Search Climate Insights Directory

Between January and September 2025, Village Energy installed solar-hybrid and off-grid energy systems in 26 Ugandan health centres to address unreliable grid power and blackouts that compromised oxygen therapy. The systems, ranging from 4.6 kWp to 5.8 kWp, enabled oxygen concentrators to operate up to 20 hours per day without grid input, reducing dependence on costly oxygen cylinders and improving neonatal and paediatric care. The project highlighted the importance of remote monitoring, local staff training, and a two-year maintenance warranty for sustainability. Village Energy has since powered over 100 health centres in Uganda.

The report evaluates Rwanda's water sector adaptation targets under NDC 3.0, finding that while technical goals for water storage, flood protection, and catchment restoration are robust, they lack GESI-disaggregated data and inclusive metrics. It recommends reforming the 2018 Water Resources Law to mandate social inclusion plans, establishing a Joint GESI Coordination Unit, and implementing ring-fenced budgets for women's and youth cooperatives to ensure equitable adaptation outcomes.

The document outlines a three-goal approach for climate finance vehicles to manage climate risk and build resilience. Goal 1 focuses on a five-step process to identify and manage physical climate hazards to align with international standards like the ISSB and Paris Agreement. Goal 2 guides the creation of an evidence-backed adaptation thesis to secure investor commitments, particularly for those targeting Multilateral Development Bank (MDB) funding. Goal 3 provides a methodology for designing impact measurement frameworks, including theories of change and indicator tables, to track resilience outcomes and avoid maladaptation.

The report assesses the state of asset management and pension systems across Africa, highlighting a general trend of conservative investment strategies, low retail participation, and uneven regulatory oversight. It identifies a strong prevalence of defined benefit and pay-as-you-go pension schemes, particularly in francophone and lusophone countries, while anglophone nations lean toward funded defined contribution models. Key challenges include low coverage for informal workers and women, limited ESG integration, and a heavy reliance on government securities. The document recommends shifting toward risk-based supervision, expanding micro-pension schemes, and developing national ESG taxonomies to deepen capital markets.

The report argues that Africa's food systems are under severe strain from climate volatility, urbanisation, and structural inequality, which marginalise small producers and exacerbate food insecurity. It proposes a multi-level investment strategy for philanthropy—targeting niches (local innovations), regimes (policy and governance), and landscapes (structural reform)—to shift from industrial agriculture toward agroecology. The authors identify the 'regime level' as the priority entry point for systemic change, advocating for the creation of inclusive governance platforms and the removal of barriers that favour large corporations.

The Uganda Development Bank (UDB) has developed a Currency Risk-Sharing Facility (CRSF) to mitigate the foreign exchange (FX) risks associated with borrowing in hard currencies (USD/EUR) and lending in Ugandan shillings (UGX) for climate projects. The CRSF employs a layered risk-sharing approach, combining a partial hedge (e.g., currency swaps) with a tail-risk FX guarantee to protect against severe UGX depreciation beyond a dynamic threshold. Financial modeling indicates that the CRSF offers a more affordable and stable funding cost (average 9.82%) compared to full hedging (10.96%) or unhedged exposure (average 8.39% but highly volatile). The instrument is designed to be replicable for other public development banks in emerging markets and developing economies facing similar currency mismatches.

The Global Resilience Partnership (GRP) utilizes a tiered 'Innovation Challenge' model to fund and scale bottom-up resilience solutions across the Global South. Since 2014, GRP has invested over US$45 million, supporting 102 solutions in more than 30 countries and benefiting over 7 million people. The 2026 portfolio focuses on three primary challenges: RAIN (nature-positive agriculture), RISE (informal urban settlements), and TECH (AI for humanitarian response). GRP provides a structured pipeline—Idea, Seed, Scale, and Amplify—combining financial grants with non-financial support such as mentoring and a Leadership Academy to make local innovators investment-ready.

The ARE Energy Access Investment Forum 2026 brought together 1,400 participants from 87 countries to discuss renewable electrification. Key outcomes included the launch of the USD 25m ASCENT Project Preparation Facility by COMESA and a GDP 14m contribution from the UK's FCDO to the Sustainable Energy Fund for Africa in the DRC. The forum highlighted systemic gaps in capital allocation for small African-led firms and the need to shift from supply-led to demand-led skills training for the green transition.

This report analyzes the role of risk mitigation and transfer instruments in utility-scale renewable energy investments across East Africa, utilizing six case studies from Burundi, Djibouti, Uganda, and Kenya to identify how these tools facilitate the transition from project development to financial close.

The research paper examines the increasing role of GCC countries—primarily the UAE, Saudi Arabia, and Qatar—as major investors in Africa's energy transition and infrastructure. It identifies food security and economic diversification away from hydrocarbons as the primary drivers for Gulf states. While highlighting significant projects in renewable energy and mining, the paper warns that the current focus on large-scale, export-oriented developments may sideline local community needs and climate adaptation priorities unless African policymakers actively steer investments toward local beneficiation and regional integration.

The report details the disproportionate risks faced by women environmental and human rights defenders (WEHRDs) in Africa, including gender-based violence, criminalization, and digital surveillance. It highlights a significant gap between the actual violence experienced and official data, which often underreports attacks against women. Through country spotlights on Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, South Africa, the Democratic Republic of Congo, and Nigeria, the document illustrates how patriarchal norms and corporate-state collusion exacerbate the vulnerability of WEHRDs. It concludes with recommendations for African states and international donors to implement gender-responsive protection frameworks, end the criminalization of activism, and provide flexible, long-term funding for women-led grassroots initiatives.

The report examines the transition of cookstove carbon credits from legacy methodologies, which faced allegations of over-crediting, to more rigorous, CCP-approved standards. It identifies monitoring, reporting, and verification (MRV) as a high-concern risk due to complex human behaviors like stove stacking and the Hawthorne effect, while highlighting the role of new tools like MoFuSS and the forthcoming CLEAR methodology in improving credit integrity.

The document contends that democracy in Africa often exists in form but lacks substance because it is built upon colonial socio-economic structures that preserve elite control. Using foresight methods and a case study of the South African National Dialogue, it argues that political liberation has not led to structural transformation, resulting in 'economic entrapment'. To resolve this, the author proposes a shift toward 'solidarity economics'—prioritizing community ownership and social equity over neoliberal profit—alongside civic education, a National Competency Framework for public service, and 'living constitutions' that allow for periodic renewal and citizen recall rights.

Reclaim Finance reports a 'double discourse' within the Crédit Agricole group regarding climate commitments. While Crédit Agricole CIB announced in May 2024 that it would no longer participate in conventional bond issuances for fossil fuel companies, its subsidiary Amundi continues to provide capital to the sector. Between 2024 and 2025, Amundi invested 300 million euros in 80 bonds from companies expanding coal, oil, and gas projects, including significant holdings in Glencore, Saudi Aramco, TotalEnergies, and BP. The report contrasts this with BNP Paribas, which extended similar restrictions to its asset management and insurance arms. Reclaim Finance asserts that this inconsistency undermines the group's climate credibility and calls for an immediate alignment of Amundi's policies with the group's stated transition goals.

The report examines how Egypt, South Sudan, and Chad manage the influx of Sudanese refugees, highlighting a systemic gap between international legal commitments and the lived realities of displaced persons. It identifies specific failures in each country—Egypt's security-heavy approach, South Sudan's operational fragility, and Chad's institutional weakness—and recommends regional coordination through the AU and IGAD to establish a predictable protection framework.

The study argues that climate disinformation in the Global South is not a digital accident but a reactivation of 'colonial logics of mediated authority.' By analyzing 200 social media posts and socio-cultural indices across eleven former British colonies in Africa, the author develops a 'Model of Indirect Epistemic Domination.' This model posits that disinformation achieves legitimacy by using trusted intermediaries—such as religious leaders and social media influencers—to frame climate falsehoods as indigenous truths. Statistical analysis reveals that religiosity and media access are the strongest predictors of susceptibility to climate disinformation, while formal education and trust in science do not provide significant protection.

The research identifies that climate disinformation in southwestern Uganda is propagated by authority figures—including politicians, religious leaders, and traditional elders—who exploit cultural norms and farmer vulnerability. Key narratives include framing climate change as a "Western agenda," carbon markets as a form of neo-colonialism, and environmental disasters as divine punishment. These narratives, combined with political greenwashing (such as promoting unsuitable eucalyptus trees or commercial crops without soil research), lead to agricultural failure, financial loss, and a distrust of scientific adaptation. The study emphasizes that countering these trends requires trust-building, youth engagement, and climate literacy programs delivered in local languages and relatable formats.

The report argues that tropical forests should be central to climate strategies, moving from being viewed as a risk to a solution. It analyzes 91 countries, categorizing them by forest cover and deforestation rates, and concludes that forest protection and restoration are compatible with economic growth. To address the funding gap for restoration, the authors propose the Reversing Deforestation Mechanism (RDM), a jurisdictional, results-based payment system for net carbon removals. RDM is designed to complement existing tools like JREDD+ and the Tropical Forest Forever Facility (TFFF). Simulations suggest that at a carbon price of US$ 50 per ton, RDM could generate significant annual revenues and remove up to 2 GtCO2 per year globally in its early stages.

The report examines the role of securitisation in developing African capital markets, noting that while South Africa has a mature market, other sub-Saharan regions remain nascent. It identifies significant barriers, including fragmented legal and tax frameworks, a lack of a 'ratings culture', and limited understanding among financial institutions. Despite these challenges, the study finds a substantial supply of securitisable assets in banking, microfinance, and fintech sectors. It recommends a holistic regulatory approach, the use of anchor investors from DFIs and MDBs, and the adoption of scalable structures like warehouse facilities to mobilise private capital and bridge the private credit gap.

The Netherlands is implementing a multi-level approach to phase out fossil fuel subsidies, focusing on international cooperation through the COFFIS coalition and EU-wide mechanisms like the EU ETS and CBAM. Nationally, the government uses an 'external costs approach' to identify price gaps, which amounted to a fossil subsidy of 18.0 billion euros in 2024. The plan includes raising energy taxes on natural gas through 2030, introducing a differentiated air passenger tax in 2027, and phasing out specific exemptions for greenhouse horticulture and coal use. However, several subsidies remain due to international treaties (e.g., the Energy Taxation Directive) or concerns over carbon leakage and social fairness.