Partner Opinion | Connect4Climate

The International Olympic Committee (IOC) Sustainability Strategy

Sustainability is one of the three pillars of Olympic Agenda 2020 alongside credibility and youth. In line with its recommendations, the IOC has developed a Sustainability Strategy. Based on the responsibility of the IOC as an organization, as the owner of the Olympic Games, and as the leader of the Olympic Movement, it focuses on infrastructure and natural sites, sourcing and resource management, mobility, workforce, and climate.

IF Sustainability Case Studies

The IOC Sustainability Strategy supports IOC's commitment to contribute to the United Nations 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development

The world faces significant challenges across a wide spectrum of social, environmental and economic matters. Major issues such as social injustice, economic inequality and climate change are increasingly occupying people around the world. The sporting community is not immune to the impacts of these issues. We believe the Olympic Movement has both an opportunity and a duty to contribute actively to global sustainability in line with our vision: “Building a better world through sport”.

That is why it was pivotal for IOC when in September 2015 the United Nations (UN) General Assembly confirmed the important role that sport plays in supporting the UN 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

The 17 SDGs for 2030 provide a common framework for organisations to explain how they plan to contribute to sustainable development and to tackle the key global sustainability challenges. These SDGs include ending poverty, combatting climate change, fighting injustice and inequality, and many other aspirations for a better, more sustainable world.

The core missions of the Olympic Movement, including social development through sport, are already closely aligned with a number of SDGs, notably in the fields of health and well-being (SDG #3), quality education (SDG #4), gender equality (SDG #5), peace, justice and strong institutions (SDG #16) and partnerships for sustainability (SDG #17). By further embedding sustainability in our activities, we believe we could reinforce the IOC’s contribution to these SDGs while contributing to several other SDGs.

"Sport is also an important enabler of sustainable development. We recognize the growing contribution of sport to the realization of development and peace in its promotion of tolerance and respect and the contributions it makes to the empowerment of women and of young people, individuals and communities as well as to health, education and social Key SDGs to which the IOC aims to contribute. inclusion objectives."

UN 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, Paragraph 37

Five sustainability focus areas

The five focus areas reflect aspects of the IOC’s activities that have the most significant interaction with sustainability. They have also been selected by considering today’s key sustainability challenges and the manner in which the IOC and its stakeholders believe the IOC can most effectively contribute. The five focus areas are strongly inter-related and should be considered as a whole.

Would you like to learn more?

IOC Sustainability Strategy - Executive Summary

IOC Sustainability Strategy - Full Version

E-mobility and Santiago’s great race

Taking 67 long years to get to Chile is not much of a record for any race car. And yet that is exactly how long the people of the capital Santiago had to wait for single-seater racing to return to their hometown. But when it did finally come back, the cars involved proved very special indeed and very different from the ones that last raced there. We’re talking, of course, about the all-electric Formula E cars.

Now in its fourth season, the ABB FIA Formula E Championship is high on adrenaline but low on environmental impact. The Chilean capital was selected to host the fourth round of the current season on February 3 after two previous outings in Hong Kong and one in Marrakech. First across the line was Jean-Eric Vergne, who drives for the Chinese team, Techeetah.

The signature rocket-ship whine of the 20 single-seaters filled the air as they did battle for victory on a circuit of just under 2.5 kilometers that wound its way through the heart of the city. An asphalt ribbon with no less than 12 very tight curves running from Avenida Santa Maria along the Mapocho river, skirting the city’s wonderfully lush Parque Forestal, in the shadow of the city center skyscrapers with balconies packed with spectators. The grueling route was more or less identical to the one used for the Formula Libre event in 1950 which attracted an impressive showing of Formula 1 drivers. It was also Chile’s first and last motorsport grand prix until now, and was won by the legendary Juan Manuel Fangio in a Ferrari. He was followed over the line by another Argentinian, Froilán González, who was also in a Prancing Horse car. The average speed was not much faster than that of the electric single-seaters. The 1950 grand prix was an unforgettable spectacle the likes of which Chileans had never previously witnessed and would have to wait two generations to see again.

Photo Credit: Max Thabiso Edkins / Connect4Climate

Chile at the leading edge in South America

That long wait may also have been one of the reasons why last October’s ceremony in the capital to officially announce Formula E’s imminent arrival in Chile took place in front of the Moneda presidential palace and was attended by outgoing president Michelle Bachelet. There was, however, another less romantic, more pragmatic reason, which Chile’s Minister for Energy Andrés Rebolledo summed up succinctly on the day: “Formula E isn’t just a fantastic event, it is also the most effective way of showcasing the advantages of electric cars to Chileans. By our estimation, if we manage to put the necessary regulatory, logistical and market conditions in place, 40% of vehicles in Chile could be electric by 2050.”

This undertaking is the first of its kind anywhere in South America and comes in the wake of similar commitments from France, the United Kingdom, the Netherlands, Norway and India. In China, the government has introduced a new rule that all local car manufacturers – as well as foreign companies which import more than 30,000 vehicles a year – must develop at least one electric model by the end of 2019. This approach is going global too with a growing number of countries now determined to revolutionise their transport systems. To a certain extent, it also owes its rapid adoption to the Formula E Championship, which is as much an ambassador for new generation e-mobility (fast and powerful enough to be truly spectacular) as an extreme test bench for honing increasingly efficient technologies which can then make the transition to the broader market and cut e-car prices. One example in particular stands out: the power of the battery in the new single-seater unveiled last January has tripled in just three years and, from next season, will allow drivers to compete an entire race without having to switch cars at the halfway point, as is currently the case.

Photo Credit: Max Thabiso Edkins / Connect4Climate

The Formula E test bench is extraordinarily useful for our Group in particular, which is why Enel is Official Power Partner to the Championship for the second year in a row. The partnership allows us to test out cutting-edge technologies in a competitive environment. They include micro networks managed and monitored by intelligent counters and dedicated software, photovoltaic panels coupled with a futuristic energy storage system, charging points for electric race support vehicles and generators powered by aquafuel. This completely renewable fuel reduces nitrogen oxide emissions by 95%. All these technologies are crucial to Formula E meeting its sustainability goal of zero impact racing by the end of next season.

The launch of Enel X

On the same day in Santiago, we also hosted the Chilean launch of our new Enel X business line, a steadily growing range of digital products and customer services that includes leading-edge e-mobility solutions. The aim is to connect people, homes, companies and cities on a single integrated network. The launch was attended by the Minister for Energy, Andrés Rebolledo.

"There has been a radical change in our approach to energy over the last few years in this country. One big and very practical step forward is that now, when we talk about e-mobility, everyone knows what it is and the kind of improvements it can make to the environment and our quality of life," Andrés Rebolledo, the Chilean government’s Minister for Energy.

The Minister underscored the fact that February 3 will go down in the history of progress in Chile, but added that the country still has a lot of work to do: “You can’t create a revolution like this on your own. Our government needs help from businesses, from people who can provide the ideas and tools to translate them into reality. Through its commitment to Formula E and tech development, Enel really does represent a new frontier in the energy sector.”

Santiago E Prix Winner Jean-Éric Vergne celebrates his victory. Photo Credit: Max Thabiso Edkins / Connect4Climate

This is an important acknowledgment for our Group as we have been operative in this South American country for many years through Enel Chile and its subsidiaries Enel Generación Chile and Enel Distribución Chile. Enel Green Power Chile also gives us a significant presence in the renewable energies market, with a total installed capacity of around 7.5 GW (4.8 GW renewable and 2.7 GW thermal), 1.9 million customers and over 2,200 employees. Chile is a strategic country for us: it’s where we have headquartered Enel Americas, our platform for investing in conventional generation and distribution in other South American nations (Argentina, Brazil, Colombia, Peru).

Formula E might well open up a new frontier. But this time, it won’t take two generations to get there...and beyond!

Story first published here

Inclusivity must be the basis of SDG2030

The plight of Syrian refugees has been dominating news headlines for many months now. Every social media platform broadcasts haunting images of their sad fate, especially those of women and children, who inevitably suffer the most. Feeling sorry for them is no longer the solution, and it is imperative that each and every member of civil society takes steps to alleviate their suffering as they have every right to a life of dignity like all of us.

Kehkashan Basu, Green Hope Foundation, Syrian Refugees

The youth organization, Green Hope Foundation, believes in turning words into action and we decided to bring smiles to the faces of Syrian refugee children living in camps in Lebanon close to the border. We wanted this New Year to be very special for these children and with the help of our members collected a large consignment of clothes, woolens, books, flasks, and toys. A five member Green Hope team flew to Lebanon in the first week of January with this consignment and visited camps housing the Syrian refugees. Green Hope works on Education for Sustainable Development, and we try and reach out to all sections of civil society with our message so that "no one is left behind" as we march towards sustainability. Our main objective was to engage and educate the Syrian refugee children on environmental conservation as we believe that every child has a right to education. Through our workshops and other activities we wanted to engage, educate and empower them so that they too become a part of the sustainable development process and start taking actions within their zones of influence.

Kehkashan Basu, Green Hope Foundation, Syrian Refugees, SDG

Over a two day period, we conducted six environmental workshops with each workshop targeting a specific age group. Several hundred children ranging in age from 7 to 18 attended our workshops. This was their first exposure to conservation issues, and their enthusiasm was limitless. We educated them about global warming, the impacts of climate change, the UN Environment’s “Beat Pollution” campaign, the need to go “plastic free," how tree planting reduces the carbon footprint impact and the need to recycle and reuse so that they could reduce wastage in their camps and do “more with less”. Our workshops were extremely interactive, and we used music, songs, art, and quiz to communicate with the children. Each group painted their dreams of the future on white T-shirts that we gave them, and their ideas and expressions were truly amazing. After each activity we distributed prizes in the form of books, toys, flasks, woolens, and clothes that we had carried with us and their joyous smiles lit up the room. Since their camps are without electricity for most of the day, we also distributed solar rechargeable lamps which would enable them to study at night. After each activity, the children would break into an impromptu dance, and we joined in with them, sharing the moment. Despite being from different parts of the world, we became one thus proving the universal nature of humanity. After attending the workshops, the children said that they would organize a cleanup campaign in their camps once the rains stopped. They also planned to plant trees within their camps soon. All the attendees wrote down action pledges on handprint cutouts which they put up on a “tree of hope.”

Kehkashan Basu Green Hope Foundation Syrian Refugees T-Shirts

Our efforts were only a drop in the ocean of their misery, but we left vindicated that we were able to bring momentary joy in the lives of a few hundred children. We also planted the seed of environmental action in their hearts, and some of them would take the cause of sustainability forward within their zones of influence. A dream of a sustainable world can become a reality only if all sections of civil society, especially the marginalized sections are involved, and Green Hope will continue to reach out to them and empower them so that together we get “The Future We Want.”

Kehkashan Basu is one of Connect4Climate Youth Ambassadors.

Three reasons why maritime transport must act on climate change

For years, the transport sector has been looking at solutions to reduce its carbon footprint. A wide range of stakeholders has taken part in the public debate on transport and climate change, yet one mode has remained largely absent from the conversation: maritime transport.

Tackling emissions from the shipping industry is just as critical as it is for other modes of transport. First, international maritime transport accounts for the lion’s share of global freight transport: ships carry around 80% of the volume of all world trade and 70% of its value. In addition, although shipping is considered the most energy-efficient mode of transport, it still uses huge amounts of so-called bunker fuels, a byproduct of crude oil refining that takes a heavy toll on the environment.

Several key global players are now calling on the maritime sector to challenge the status quo and limit its climate impact. From our perspective, we see at least three major reasons that can explain why emissions from maritime transport are becoming a global priority.

1. Stormy waters – the challenge of rising emissions

If the shipping industry was a country of its own, it would rank as the 6th largest greenhouse gas (GHG) emitter worldwide, right between Japan and Germany. While the sector’s share in global emissions is currently at 2-3%, the demand for maritime transport is soaring – and so are emissions. From 2015 to 2016 alone, the slowest year in more than a decade, the world’s fleet still grew by more than 3.5%. The result of this trend? Under a business-as-usual scenario, the International Maritime Organization (IMO) estimates that carbon emissions from shipping could increase by 50%-250%.

Evolution of GHG emissions from shipping depending on various economic growth and energy development projections. Source: Third IMO GHG Study (2014)

2. All hands on deck – the imperative of fairness

Neither international aviation nor international shipping were part of the climate change targets set under the Paris Agreement. As a consequence, these two specific industries were the only ones not included in any of the national climate action plans submitted by countries after the Paris agreement, often referred to as Nationally Determined Contributions.

Things finally started moving in 2016, when the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) adopted its Carbon Offsetting and Reduction Scheme for International Aviation (CORSIA) to address carbon emissions from international flights. If the shipping sector does not follow suit quickly, its carbon emissions are forecasted to make up 10%-17% of global GHG emissions by 2050, posing a significant threat to the Paris Agreement’s goal of keeping global warming well below 2°C.

From a political standpoint, holding major emitters like the shipping sector accountable is also tremendously important to the overall success of climate action: If powerful industries are not required to do their due diligence, how can we expect poor and vulnerable countries to understand that they, too, should be taking action? And how can we expect certain transport modes to act pro-actively on climate when others are exempt from any obligations?

3. Setting sail – the window of opportunity

Pressure on the international maritime industry to take action has been increasing in recent years. For instance, in February 2017 the European Parliament voted in favor of including shipping in its EU Emissions Trading System from 2023, unless the IMO proposes comparable climate regulation on its own. Within this context, the IMO has committed to adopt an initial GHG emissions reduction strategy in April 2018, the year when the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change will also conduct its first global stock-taking exercise to measure progress on climate action. This will be followed by a revised IMO strategy in 2023. As the momentum builds, there is a clear window of opportunity to create a greener future for international maritime transport.

The World Bank is part of two global initiatives that have recently joined forces to support the shipping industry on this journey: the Sustainable Mobility for All and the Carbon Pricing Leadership Coalition, whose work on maritime emissions is led by the University College London Energy Institute and the Global Maritime Forum. Building an alliance of progressive maritime stakeholders to explore, discuss, and evaluate the potential of possible emissions reduction strategies is key. As Roman philosopher Seneca once said: “If one does not know to which port one is sailing, no wind is favorable.”

Source: World Bank Group

High-Level Session Opening Remarks by World Bank Group President Jim Yong Kim

World Bank Group President Jim Yong Kim

One Planet Summit

Paris, France

As Prepared for Delivery

Good afternoon. Let me start by thanking President Macron and Secretary-General Guterres for their global leadership on climate change. It’s an honor to co-host this summit with them, to focus on increasing finance and momentum between COP-23 and COP-24.

And I’d like to thank the Government of France for continuing to strengthen the spirit that led to the Paris Agreement. Two years ago, we came together in this city and declared that climate change is a “common concern of humankind,” and we affirmed our collective determination to “respond to the urgent threat of climate change.”

We’re here at this extraordinary event to raise our collective ambitions for speed and scale. Every day, climate change becomes a more urgent economic, social, and existential threat to all countries and all people. We need investments in the trillions – not billions – to have any hope of keeping the commitments we made here two years ago. That’s what this summit is all about.

During the lunch break, many of you participated in the “Climate Agora” – a marketplace showcasing some new financing models and innovation for climate action. Multiple partners are bringing together deals with different kinds of finance in new policy and institutional environments.

Let me share four deals that were discussed:

The first deal is with Energy Efficiency Services Limited, or EESL – a company that finances residential and public sector energy efficiency investments in India. EESL has already deployed more than 275 million LED bulbs, 4.2 million LED tube lights, and 4 million street lights in municipalities throughout India. Through an innovative bulk procurement business model, EESL has driven down prices to make climate-smart LED bulbs as affordable as conventional bulbs, saving energy costs for customers. Early next year, EESL will use a 220 million dollar World Bank (IBRD) loan, combined with an 80 million dollar guarantee facility, and leverage 200 million dollars of commercial finance to deploy thousands of electric cars and charging stations and millions of smart meters throughout India.

The second deal is on Indonesia Geothermal – a Resource Risk Mitigation Facility, established by the Government of Indonesia with support from the World Bank and other partners. The Facility will provide concessional funding and grants to pool and reduce the exposure of developers in the early exploration and drilling phases of geothermal projects. With a 150 million dollar investment from the Government of Indonesia and 325 million dollars in concessional financing, Indonesia Geothermal is expected to leverage up to four billion dollars in private sector funding to develop more than one gigawatt of new thermal capacity, which is part of Indonesia’s target to add 5.8 gigawatts of geothermal power generation by 2026.

The third deal is with the new City Resilience Program – or CRP, where we’re partnering with the Global Covenant of Mayors to bring together the largest global alliance of cities committed to tackling climate change. CRP will design and structure climate resilient investments and catalyze new sources of capital to finance them. Over the next three years, the CRP will leverage 4.5 billion dollars in World Bank loans to catalyze billions in public and private capital for technical assistance, project co-financing, and credit enhancement. Essentially, the program will act as an investment banker for cities to structure programs that address their vulnerabilities to climate change. The first phase is starting with more than 30 cities, with the goal of scaling to more than 500 cities in the next decade.

The fourth deal is the West African Coastal Areas Management Program, or WACA, which targets 17 West African countries with the goal of crowding-in two billion dollars to tackle coastal erosion, flooding, and climate change adaptation. The city of St Louis in Senegal will be one of the first beneficiaries. An initial 215 million dollar package that includes 180 million dollars from our IDA fund for the poorest countries, 20 million dollars from the Global Environment Facility (GEF), and nine million dollars from the Nordic Development Fund (NDF) will be presented to the World Bank Board early next year. Then we expect further public and private investments will be mobilized, including, for example, financing for tourism operations.

These are just some of the deals presented at the “Climate Agora” today. At the World Bank Group, we’re working with partners to leverage all of the financial mechanisms at our disposal – concessional finance, green bonds, blended finance, and risk-mitigation instruments – to fund climate-smart projects like these, and to set the conditions to get market forces moving in the right direction.

Jim Yong Kim at One Planet Summit. Photo Credits: Ibrahim Ajaja / World Bank

Although it wasn’t highlighted at today at the Agora, we’re seeing that our interventions in the solar sector are well received by governments and by markets. A year ago we helped the Government of Zambia prepare a solar auction, which achieved some of the lowest electricity tariffs on the African continent. And the first project was just financed by the market.

Similarly, we helped the Government of Argentina to prepare its first Renewables auction, Renovar. I’m very pleased to announce that the financing for the first project closed recently. What’s needed, in many cases, is the standardization of contracts, power purchase agreements, and financing documents. Based on this experience, we’re developing similar support for renewables in Senegal, Ethiopia, Pakistan and elsewhere.

But we need to go beyond individual projects. Each of these deals has enormous potential to be scaled up and replicated. To meet the Paris Agreement objectives, we need to get to that scale.

None of these critical investments will be possible unless we get the policies right. That means creating incentives for change – removing fossil fuel subsidies, introducing carbon pricing, increasing energy efficiency standards, and implementing auctions for lowest cost renewable energy.

And we need to take an integrated view and work together. This weekend, Caribbean leaders committed to collectively define a vision for the world’s first climate-smart zone covering renewable energy, resilient infrastructure, innovative financing, and capacity building. This calls for a unique partnership between the Caribbean leaders and people, multilateral organizations, and the local and international private sectors. We’re honored to join efforts to support the Caribbean countries and help them achieve this vision.

As a global multilateral development institution, the World Bank Group is continuing to transform its own operations in recognition of a rapidly changing world. To ensure alignment of our support to countries to meet their Paris goals, today we are announcing that the World Bank Group will no longer finance upstream oil and gas, after 2019.

In exceptional circumstances, consideration will be given to financing upstream gas in the poorest countries where there is a clear benefit in terms of energy access for the poor and the project fits within the countries’ Paris Agreement commitments.

We’re determined to work with all of you to put the right policies in place, get market forces moving in the right direction, put the money on the table, and accelerate action. That’s the only way we can meet the commitments we made two years ago, and finally begin to win the battle against climate change.

Thank you.

2020: The Climate Turning Point

The historic and legally binding Paris Agreement handed the world a roadmap to address climate change once and for all. 196 nations universally adopted this agreement, committing to limit global temperature rise to between 1.5-2oC above pre-industrial levels. What is less well known is how urgently we must act to honor this commitment.

Africa can Benefit from Nature-based Tourism in a Sustainable Manner

Africa’s unique natural assets — its iconic wildlife, snow-capped mountains, waterfalls, rapids, majestic forests, unique bird populations, pristine beaches and coral reefs—represent tremendous value. Wonders of nature such as Mt Kilimanjaro, Mt Kenya, and the Victoria Falls, as well as Zanzibar’s Stone Town and its beautiful beaches, and the wildebeest migration between the Masai Mara and Serengeti, are some of the world’s best-known tourist attractions.

Indeed, tourism, primarily nature-based in East and Southern Africa, significantly contributes to GDP, jobs, and livelihoods. The World Travel and Tourism Council says that in 2016 the total contribution of travel and tourism was 7.8 percent of GDP and 6. percent of total employment, including its wider effects from investment, supply chain, and income.

In some countries, this contribution is significantly higher. In Namibia, 19 percent of all employment is directly or indirectly linked to tourism. In Tanzania, tourism is the largest foreign exchange earner, competing with gold. Importantly, the spillover effects of tourism throughout the economy can be significant. There is also a strong gender dimension: half of the world’s hotel and restaurant employees are women.

Tourism has been growing faster in emerging and developing regions than in the rest of the world, especially in countries proactively supporting tourism, according to the UN’s World Tourism Organization. Africa is at the forefront of this trend, with the role and value of nature-based tourism likely to increase even more than the global average because of the scarcity of unique wildlife and natural assets.

Nowhere else in the world can tourists experience the same thrill of encounter with wild animals. They can go gorilla trekking in Rwanda, walk with cheetahs in Zambia, observe lions resting in trees in Uganda, or lounge on the pristine beaches of Mozambique’s Maputo Special Reserve while watching wildlife. For this experience, tourists have been willing to pay a premium, and some African countries have been able to corner a high paying niche of the tourism market.

What is needed for Africa to use its huge potential for capitalizing on its natural assets in a sustainable manner?

First and foremost, this requires strong protection and the sustainable management of these assets. Threats such as the rampant poaching of wildlife, the clearcutting of forests, and the pollution of beaches should not only be a concern for environmentalists, but for ministers of finance, planning, and tourism. They should also worry the private sector and local communities, as this sort of damage can deprive them of opportunity. Understanding the value of natural assets and the potential revenues they can generate can help mobilize broad support for protection and conservation efforts.

Investing in protecting a country’s natural assets is equally important for the local and global good.

Role in Protecting Biodiversity

The World Bank has been protecting biodiversity for decades, in the past ten years through a portfolio of projects worth US$2bn globally, leveraging additional resources. But an urgent response is needed to help people protect against large-scale poaching and illegal wildlife trade.

Many countries have introduced anti-poaching programs and stepped up efforts to curb international networks dealing in the illegal trade of wildlife products, particularly ivory and rhino horn. The World Bank-led, Global Environment Facility-supported, and partnerships such as the International Consortium on Combatting Wildlife Crime, have brought together CITES, UNODC, the Interpol, and the World Customs Organization to help.

Devising sustainable tourism strategies, targets, and plans also helps. Policymakers need to understand that increasing the number of tourists is not always the best target. Other considerations are important, too, such as an ecosystems’ carrying capacity and the need to maintain a unique tourist experience; these attract low impact, high value tourism, especially in areas with unique assets. Revenue per tourist rather than the number of tourists should be used as the benchmark for success. The country’s image should be built, promoted and linked to this vision.

The local economy and local communities need to share the benefits from tourism. There are many opportunities for this, including sourcing supplies and labor, which can be supported by targeted training and capacity building to increase local value addition. My visit to a Bank-supported small training facility in Botswana, one where youth are trained in tourism, showed an uplifting example of what can be done with limited resources. More systematic vocational training can do much more.

Local conservancies have also evolved in countries from Namibia to Kenya to provide sustainable models of community involvement in conservation and tourism. Beyond this, tourism revenue needs to be managed in a transparent and equitable manner to generate broad, local support.

The regulatory environment for businesses to start up and operate needs to be simple and accommodating. Overly comprehensive regulations too often inhibit and discriminate against local business development. Policy reforms can improve the business climate and allow local businesses to thrive.

Investment in services (health, finance, hospitality, safety, and visas) and infrastructure (transport, accommodation, safe water and sanitation) are the basic foundations for attracting tourists. The role of public-private partnerships also needs to be strengthened to ensure that scarce public resources are used for the highest priority public goods, as well as to help leverage private investment.

Nature-based tourism can offer a bright future for Africa. A step in this direction is the US$150m Tanzania Resilient Natural Resource Management for Tourism and Growth Project, the largest nature-based tourism project in the Bank’s portfolio, to be approved by the Board on, September 28, 2017.

Banner and thumbnail photo credits to Magda Lovei/World Bank

You can also read Magda Lovei's blog post on the World Bank Group website.

Winds of change

The photo essay on the following pages turns its focus on wind energy and reflects on its enormous power for helping us keep the planet fit and healthy for coming generations.

When the sun set on Friday, January 20, the world had changed. Its most powerful person was now a man who does not believe that climate change is caused by human activity and has publicly stated that global warming is a hoax. Climate researchers and campaigners ended the day in shock and as darkness fell, further development of renewable energy, wind power included, felt nowhere near as secure as it had been.

The photo essay on the following pages turns its focus on wind energy and reflects on its enormous power for helping us keep the planet fit and healthy for coming generations.

Winds of Change - Connect4Climate Partner Foresight

Plastic Bag

Lifted effortlessly into the air, a plastic bag swirls above a basketball court in central Copenhagen. The wind energy keeping it aloft is roughly half to that used by an iPhone on standby.

Our plastic bag has a mass m 0.01kg and has a vertically projected area of

25cm25cm = 1/16m2

The gravitational force the wind must overcome to keep the bag in the air is

F = g*m = 9.82* 0.01 ≈0.1 [N]

We assume the bag is round and its drag coefficient Cd is about 0.5.

Apply the calculation for drag to find the wind speed (in metres per second) in a vertical direction needed to keep the plastic bag in the air

0.1 = ½*1*u^2*0.5*1/16

u = 2.5 m/s

The required updraft in the wind to keep the bag in the air is about 2.5 m/s.

In terms of energy that is equivalent to a power of

F*u = 0.1[N] * 2.5 [m/s] = 0.25 Watt.

An iPhone 6 on stand-by uses about 0.6 Watt

Tree

In the lull after Storm Urd, which raged over Denmark on December 26, 2016, twilight descends over a tree blown over by the high winds. Already its branches are becoming partially trapped in the still frozen waters of Utterslev Marsh. The energy in the wind which felled the tree could keep a Tesla S running for 42 hours at 100 kph.

Presuming that the surface area of the tree is similar to that of the rotor swept area A [m2]of a medium scale wind turbine, the tree would absorb energy [Watt] at a rate equal to:

P = Cp* ½ rho*U^3*A

0.5*0.5*1*20^3*20*20

= 1/4*20^5

800 kW

During the storm, the strongest gust was measured at 37.8 m/s (84.5 mph). Had the tree fallen in winds of 21 m/s while standing for one hour, the average energy absorbed would have equalled 1 MWh.

A Tesla S at one tenth of its maximum capacity of 236 kW (1000kW/23.6kW) would keep moving for 42 hours.

Flooding

The sun rises over a changed landscape. A tidal surge caused by the previous night’s storm leaves rows of small boats tied to invisible underwater jetties in Ise Fjord. Together with neighbouring Roskilde Fjord it makes up the largest fjord system on Denmark’s main island of Zealand. The force of the storm, equivalent to about fourteen hours energy consumption in the city of Aarhus, raised the fjord’s water level to 1.59 metres above normal.

Ise Fjord is nearly 50 kilometres long and has a total area of about 450 square kilometres.

E= m g H [Joule] Pr m2: 100 dm * 15.9 dm *1*9.82 m/s^2*1.59 m = 24,826 Joule/m2

450 km2 = 450 e6 m2

E pot =11.2 TJ = 11.2 e3 G Joule

A Dane uses just 6,122 kWh a year. With a year made up of 8760 hours, that is just under 1 kW of power per citizen

6122 kWh/8760 hours = 700 Watt

Denmark’s second largest city, Aarhus, with a population of nearly 320,000 therefore uses on average 700 W *319 680 people = 223 MW. One hour’s consumption of electricity in Aarhus corresponds to

223 MW * 3600 [s] = 0.806 TJ

The energy behind the rise of the water level in Ise Fjord could keep Aarhus supplied with energy for

11.2 TJ/0.806 TJ = 14 hours

Calculations by Torben Krogh Mikkelsen

Solar lamps brightened the coastal villagers' lives in Bangladesh

Sundarbans coastal people of Bangladesh are living in the dark. Villages are enveloped in darkness after the sunset. Women use kerosene lamps or have to cook food on daylight only. Students have to skip their study hours at night. Why? Most of the people in this area live below the poverty line. Their life and livelihood fully depend on the Sundarbans resources. They collect fishes, crabs, shrimp fry, honey, golpata (nypa frutican), and others, from the Sundarbans mangrove forest.

A community in Bangladesh.

For solving these problems and in a step forward to help the community, Bangladesh Environment and Development Society (BEDS) has been working to promote clean energy at the non-electrified Sundarbans coastal area in Bangladesh with the help of Korea Green Foundation (KGF). To light up villages at night, an initiative is underway to distribute different types of 2800 Solar Lamps and 504 solar home systems among Sundarbans coastal area families and install three solar stations. These solar lights will decrease the need to purchase kerosene, which is associated with respiratory diseases and global warning.

A school in a Bangladeshi community

At a glance of our initiatives and results:

Bangladesh Environment and Development Society (BEDS) and Korea Green Foundation (KGF) have distributed 2800 solar lamps and 504 Solar Home Systems among Sundarbans poor coastal families in Khulna, Satkhir, Bagerhat as well as among tribal people in Naogaon in Bangladesh from 2013 to 2017
Three solar stations have been installed in our project sites from where approximately 3000 people are directly and indirectly benefited
In previous times, 80% of the community was Kerosene dependent but now this percentage has been reduced to 10% and expenditure for light reduced to 30-200 (initially it was 200-600)
A studio, a photocopy shop, and a battery charging service (Community Digital Center) have been established in the solar charging station, therefore, the community does not need to travel 7-8 kilometers to get studio and photocopy related services

A child holds a solar lamp.

Key outcomes:

One Union i.e. more than 17 villages are now enlighted by the solar energy
Two schools and one Union Parishad building have been electrified due to the electricity produced at the solar station. Moreover, multimedia class has been introduced in the school
Renewable energy education programs are being conducted in three project sites among students and community people to let them inspire on renewable energy usage
‍The students and the community are getting solar lamp and battery facilities at a very cheap rate with nominal security money and a low-cost rental fee
People can rent 30-130 ampere batteries as regular or irregular customers from the solar charging station
Regular customers will pay the rent monthly, the irregular customers will pay on a daily basis. All kinds of batteries rent are cheaper than the local market price
Solar lamp and batteries can be charged at a lower rent in the solar charging station in comparison to the local market
Photography, photocopy, laminating and printing are available in “Community Digital Center” at very low-cost prices
E-mail facility, online circular download, online job application, different internet facilities and data transfer in memory card are also available in “Community Digital Center” at a lower price than the local market

Young Award Short Film Winner of the Film4Climate Global Video Competition 2016 presented by Connect4Climate and partners

Resources

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LK33lqx-Tog&index=2&list=PLXpB73IOgf7QCGBxfc_E4grs3xmkt8lpX

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L1Xh3sFGlvg&index=3&list=PLXpB73IOgf7QCGBxfc_E4grs3xmkt8lpX

http://www.thedailystar.net/backpage/solar-lamps-brightened-their-lives-1340548