Solar loans for rural homes
Indian solar loan programme
More than 60 per cent of Indian households lack access to reliable electricity supplies and depend on kerosene for light and on burning dung and wood for heat. Solar power is an obvious alternative in a sunny country such as India, but high initial costs put it beyond the reach of most households, while lack of access to credit means the technology has been the preserve of only the wealthiest....
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Holidays for a living planet
The Green Passport Campaign
We go on holidays for pleasure, to discover new horizons, to relax, to meet people and to learn about different cultures, but it’s easy to forget about the impact of our holiday on our destination or the planet. Yet tourism accounts for 5 per cent of global CO2 emissions, and projections show that, if we take no action now, emissions could triple by 2035. There is tremendous variation across...
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The power of a cup of tea
Greening the tea industry in East Africa
Tea in East Africa provides jobs and livelihoods, but also uses a lot of energy. The tea sector employs around one million people and indirectly supports approximately four million. Burundi, Kenya, Malawi, Rwanda, Tanzania, Uganda and Zimbabwe together produce 28 per cent of the world’s tea. But tea is energy-intensive: it takes 8 kWh of energy to process one kilogram of finished tea, compared...
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Banking on Africa’s green economy
The African Carbon Asset Development Facility (ACAD)
About $84 billion was invested through the Clean Development Mechanism in 684 emerging-market emission reduction projects in 2009, but Africa took only 2 per cent of the total. A combination of perceived better returns in markets such as China and India, together with disproportionate concerns about corruption and political unrest, has kept Africa lagging behind in global carbon markets....
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Native trees are the bee’s knees
ClearSky Climate Solutions’ Native Species Reforestation Project in Panama
For decades, Panama’s native forests have been cleared by commercial timber harvesting and subsistence farming. This land is generally cultivated for a few years and then sold to local cattle ranchers and the pattern repeated elsewhere. Cattle ranching causes soil compaction and erosion, and prevents natural vegetation regrowth. This contributes to decreasing soil productivity and soil...
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Cooking away climate change
From Haiti to Nigeria, improved stoves help development and fight climate change
Apart from contributing to deforestation, it is estimated that inefficient stoves are responsible for close to 25 per cent of emissions of black carbon: particles more commonly known as soot. According to research carried out by the UNEP supported Atmospheric Brown Cloud project, black carbon could be a significant factor in the climate change currently being experienced. Like other small island...
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No place like home to walk the talk on climate change
Buildings and climate change – win-win solutions
Buildings are responsible for more than one third of global energy use and are – in most countries – the largest source of greenhouse gas emissions. Building related emissions were estimated at 8.6 billion tonnes in 2004 – a figure that could almost double by 2030 – yet available technologies could cut energy consumption in new and old buildings by between 30 and 50 per cent without significantly...
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Life’s a beach
Integrating marine ecosystems and climate change factors into risk and vulnerability assessments in Jamaica
Jamaica is vulnerable to tropical cyclones and rising sea levels, and its diverse ecosystems and rich biodiversity are under pressure from population growth and a strong international tourism industry. Tourism contributes around 5 per cent of Jamaica’s GDP, but the country’s main tourist asset – its beaches – are literally being washed away. Between 1968 and 2006 one of the island’s main tourist...
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Breathing life into the Clean Development Mechanism
Capacity Development for Clean Development Mechanism (CD4CDM)
The Kyoto Protocol’s Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) was designed to help industrialized countries reduce the cost of complying with carbon emission targets and at the same time boost sustainable development in developing countries. But it soon became clear that many smaller developing countries need help to benefit fully from new carbon market opportunities. Because they lack the institutional...
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Small is beautiful in northern Togo
Helping Togo adapt to water shortage under a changing climate
Togo is one of several countries with a northern region that borders the Sahara Desert, and the people of the north have for years used earth water reservoirs for their own use and to water their livestock in times of drought. But many of the dams in these poor, rural areas have fallen into disrepair and, with desert encroachment and accelerating climate change, are no longer adequate, threatening...
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Daring to make the difference
Relocation and rehabilitation: climate change adaptation in Rwanda
Once home to populations of chimpanzees and Golden Monkeys, the sloping terrain of Rwanda’s Gishwati Forest has in recent decades suffered severe environmental degradation, which has been exacerbated by devastating climatic disasters. Landslides, floods and torrential rain have claimed lives, demolished human settlements, and destroyed thousands of hectares of forest and farmland. The 1994...
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Plant for the Planet
The Billion Tree Campaign
Deforestation and forest degradation contribute around 17 per cent of global greenhouse gas emissions. To keep global temperature rises to within 20C of pre-industrial levels, we need to reverse the trend of deforestation and engage in large scale reforestation.
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Protecting gorillas, one meal at a time
Efficient stoves combat deforestation in gorilla habitat
Mountain Gorillas are facing extinction. Fewer than 750 individuals remain, and demands on their forest home and the abundant natural resources it offers – including food, water and wood for timber and fuel – is threatening the survival of the species. For the gorillas in Virunga National Park, in the east of the Democratic Republic of Congo, the problem has been exacerbated by decades of civil...
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Mounting a defence against climate change
CC DARE promotes climate change adaptation in Xai-Xai, Mozambique
The force of a tropical rainstorm on coastal cities can be devastating. Houses and schools are washed away, enormous gullies appear on slopes, and roads simply disappear in the deluge. This shattering impact is worsened by increased run-off caused by deforestation and consequent inland soil erosion, and by climate change that threatens to bring rising sea levels and more extreme weather events....
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Cars and Climate: Promoting cleaner, more efficient vehicles
The Global Fuel Economy Initiative: Clean Tech in Action
The transport sector accounts for approximately one quarter of all energy related CO2 emissions, a figure set to rise to one third by 2050. By then, the world’s vehicle fleet will have tripled, with over 80 per cent of that growth occurring in the developing world. There is an urgent need to find a way to reconcile legitimate aspirations for mobility and an ambitious reduction in CO2 from cars....
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Inspiring low-carbon economies and societies
UNEP’s Climate Neutral Network
As the global community has become progressively more aware of the need for concerted and coordinated action to address climate change, innovative action has emerged at all levels of society and across the global economy. The challenge, however, is to harness such innovations – from local solutions and grassroots initiatives, to cutting edge technologies developed by multinational corporations and...
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A regional model for global reforestation
The Appalachian Regional Restoration Initiative (ARRI)
In spite of being endowed with a wealth of natural resources, the Appalachian region of the eastern United States has long struggled with poverty. The area is home to some 23 million people, but the exploitation of Appalachia’s coal reserves has left a scarred and damaged landscape in an area whose forests support some of the highest biological diversity in the world’s temperate regions. In a...
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Building a green business region
Climate Partners in Agder, Norway
Emissions generated in urban areas represent one of the greatest challenges in addressing climate change. Buildings alone are responsible for an estimated 1.45 billion tonnes of CO2 emissions annually in industrialized countries, and for around one third of global greenhouse gas emissions, while industry emissions are over 1.3 billion tonnes annually, representing almost a quarter of annual...
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Creating the climate for change in Sudan
Combating climate change in Sudan
Until the late 20th century the Sahel – a transitional zone that stretches across the north of the African continent, straddling the boundary between the Sahara desert to the north and savannah lands to the south – was characterized by baobab and acacia trees and sparse grass cover. Today, climate change and resulting desertification is changing this picture. Rainfall in Darfur has become more...
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Sugar sweetens the deal for renewable energy
Cogeneration for Africa Project
Most of rural Africa has little or no electricity. While many African countries rely on fossil fuels or hydroelectric generation for their national needs, at the local, rural level most households must burn biomass – generally wood or charcoal – to cook and to warm their homes. African populations are growing, and so is the demand for electricity. The search is on for low cost, renewable,...
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Going where utilities fear to tread
African Rural Energy Enterprise Development (AREED)
For people living in rural communities in some parts of Africa there is simply not enough energy to go around. In a world focused on using less energy, these people need more: they need access to a reliable fuel supply to cook with, and to heat and light their homes. A person in sub-Saharan Africa has the lowest energy consumption in the world, consuming just one thirtieth of the energy of an...
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Green neighbourhoods span the globe
One Planet Communities
Buildings are responsible for more than one-third of global energy use and in many countries are the largest source of greenhouse gas emissions. Where and how we live are urgent sustainability issues. This is especially true in developed countries, where people are consuming a large proportion of the planet’s natural resources. A shift to sustainable lifestyles will be essential if we are to make...
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Greening the Blue
Making the United Nations a more sustainable organization
As the leading global authority on environment and development, the United Nations plays a critical role in encouraging businesses and governments to improve their sustainability performance. Naturally, this places a moral imperative upon the United Nations to green its own operations and become a more sustainable organization. But implementing any strategy across such a huge and diverse...
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Maps for a Greener REDD+
Using spatial analysis for REDD+ benefits beyond carbon
Deforestation and forest degradation, caused by agricultural expansion, logging, and other human activities, contribute around 17 per cent of global greenhouse gas emissions. REDD (Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation) is a mechanism aimed at creating a financial value for the carbon stored in forests, offering incentives for developing countries to reduce emissions from...
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Waste not, want not
Converting agricultural biomass waste into energy
Waste management is a global issue and, exacerbated by population and economic growth, is an increasingly serious issue in developing countries. Globally, some 140 billion tonnes of agricultural biomass waste is produced annually – most either left to rot in the field or burnt. In addition to causing environmental damage through greenhouse gas emissions, this also represents the loss of a valuable...
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Life in the fast lane
Bus rapid transit and pedestrian improvements in Jakarta
In an increasingly urbanized world, more and more people are taking to crowded roads in their cars to go about their business and daily activities. Traffic congestion is the bane of many lives, and also contributes to air pollution, reduced road safety, unnecessary fuel consumption and loss of workplace productivity. The International Energy Agency has estimated that fuel consumption and CO2...
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Planting a seed for climate protection
CASCADe – Carbon finance for Agriculture, Silviculture, Conservation and Action against Deforestation
Unsustainable use of forests causes approximately 17 per cent of greenhouse gas emissions globally. It also causes degradation of ecosystems and loss of biodiversity, threatens local livelihoods, and has serious impacts on many of the world’s poorest people. In Africa, around 600 million people rely on forests and woodlands for their livelihoods. Despite the rapid growth of carbon finance...
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Heating up the renewable energy debate
Joint geophysical imaging for geothermal reservoir assessment and the Africa Rift geothermal projects
Affordable, reliable energy is a powerful enabler of social and economic development, but high oil prices, drought, unprecedented population increase and healthy economic growth mean most of Africa faces an acute energy crisis. Located on the Great Rift Valley, Kenya boasts massive geothermal potential – as high as 7000 MW by some estimates – and is eager to make more use of this sustainable form...
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Maldives taking a lead on ozone and climate protection
Providing assistance to developing countries to phase out ozone-depleting chemicals and achieve climate benefits
The Montreal Protocol has been successful in phasing out the production and consumption of ozone-depleting substances, in particular chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) and halons, which, as of January 2010, are no longer produced. But some of the replacement chemicals, such as hydrochlorofluorocarbons (HCFCs) – whose use is rapidly increasing in the refrigeration, foam, solvent, aerosol and firefighting...
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Getting solar panels out of hot water
Solar loans in the Mediterranean region
While solar powered water heaters are an obvious energy saving solution in hot and sunny countries, the cost of buying them is prohibitive for many people. Banks often know little about this clean technology so loans are not widely available, even though a solar hot water system can pay back the investment in as little as four years, offering years of ‘free’ hot water after that. An average four...
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