Find below the most interesting news from the last months from South East Asia and the Pacific on “Policy Developments”, “Project Developments “, “Access to finance” and “Information and Tools”:

Policy Developments

• Australian Government requested REEEPThe Renewable Energy & Energy Efficiency Partnership (REEEP) is a non-profit, specialist change agent aiming to catalyse the market for renewable energy and energy efficiency, with a primary focus on emerging markets and developing countries. to develop an end-use energy efficiencyUsing less energy/electricity to perform the same function. Programs designed to use electricity more efficiently - doing the same with less. strategy for the Pacific region
  REEEP has developed a draft discussion paper, funded by the Australian Government, for an End-use Equipment EnergyThe ability to perform work, mainly kinetic, potential, thermal energy, but also in forms of gravitational, sound, elastic and electromagnetic energy. EfficiencyUsing less energy/electricity to perform the same function. Programs designed to use electricity more efficiently - doing the same with less. Strategy for the Pacific region. Please download the draft discussion paper here. We welcome your comments. >> download the strategy here
• Tonga Energy RoadmapA roadmap is a plan that matches short-term and long-term goals with specific technology solutions to help meet those goals. It is a plan that applies to a new product or process, or to an emerging technology Developing a roadmap has three major uses. It helps reach a consensus about a set of ... completed
  The need for private sector engagement was demonstrated during the recently completed Tonga Energy Road Map (TERM) 2010-2020 process. A successful intervention was undertaken by REEEP to include a provision for private sector engagement in the clean energy sector in Tonga. >> read more about the TERM here
• Moving Beyond Copenhagen – A Small Island State’s Perspective
  Ian Fry, International Environmental Officer of the Government of Tuvalu gives his view on the way forward after Tuvalu came to Copenhagen with the aim of “sealing the deal.” >> read more
  

Project Developments

• Energy Globe award for REEEP project in Solomon Islands
  REEEP’s first funded Pacific project has recently been awarded the Energy Globe Award for the Solomon Islands. This Pacific Micro Energy Service Companies project is providing solar energySolar energy is the light and radiant heat from the Sun that influences Earth's climate and weather and sustains life. For solar energy as a source for renewable energy, look up photovoltaics (solar power) or solar thermal energy. and efficient lighting systems in rural houses in Solomon Islands and Kiribati using an innovative financing model. The project established a Micro Credit Facility utilising local Cash-for-Crop centres, thus transforming crops grown by farmers into instalments for solar home systems. Further funding has been leveraged from the Solomon Islands’ government and the World Bank to an additional 600 households, an 18-fold increase on the original project’s 35 households. Beyond this, another 1400 households are interested in the solar PV home systems, pending further financing. >> read the article
• Low-carbon Tourism Projects gains traction at TIDES conference in Samoa
  REEEP made a joint presentation with Greenlight Technology Group about the Low-Carbon Tourism project that is currently being implemented in Fiji. The presentation fostered interest from Tonga, Vanuatu and Samoa for a similar approach in their respective countries. >> read the article “Tourism plan gives Fiji’s carbon footprint the boot”
• Pacific Renewable EnergyRenewable energy is power generated from infinite sources, such as wind or solar power. Conventional energy is generated from finite sources, such as natural gas or fossil oil. and Microfinance Project (PREM) conducts Market Needs Analysis Training for MFIsSeveral banks and funds that lend to developing countries are also identified as multilateral development institutions, and are often grouped together as other Multilateral Financial Institutions (MFIs). The differ from the MDBs in a more narrow ownership/membership structure or in focusing on ...
  Three microfinance institutions (MFIs) and one credit union attended a workshop “Market Needs Analysis Training” in Suva, Fiji. The workshop assisted the MFIs in completing their Market Needs Analysis of renewable energy and energy efficiency needs of their clients, particularly in research techniques for Focus Group Discussions. >> read more
• REP5 video online
  The video “Solar in Paradise” about the PV installations in the outer islands of Micronesia is now online on YouTube in six parts. >> click here to watch Part I
• Vanuatu takes charge of delivering clean
  Two recent innovations have garnered a lot of attention for the way they empower women. One is microcredit, a system of lending to very poor people, the majority of whom are female micro-entrepreneurs who are thus helped to climb out of poverty. The other is the mobile phone. >> read more here

  John Salong, director of the Vanuatu Women’s Development Scheme (VANWODS), a non-government microfinance group, and David Stein, the founder of Vanuatu Renewable Energy and PowerUseful energy can be mechanical energy, for example powering a fan. Association (VANREPA), have married the two – via selling solar lanterns with phone chargers. This without donorDonors help finance climate compatible development, explicit climate change measures to deal with adaptation and mitigation. For example US AID and the Asian Development Bank. finance. >> visit VANREPA’s website

Access to Finance

• AusAID: Improving poor people’s access to financial services
  A new strategy will help poor people improve their way of life through increased access to crucial financial services, increasingly being seen as important to reducing poverty and achieving the Millennium Development Goals. >> read more and >> download the strategy here
• Energy for All launches new website
  Energy for All announced new exciting features on the E4ALL website. The website has been revamped into an interactive platform which allows people to actively get involved with the Partnership, including a number of
  E4ALL discussion forums, case studies database and a stakeholder repository. >>visit the new website here
• ClimateClimate is typically defined as the average weather (or more rigorously a statistical description of the average in terms of the mean and variability) over a period of time, usually 30 years. These quantities are most often surface variables such as temperature, precipitation, and wind. Climate ... Investment Fund Partnership Forum
  The Climate Investment Fund (CIF) was created in 2009 to foster investment flows into developing countries in climate change mitigationMitigation refers to actions that reduce our contribution to the causes of climate change. This means reducing emissions of greenhouse gases, such as carbon dioxide (CO2), through energy efficiency and using alternative forms of transport and energy.(UKCIP) and adaptationAdjustments in human and natural systems, in response to actual or expected climate stimuli or their effects, that moderate harm or exploit beneficial opportunities. (IPPC) activities. The CIF is being administered by the World Bank. In March 2010, the CIF Partnership Forum was held in Manila. A number of issues relating to clean energy financing and private sector participation were highlighted. >>read more here

Information and Tools

• New Zealand Government updated its website on the Clean Development MechanismDefined in Article 12 of the Kyoto Protocol, the CDM is intended to meet two objectives: (1) to assist parties not included in Annex I in achieving sustainable development and in contributing to the ultimate objective of the convention; and (2) to assist parties included in Annex I in achieving ...
  The New Zealand Ministry for the Environment website provides background information on the Clean Development Mechanism; Benefits and opportunities through CDMDefined in Article 12 of the Kyoto Protocol, the CDM is intended to meet two objectives: (1) to assist parties not included in Annex I in achieving sustainable development and in contributing to the ultimate objective of the convention; and (2) to assist parties included in Annex I in achieving ...; Trading CERs; Key criteria of CDM projects; Approval for a CDM project; and NZ Government CDM support & links to other information.  The Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) allows developed countries, or companies within those countries, to invest in projects that either reduce greenhouse gas emissionsGreenhouse gas emissions cause dangerous anthropogenic climate change. Emissions include CO2, fluoridated gases, methane which are emitted by human activity such as deforestation and burning fossil fuels, and water vapour. or sequester carbon in forestsForestry is the management and care of woods, including fellings and plantation of new trees. in developing countries. CDM projects generate carbon creditsCarbon credits provide a way to reduce greenhouse effect emissions on an industrial scale by capping total annual emissions and letting the market assign a monetary value to any shortfall through trading. called Certified Emission ReductionsA Kyoto Protocol unit equal to 1 metric tonne of CO2 equivalent. CERs are issued for emission reductions from CDM project activities. Two special types of CERs called temporary certified emission reduction (tCERs) and long-term certified emission reductions (lCERs) are issued for emission ... (CERs). The CERs are transferred to the investing developed country or company and are used to help meet greenhouse gas emissionGreenhouse gas emissions cause dangerous anthropogenic climate change. Emissions include CO2, fluoridated gases, methane which are emitted by human activity such as deforestation and burning fossil fuels, and water vapour. targets.
• North-facing passive office buildings and other unexpected innovations
  An ultra-efficient office building in Manchester, England actually has its glass façade facing north because even in some colder climates, over the course of a year office buildings have a greater need for cooling than for heating. This was one of many interesting points made at REEEP’s EU Sustainable Energy Week event in Brussels on 25 March 2010, entitled Making energy efficiency in buildings happen. >> read the article
• The EU and ACPs reach a new agreement on climate changeClimate change is a lasting change in weather patterns over long periods of time. It can be a natural phenomena and and has occurred on Earth even before people inhabited it. Quite different is a current situation that is also referred to as climate change, anthropogenic climate change, or ...
  The European Commission and the 79 States of the African Caribbean Pacific (ACP) group have concluded the second revision of the Cotonou Partnership Agreement, which sets the framework for their cooperation. The revision aims to adapt the Agreement to today’s challenges, such as climate change. >> read more