investment is relatively small. Partner governments have multiple urgent and competing needs for public expenditures, recently exacerbated by the global pandemic and recession.

• 08/19/2020
• Dr. Eric Hyman

Why do many community-based forestry enterprises (CBFEs) perform poorly even after years of donor and government investment? This was one of the questions that motivated a USAID Productive Landscape (ProLand) project investigation into CBFEs as a strategy for improving land management.

• 08/14/2020
• Mark Donahue, Ian Deshmukh

There is no doubt about it: The world is experiencing an unprecedented wave of urban population growth. Although the challenges posed by this phenomenon are great, the opportunities for advancing equity and sustainability are just as considerable. Indeed, designing “neighborhoods for all” was the central theme of a recent industry training seminar coordinated by the USAID South Africa Low Emissions Development (SA-LED) Program.

• 08/13/2020
• Erica Slowik

Half the world’s total mangrove deforestation since 2000 has taken place in Indonesia, where the main driver is conversion for shrimp ponds. A new cost-benefit analysis by the USAID-funded Climate Economic Analysis Development, Investment, and Resilience (CEADIR) Activity sheds light on the financial and economic value of mangrove conservation, including impacts on near-shore fishing and greenhouse gas emissions.

• 08/11/2020
• Dr. Eric Hyman

To support developing countries’ long-term climate mitigation strategies—plans for reaching ambitious, mid-century greenhouse gas (GHG) reduction goals—USAID’s Transparency and Long-term Strategies (T-LTS) project will soon start a number of activities. These activities include conducting workshops on regionally important topics in Asia and Latin America, helping countries link long-term strategies to their five-year emissions reduction targets, and extending sectoral planning to 2050 for better sequencing and improved coordination around climate goals.

• 07/31/2020
• Derina Man

To enable scaling of climate programs, development assistance organizations can help partner countries leverage new sources of financing, including institutional investors, impact investors, and international and domestic capital markets. However, new approaches are necessary to achieve impacts on a much larger scale.

• 07/29/2020
• Eric Hyman

Implementors of international development projects as well as countries around the world increasingly recognize the private sector as a key partner to meet development and policy goals. But in order to make these collaborations most effective, there are best practices that all parties should follow, such as having a shared objective, equally investing in the relationship, and setting clear expectations.

• 06/24/2020
• Jennifer Park, Jonathan Schwarz

Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) is a global system that certifies responsible forest management. In some cases, FSC has severed ties with, or “disassociated” from, paper and timber giants worldwide when their direct or affiliate operations have harmed forests and people.

• 06/09/2020
• Natcha Tulyasuwan, Binod Chapagain, Panicha Chandragholica