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An Under-Recognized Obstacle to Solar Access in Africa: The Impact of Foreign Exchange Risk — And How to Mitigate It
Solar energy businesses are rapidly gaining traction in Africa, driving economic growth, improving living standards and supporting the transition to a low-carbon future. But Yariv Cohen at Ignite Power highlights an under-recognized barrier facing the sector: foreign exchange risks. He explores the impacts that volatile exchange rates can have on two common types of solar projects in Africa, and shares some of the strategies that have emerged to mitigate these risks.
- Categories
- Energy, Environment, Investing, Technology
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Funding the Fight Against the World’s Oldest Fuel Source: How New Financing Mechanisms in Clean Cooking Can Succeed Where Grants Have Failed
The use of biomass fuel for cooking has remained consistent over the centuries, despite the development sector's efforts to scale global access to clean cookstoves. As Paul Ronalds at Save the Children Global Ventures argues, a key reason for this failure is the estimated $5.5 billion annual funding gap facing clean cooking initiatives — a gap that traditional sources of finance, like private donations and government grants, have been unable to fill. He discusses several funding solutions, including carbon credits, that could help the clean cooking sector finally end the era of biomass fuel.
- Categories
- Energy, Environment, Investing, Technology
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Replacing Old Technologies or Creating New Markets?: The Pros and Cons of Two Paths to Impact for Productive Use of Energy
Productive use of energy (PUE) technologies have the potential to unlock higher incomes and reduce reliance on more costly, non-renewable energy sources in rural and low-income communities. Dan Waldron, Chris Emmott, Yash Vardhan Gaddhyan and Ruth Wairimu at Acumen discuss the advantages and disadvantages of two different paths to impact for PUE: replacing inefficient, fossil fuel-based incumbent technologies, vs. disrupting entire markets with innovative PUE approaches.
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- Energy, Environment, Investing, Technology, Transportation
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Blockchain vs. Greenwashing: Why Emissions Reporting is Pointless Without Verifiable Data
The current carbon emissions reporting landscape is awash in bold, often dubious claims about the supposed climate impact of different businesses. According to Nish Kotecha at Finboot, these claims are a result of the growing pressure on companies to provide more environmental accountability, and they often reduce emissions reporting to an exercise in greenwashing. He explores how Finboot is leveraging blockchain to verify the accuracy and reliability of emissions data, and discusses some key obstacles to the wider adoption of blockchain-based emissions reporting.
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- Energy, Environment, Technology
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Water Scarcity Can’t be Solved by a Single Sector: How Businesses and NGOs Can Work Together to Advance Water Security
Around the world, 2 billion people still lack access to safe drinking water, and a staggering 3.6 billion people lack basic sanitation, as of 2021. Amelia Metcalf at Water Unite argues that the vast scale of these challenges has created an urgent need for collaborative action between water-focused non-profits/NGOs and for-profit businesses, especially corporations and larger enterprises. She explains how this sort of partnership can deliver benefits to both sides — while offering a key opportunity to combat water scarcity at a global scale.
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- Environment, Investing, WASH
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Transparent Sustainability: A Free Tool Aims to Empower Retail Investors to Align Their Investments with Their Convictions
The growing demand for sustainable investments has brought a greater degree of scrutiny to the industry, as it attempts to address rising concerns about greenwashing. But as Shaan Madhavji and Anna Helena Chaim at Impaakt point out, many investors still have a lack of knowledge about the true impacts of their investments. They explain how Impaakt's free “How Sustainable to Me?” tool provides retail investors with transparent impact data that allows them to align their investments with their values.
- Categories
- Environment, Investing
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Reversing Climate Change is Possible — But First, We Need to Democratise Climate Finance
Much of the current conversation around climate change focuses on the obstacles that make the problem so difficult to solve. But according to Kevin Kyer at Pyrpose, there are signs of hope, as a growing, global sense of urgency around the issue is driving consumers to embrace sustainable products and behaviors. He explores how emerging technologies and businesses are helping to reduce Co2 emissions — and how platforms like Pyrpose can help mobilize climate-conscious investors to direct climate finance to the most vulnerable parts of the world.
- Categories
- Environment, Investing
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Under-Leveraged Best Practices for Scaling Productive Use of Energy Appliances: Part 1 — Sales Support and Market Access
Productive Use of Energy (PUE) appliances can increase revenue for low-income populations, mitigate climate change and improve global energy access. But according to Thomas Charoy and Lucie Klarsfeld McGrath at Hystra, uptake of PUE appliances remains slow, due in part to the training, market linkages and after-sales support needed for customers to get the full benefit from these complex products. They explore some common challenges and best practices in selling PUE solutions, focusing on the appliances with the most mature and promising markets: solar water pumps and solar refrigerators.
- Categories
- Agriculture, Energy, Environment, Technology
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