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The PV Cool Kenya project, a collaboration between Phaesun, Solar Cooling Engineering, and Strathmore University, installed three solar-powered cooling systems based on the SelfChill concept in Kenya. These systems include a 500-litre milk cooling tank in Bungoma, an ice maker for fishermen on Lake Victoria, and a cold room for fruit and herbs in Thika. The project aimed to increase productivity and income for smallholder farmers who lack grid electricity. Despite delays caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, the project concluded in June 2022 and included technical training at Strathmore University’s Solar Center.

The study compares climate finance coordination in Kenya and Zambia, finding that political factors—including power dynamics, vested interests, and framings of finance—significantly hinder coordination efforts. The authors argue that achieving genuine country ownership requires a critical examination of these internal political struggles.

The document addresses the investment gap for climate-smart infrastructure in developing countries, where high perceived risks lead to high risk premiums and non-bankable projects. It defines de-risking as the reallocation or reduction of risk through policy measures (establishing rules and mandates) and financial measures (using public capital to bear risk). Three examples illustrate these mechanisms: the Green Climate Fund's anchor equity in Chile's Espejo de Tarapacá project, the Africa Energy Guarantee Facility's multi-layered insurance chain, and Climate Investor Two's tiered tranche structure. The guide concludes that while not applicable to all projects, strategic de-risking leverages small amounts of public capital to mobilize large-scale private investment.

The document highlights the climate vulnerability of the Singida region in Tanzania, where smallholder farmers face low productivity due to unreliable rainfall and pests. It details the success of Amani Saidi Mwangu and the 'Muungano Group', who adopted climate-smart agriculture (CSA) and irrigation after receiving training from Sustainable Environment Management Action (SEMA) and the International Labour Organization (ILO), and a 3,000,000 Tanzanian shilling loan. These interventions enabled the use of drought-tolerant, early-maturing seed varieties (such as Bombay red and Red creole), leading to increased yields of tomatoes and onions and expanded market reach to Uganda and Kenya.

The document examines how the war in Ukraine is facilitating a geopolitical realignment in Africa, where countries are increasingly wary of Western 'coercive diplomacy' and 'paternalism'. It posits that China is capitalizing on this by aligning its diplomatic rhetoric with African desires for non-alignment and multipolarity. The author suggests that China's control over supply chains and its 'Global Security Initiative' provide tangible alternatives to Western partnerships, potentially eroding Western influence on the continent.

The report finds that targeted methane abatement finance is severely underfunded, representing less than 2% of total climate finance in 2019/2020. While the fossil fuel and AFOLU sectors are the largest emitters, the waste sector received the majority of funding. The authors argue that a ten-fold increase in annual investment is required to meet climate goals and recommend stronger regulatory signals, improved emission measurement, and dedicated project pipelines to close the finance gap.

The toolkit outlines a systematic approach for capital market regulators in emerging markets to identify institutional gaps and strengthen their capacity. It introduces the DAART framework (Define success, Align stakeholders, Assemble resources, Respect sensitivities, and Tailor for results) to ensure assessments are context-specific and actionable. The guide emphasizes the dual role of regulators in emerging markets—supervising and developing markets—and provides a methodology for prioritizing gaps based on impact and feasibility to create a 'pitch deck' for securing external funding and technical assistance.

The document evaluates insurance penetration and innovation in Uganda, noting a decline in penetration to 0.796% by 2021. It reviews the IRA's progress in implementing a 2019 action plan, highlighting the creation of a regulatory sandbox and streamlined product approvals, while recommending further inter-regulatory coordination and digital incentives to reach underserved markets.

The document argues that achieving a sustainable future requires 'decoupling' economic growth from resource use and waste. While the global transition toward renewable energy reduces fossil fuel reliance, it increases the demand for critical minerals and creates new challenges regarding e-waste. For Africa, this transition presents opportunities for industrialization and green technology adoption, but risks include stranded assets, economic marginalization, and governance failures in the mining sector.

The document analyzes the varied diplomatic positions of African nations regarding the Ukraine war, noting a split between those condemning Russia and those maintaining neutrality to preserve bilateral ties. It argues that African states should move from being passive bystanders to proactive actors by mediating peace, filling resource gaps created by sanctions, diversifying commodity imports, and strengthening pan-African unity.

The document examines the operationalisation of the Paris Agreement's Enhanced Transparency Framework (ETF), which mandates that all countries submit biennial transparency reports by December 31, 2024. It highlights the shift toward standardised reporting and review processes to increase accountability for Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs). While the ETF aims to build trust and facilitate ambitious climate commitments, the author notes that developing countries face significant barriers in technical capacity, particularly in greenhouse gas accounting and measurement, reporting, and verification (MRV). The brief advocates for integrating climate tracking into national budgets, enhancing stakeholder engagement, and increasing capacity building for adaptation and loss and damage reporting, particularly in Africa.

The Horn of Africa is characterized by chronic instability, including inter-state wars over territorial disputes and internal ethnic conflicts, which have led to massive displacement. The region's geostrategic importance has attracted significant foreign military presence and economic investment, particularly from Gulf states and Turkey, though these external interests often exacerbate regional rivalries and hinder economic integration.

The document details the re-accreditation reviews for three international entities: the Asian Development Bank (ADB), the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), and the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP). All three entities are recommended for re-accreditation without conditions. ADB and EBRD are recommended for 'large' project sizes and 'high risk' (Category A/I-1) environmental and social (E&S) risk categories. UNEP is recommended for an upgrade to 'medium' project size and maintains a 'medium risk' (Category B/I-2) E&S category. The assessments cover fiduciary standards, E&S safeguards, gender policies, and the entities' overall climate portfolios, noting that all three have aligned their strategies with the Paris Agreement and GCF's 2020–2023 Strategic Plan.

The Project Preparation Facility (PPF) has disbursed and committed USD 32.8 million (82% of its USD 40 million allocation) to support the development of climate funding proposals. To date, PPF support has enabled 11 approved funding proposals totaling nearly USD 3.0 billion in investment. The Secretariat has reduced processing times by 84% through streamlined approvals and introduced simplified funding and service modalities to better support direct access entities (DAEs). To cover a pipeline of 28 active requests and anticipated new needs, the document requests an additional USD 18.0 million for the remainder of GCF-1.

The event emphasized the need for partnerships between scientific, policy, and private sector communities to commercialize research and innovations in the blue economy. It highlighted the importance of strengthening science and technology capacity in Africa to meet the African Union Agenda 2063 and discussed the road toward the 2022 UN Ocean Conference in Lisbon, focusing on SDG 14 and the global instrument to end plastic pollution.

The 2021 progress assessment of the Blue Manifesto reveals that most targets are not being met, with only one of eight 2021 milestones on track for full completion. The report highlights significant gaps in the implementation of Maritime Spatial Plans, the failure to eliminate bycatch of sensitive species, and a general lack of ambition in the Council of Ministers regarding fisheries control. While some progress is noted in the EU's Emissions Trading System and international biodiversity negotiations, the overall outcome for 2020 was revised to be more negative, indicating that current EU efforts are insufficient to meet the ambitions of the EU Green Deal and Biodiversity Strategy 2030.

The document examines the potential of information and communication technologies (ICT) to improve economic accessibility in the Legal Amazon. It reviews global evidence showing that mobile and broadband services increase productivity, employment, and market access in developing regions. In the Legal Amazon, the brief identifies significant gaps in 3G/4G mobile internet access in rural areas and broadband access in both urban and rural sectors compared to the rest of Brazil, recommending targeted infrastructure investments to overcome these barriers.

The report defines financial aggregation as the use of instruments to combine multiple investments, projects, or participants to scale urban climate finance. It identifies key barriers to city-level investment, such as poor municipal creditworthiness and high upfront costs, and proposes supply-side aggregation (combining investor commitments) and demand-side aggregation (pooling project needs) as solutions. The document provides case studies from Africa, Asia, and South America, and emphasizes that these tools require a supportive 'enabling environment' characterized by fiscal autonomy and technical capacity.

Africa was instrumental in establishing the deep seabed mining regime under the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea but became apathetic following the 1994 Implementation Agreement. Currently, Africa is the only regional group that has not sponsored an entity to explore the international seabed area (the Area). While the African Union and the UN Economic Commission for Africa have integrated DSM into blue economy strategies and roadmaps, implementation has lagged. The report argues that investing in DSM is strategically appropriate for Africa as the global transition to a low-carbon economy may impact terrestrial mining. It recommends that African states consider sponsoring exploration contracts and that the AU adopt the Lomé Annexes and revise its Integrated Maritime Strategy to provide a clear legal and policy framework for DSM.

The document examines the digital divide and the resulting low participation of African nations in the WTO's plurilateral e-commerce negotiations. It highlights the tension between the preferred multilateral approach of the African Group and the pragmatic necessity of joining the JSI to avoid being marginalized by rules set by developed nations. The author recommends that African states align e-commerce policies with industrialization goals and leverage the African Union to negotiate as a unified bloc.