Blog
What’s in a Game?
November 13, 2019
This article was originally published in USAID’s Climatelinks. In Ghana, a changing climate is affecting the production of cocoa, one of the country’s major cash crops and its second leading foreign exchange earner. USAID and Winrock International worked together to produce ECO Game: Northern Ghana to provide communities with a […]
Encouraging Climate Optimism in Peru
November 6, 2019
“Between 1962 and 2016, Peru lost over 54 percent of its total glacial area.” “More intense rain events are expected, especially during El Niño years, increasing the risks of floods and landslides.” These were among the sobering facts about climate change that my team and I presented during workshops we delivered on behalf of the U.S. […]
Changing the Face of Clean Water Supply in Tanzania
October 17, 2019
It’s Friday morning in Hembeti, a rural village in eastern Tanzania, and Irene Lemelo is hard at work. Members of the local community update her on their progress digging trenches for water pipes, and Lemelo answers their questions about a gravity-fed water system now under construction. When she finished her engineering degree a year ago, […]
Climate Week NYC 2019: Where are we on climate finance?
October 9, 2019
Climate Week NYC takes place every year alongside the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) and could be described to a lay person as a climate event with the scale and enthusiasm equal to the combination of Lollapalooza, SXSW and Woodstock. I would have included Burning Man but for the ominous metaphorical link to global warming. […]
In Mozambique, Lean Production Principles Help Farmers Get the Information They Need
October 2, 2019
Traditionally, small farmers in Mozambique prepare their ground with a short-handled hoe and plant by hand, a labor-intensive method that constrains the area of land each farmer can cultivate. But lean production principles are beginning to change that. In the Nacala Corridor of Mozambique, nearly 3,000 farmers have started to apply new agricultural technologies, including […]
Responding to the Call to Action
September 27, 2019
The Global Commission for Adaptation (GCA)’s “Call to Action” report released on September 19, 2019 is a highly anticipated urgent plea for investment and increased effort for adaptation ahead of the UN Climate week and the United Nations Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) Conference of Parties in Chile (COP25) in December. It is a tour […]
Pulling for Forests in Vietnam
September 12, 2019
The wheels are spinning, but the vehicle is going nowhere. It’s rainy season in Vietnam, and dirt roads have become rivers of mud. It’s not uncommon for a vehicle to become mired in the muck. But in this case, the vehicle holds much-needed funds that won’t be delivered to community-based forest owners unless a team […]
First Steps to Design an Emissions Reduction Pathway in Madre de Dios
September 6, 2019
About the Region Madre de Dios, translated as Mother of God, is a region in the southeast of Peru and receives its name from the main river of the region. It is 85 300 km2 and, with a population of approximately 140,000 inhabitants, is the least densely populated region of the country. Forestry, oil and mining, […]
New Long-Term Emissions Reduction Project Starts in Mexico
July 17, 2019
Querétaro is a small state with one of the fastest growing GDPs in the country and, due to its close proximity to Mexico City and some of the main ports in the country, it acts as an industry and trade hub. Quintana Roo, on the Yucatán Peninsula, has a booming tourist industry as it is […]
Engaging the Private Sector to Invest in Resilience
June 24, 2019
Over a quarter century since the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) was signed, we endure and brace for the intensifying impacts of rising global temperatures. While international climate negotiations crawl along, most people agree that we remain achingly far from the monumental changes needed to prepare for climate change. Beyond responding to […]