Blog

To combat climate change, countries around the world are introducing national renewable energy development plans and carbon neutrality goals to overhaul their energy sectors.

• 03/09/2022
• RTI International, Candise Henry, Andrew "AJ" Kondash, Justin Baker, Christopher Wade, Benjamin Lord, George L. Van Houtven, Jennifer Hoponick Redmon, Brooke Shaw, Edwin Castellanos, Benjamin Leiva

In order to effectively act against deforestation within their territories, Indigenous communities first must be able to quickly detect it.

• 03/08/2022
• Global Waters

In order for USAID to have maximum impact in confronting the most urgent demands of the climate crisis, improved participation at all levels is key. Thus, an increased emphasis on working with Indigenous Peoples and local communities is critical to USAID’s climate efforts.

• 03/03/2022
• Sophie Schrader

Key to carrying out a coordinated regional response is USAID’s Amazon Regional Environment Program (AREP), which partners with governments and stakeholders across six Amazon countries—Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, Guyana, Peru, and Suriname.

• 03/01/2022
• Wendy Putnam

The East African Community (EAC) and its Partner States—Burundi, Kenya, Rwanda, South Sudan, Tanzania, and Uganda—strive to manage and sustain the region’s iconic ecosystems through collaboration and policymaking.

• 02/24/2022
• Nicholas Oguge, Ph.D. , Katherine Connolly

Global coffee demand is expected to triple by 2050, raising pressure on forests and other habitats in the tropical regions where it is grown as farmers look for new land to cultivate.

• 02/24/2022
• Aaron Brownell

The five-year Paramos & Forests Activity is helping the Government of Colombia meet its landscape-based climate change mitigation goals and strengthening local economic development.

• 02/23/2022
• Christine Chumbler

USAID’s WATSAN (water and sanitation) project works to strengthen local capacity and the water and sanitation infrastructure so that it can withstand and operate reliably under floods, landslides, and droughts.

• 02/22/2022
• Leah Quin

In response to the urgent need to feed the world’s human population while also reducing agriculture-driven deforestation, protecting biodiversity and livelihoods, and keeping the planet on a 1.5 degree Celsius warming trajectory, there have been a growing number of private sector commitments to eliminate deforestation from commodity supply chains.

• 02/17/2022
• Christine Chumbler, Jonathan Schwarz, Pablo Torres

With increased climate financing into the region, Pacific Island countries need to be equipped with the capacity to effectively implement climate change-related projects.

• 02/15/2022
• Tedi Rabold

During 2020 and 2021, a multiyear La Niña event, strengthened by climate change, has helped produce an exceptional three-season drought. As the region enters a long dry season, temperatures of the land’s surface are well-above normal and vegetation is desiccated.

• 02/11/2022
• Kiersten Johnson

The COVID-19 pandemic has highlighted the crucial role of water and sanitation in safeguarding human security. Through its Water, Sanitation and Hygiene Finance (WASH-FIN) program, USAID has been helping expand access to finance for water service providers (WSPs).

• 02/11/2022
• Farah Siddique

To better support the livelihoods of farming communities and their resilience, USAID’s Bureau for Humanitarian Assistance is supporting a project called Standards for Supporting Agricultural Livelihoods in Emergencies (SEADS) to develop evidence-based practice standards for humanitarian agencies that provide crop-related assistance in emergencies. This support can include providing seeds and fertilizer, offering tools and training support, or rebuilding damaged infrastructure, such as irrigation schemes, but all with an emphasis on market-based delivery mechanisms.

• 02/10/2022
• Tedi Rabold

This blog is the second part in an Editor’s Pick Series highlighting USAID’s regional approaches to climate and development. The first part of the series featured Climatelinks blogs that reflect these efforts, and this second part features resources and projects with a regional focus.

• 02/09/2022
• Sophie Schrader

At the 26th UN Climate Change Conference of the Parties (COP26) in Glasgow, NASA Administrator Bill Nelson announced that the NASA and USAID SERVIR partnership will use USAID funds to support the Regional Center for Mapping of Resources for Development (RCMRD) in integrating gender and Earth observations into the risk financing sector to build local and regional resilience to climate shocks. The SERVIR partnership works with countries and institutions around the world to tackle development challenges through an approach that uses satellite data to address climate change, food and water security, disasters, land use, and air quality.

• 02/08/2022
• Katherine Casey, Georgia Hartman