10 Lessons from the Keystone XL victory
During one of our dinners at the Durban conference in late 2011, I heard someone speak out loud and say that the climate movement desperately needs a victory. A victory that many of the strong yet embittered civil society groups could take inspiration from and continue building this movement around the world; with even more vigor. The recent [...]
Why the rhetoric of war is terrible for the climate
As I write this, American troops are setting up a strong base in Israel to begin an exercise of flexing their mighty military muscle alongside their ever ready Middle East ally, Israel. The war games called the “Austere Challenge 12” is aimed to train troops in interacting with antimissile and antiaircraft defenses. Thousands of US [...]
Getting India’s Solar Boom Right
Solar installations grew at a blistering pace in 2010 – 73% compared to 2009. A situation enabled in large part by prices that have dropped 60% in the past three years alone. Given the rapidly changing economics there is enormous interest in the first phase of India’s solar mission, which currently has 80 MW operational, [...]
Mission Critical: Focusing on What Energy Costs Today
A disruptive shift in the world energy economy has rendered the commonly accepted axiom that renewable energy is expensive and fossil fuels are cheap oversimplified and outdated. From soaring coal and oil prices, to rock bottomsolar module prices, the signs are everywhere that what we believe we know about energy costs today requires immediate revision. Most importantly, [...]
Pay-as-you-go: Simpa’s Radical Affordability Solution
There are now 48 million people worldwide who have a mobile phone, but no connection to the grid. These un-electrified, mobile phone users are expected to increase to 138 million by 2015 marking the intersection between mobile phone and off-grid lighting technology that is spawning a number of innovations shaping the future of rural electrification [...]
Pakistan’s Great Deluge: Rebuilding for Climate Resilience
By Saman Ikram, Yale School of Forestry & Environmental Studies Cross-posted from the World Resources Report I have witnessed decision making in a changing climate from the frontline. As I write, the impacts of devastating flooding that affected 20 million people continue to unfold. Although effective damage inventories are complete, it will be weeks before the [...]
Youth Activism and Climate Change
By S. Anantha Krishan and Priya Subramanian Youth in the Middle East today, are fighting back to end decades of autocracy, with a mandate for social reform, and it is now an established fact, that the bulging youth population can effect a paradigm shift in the entire socio political gamut of operations by driving radical, [...]