News

Decentralizing power in Nepal: Distributed generation strategy reduces new risks from climate breakdown
November 5, 2024
This column by Bikash Pandey was originally published in Nepali Times. Nepal’s national electricity grid is supplied with power from a remarkably decentralised array of 162 hydropower projects and 14 solar photovoltaic schemes spread across 43 districts, supplying power over the grid to 30 million people. Another 249 hydropower projects and 14 solar projects are […]
Friends of clean air: A #thaiRAIN success story
October 17, 2024
Too hard to breathe Air pollution has topped Thailand’s environmental challenges over the past decade. According to the State of Global Air Report, toxic haze was linked to 32,200 deaths in 2019 — higher than those caused by COVID. Thailand’s average PM2.5 concentration in 2023 was 4.7 times above the World Health Organization’s air quality […]
Silent heroes: Partnering with informal waste collectors to reduce plastic pollution
October 14, 2024
Each day, massive amounts of plastic waste continue to be generated in cities across Vietnam. With 1.8 million tons of plastic discarded annually, the recycling rate of just 27% feels alarmingly inadequate. Each year, between 280,000 and 730,000 tons of plastic waste end up in the ocean — equivalent to the weight of about 2,000 […]
The Climate Q&A…with Winrock International climate leaders
October 9, 2024
This year marked the 15th annual convening of Climate Week NYC, an event held alongside the U.N. General Assembly in New York City that brings together leaders from across sectors to champion inclusive climate action. Three common and interconnected threads at this year’s event were: 1) The urgency to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and prepare […]
Community partnerships and action to reduce pollution from open burning in Vietnam
September 10, 2024
Open burning, both of household waste and agricultural straw, is a major source of air pollution in rural and urban Vietnam, contributing to deteriorating air quality and increasing public health risks. To tackle this pressing issue, the USAID Reducing Pollution project, implemented by Winrock International, is supporting community-driven solutions aimed at reducing open burning and […]
Partnering to protect the Everglades: A unique ecosystem and critical carbon sink
August 22, 2024
Winrock International and The Everglades Foundation have established a lasting partnership focused on evaluating greenhouse gas emissions and carbon storage within various agricultural, freshwater and coastal ecosystems across southern Florida. With the foundation’s focus on ecosystem restoration and resilience, the primary objective of our analyses has been evaluation of the potential climate impacts of the […]
The solar advantage: Empowering returnee migrants in Nepal
July 23, 2024
This post was originally published on www.nrepnepal.com In the rural landscapes of Nepal, where farming heavily depends on erratic monsoon rains, the introduction of solar irrigation pumps is revolutionizing agricultural practices. This transformation is particularly impactful for returnee migrant workers like Mr. Ram Pratap Sahani and Mrs. Binita Kumari Sahani, residents of Ishworpur in Sarlahi. Their […]
The Climate Q&A.. with Arif Budiman, forest carbon and peatland restoration expert
May 30, 2024
Based in West Java, Arif Budiman is a technical advisor with more than 20 years of experience in nature conservation, sustainable development planning and forest carbon emission mitigation. In addition to his work with Winrock International, Budiman has managed environmental projects in Indonesia for the Worldwide Fund For Nature (WWF) and the U.N. Development Programme. […]
From data collector to project officer: A journey of self-discovery in Vietnam
May 13, 2024
Graduating from university with a major in international business in 2020, Nguyen Vu Nam is one of the young people in Vietnam yearning to explore new things and express themselves. His career started as a data collector and real estate market analyst. Although that job held some challenges, it mostly comprised monotonous computer tasks. “After […]
How the USAID Reducing Pollution project fosters collective action to tackle plastic waste in Vietnam
April 19, 2024
By: Hanh Nguyen, USAID Reducing Pollution project. The USAID Reducing Pollution project team is working on a five-year project to support locally-driven initiatives that substantially reduce environmental pollution in Vietnam through a collective impact approach. The project is helping to build the capacity of government, local nongovernmental organizations and private sector partners to prevent, mitigate […]