Climatelinks Photo Gallery

In the arid regions of northern Kenya, groundwater boreholes are providing increased climate resilience and water security. In this picture, local communities access water from solar powered borehole systems funded by USAID.

Typhoon Maysak crossed Chuuk and Yap States between March 29 and April 1, 2015, leaving a path of destruction in its wake. As USAID’s implementing partner under the Disaster preparedness for Effective Response project, the International Organization for Migration mobilized to implement USAID’s Typhoon Maysak Reconstruction Project (TMRP). The multi-sectoral initiative was designed to help Maysak-affected communities rebuild following the devastating storm, and to help restore critical public infrastructure and utilities. For both new homes and public infrastructure facilities, IOM worked to design buildings that would be able to withstand another storm and maintain traditional design elements whenever possible. IOM also trained local community members in sustainable construction techniques. In this photo, taken by Ms. Rachel Weinheimer on November 10, 2016 on an outer island of Chuuk, H.E. Robert A. Riley III, the current ambassador of the United States of America to FSM, presents a local beneficiary with a newly reconstructed home.

The debate and justification in climate change is going on for years but now they are visible on the ground. This is the picture of a village in Humla District, where the community is facing changed patterns of precipitation and adapting to changes by changing the roof type. This community used to have flat mud roofs that are now turned into tin roofs to combat changing precipitation patterns. Picture location: Humla District, Nepal, 2018 USAID supported program: Paani/DAI

The Bangladesh Wind Resource Assessment project, made possible with support from USAID's Bangladesh mission and the Bangladesh Power Division, focused on utilizing observed data from meteorological stations to adjust and inform a model that created a database for Bangladeshi investors, policy-makers and transmission planners to quantify and locate where the best wind resource and development sites were. In this photo, a boy in Chandpur, Bangladesh is learning how wind is measured with a cup anemometer. Read more about the project in this report: https://www.nrel.gov/docs/fy18osti/71077.pdf. Photo taken by Mark Jacobson, researcher from the National Renewable Energy Laboratory, in 2015.

An International Water Management Institute (IWMI) colleague inspects a rural village water tank built in Shikharpur, Baitadi, Nepal in 2017. Climate change is drying out many of the mountain springs in Western Nepal, forcing rural villages to adapt and find new water sources. Water tanks ensure a stable water supply for entire villages even as spring flow depletes. Building Climate Resilience of Watersheds in Mountain Eco-Regions (BCRWME) is the first component of Strategic Program for Climate Resilience (SPCR) of Nepal. The project is carried out by IWMI, along with the Asian Development Bank (ADB), the Nordic Development Fund, and the Department of Soil Conservation and Watershed Management.

Lake Arenal Hydropower Plant, Costa Rica, October 2014. Costa Rica runs on renewable energy for an average of 300 days a year, largely thanks to hydropower generated in stations like this one. Costa Rica’s proactive environmental policies are the reason it is considered a strong example of sustainable development around the world. However, much of Costa Rica's environmental development was not well regulated as it was undertaken, and numerous problems persist.

In 2017, a young boy from Shikharpur, Nepal plays on the roof of his house, where a solar panel has been installed to provide his family with renewable electricity. As the effects of climate change on natural resources become more and more detrimental, renewable sources of energy are necessary to ensure climate change resilience in Nepal’s most vulnerable regions. Building Climate Resilience of Watersheds in Mountain Eco-Regions (BCRWME) is the first component of Strategic Program for Climate Resilience (SPCR) of Nepal. The project is carried out by IWMI, along with ADB, the Nordic Development Fund, and the Department of Soil Conservation and Watershed Management.

The USAID-NREL Partnership, in coordination with Clean Power Asia, partnered with the Lao People’s Democratic Republic (PDR) to conduct a vulnerability assessment of the country's power sector. The assessment included a review of climate change related risks as well as vulnerabilities related to technological and human-related threats. At the time of the assessment, the Lao PDR was experiencing severe flooding related to greater than normal rainfall and tropical storms.

Flooding submerged this local shop on the banks of the Mekong River in Vientiane, Laos. The assessment showed that lack of policy for resilient siting of infrastructure posed a significant risk in the Lao PDR. Learn more about planning a resilient power sector at the Resilient Energy Platform website: http://bit.ly/30LeCqV. Learn more about the power sector vulnerability assessment in this webinar: http://bit.ly/2P3Triy. Photo taken by Sherry Stout, NREL, August 2018.

The USAID and NREL Partnership hosted a modeling group from the Philippines at NREL's campus for a first-of-its-kind, month-long research exchange supporting the Philippines' development of competitive renewable energy zones (CREZ). By working directly with NREL's power sector experts, the group refined key models used to enable proactive transmission planning for scaling up renewable energy in the Philippines.

Noriel Reyes, of the Philippines Department of Energy, and Jervie Bagsik, of the National Grid Corporation of the Philippines, are seen taking part in a collaboration session with NREL and USAID team members during their visit. Read more about the exchange at: http://bit.ly/2m5yq9e

Photo taken by Werner Slocum. July 30, 2019.

In Kamuli District, Uganda, children watch as local hand pump mechanics employed by Whave replace a hand pump with a new electric water pump, which will reduce the time for the community to fill up jerricans. Whave is a member of the USAID-supported Sustainable WASH Systems Learning Partnership, a consortium of researchers and practitioners identifying solutions to the challenge of developing robust local systems capable of sustaining water, sanitation, and hygiene (WASH) service delivery. As climate change threatens water supplies and infrastructure in sub-saharan Africa, the need for strengthened local systems that provide reliable water services is critical. July 2018.

Tracking Performance at a Water Treatment Plant in Jordan As this Miyahuna/Zai Water Treatment Plant operator demonstrates, the Jordan Water Operators Certification Program, implemented by the Jordan Operations and Maintenance Training (OMT) project, trained operators in correct methods of collecting and reporting daily plant performance. Location: Amman, Jordan Submitted to 2018 #WaterSecureWorld Photo Contest by Chemonics

This project improved water access to six beneficiary communities through decentralized water treatment kiosks and improved sanitation facilities and hygiene behaviors for schools in those communities. Over 5,000 students and teachers gained water and sanitation access at school. Over 1,000 people gained household water access and six schools were measurably impacted by project activities. Ultimately, 60,000 people with limited water access were reached through the kiosks.

A village of small, colorful houses sits precariously on a tropical mountainside in Haiti.

Working in Chennai water treatment

Ibinda primary school pupils in Kakamega County draw clean water from a well. Clean water enhances hygiene among school children while also keeping them in school.

Kajaki Dam