Welcome to CENFACS’ Online Diary!
05 March 2025
Post No. 394
The Week’s Contents
• Climate Actions 2025
• Activity 2 of Matching Organisation-Investor via Land Restoration Project: Matching Organisation’s Project Site Assessment and Background with Impact Investor’s Project Design
• Activity/Task 3 of the ‘R’ Project: Support Restoration Initiatives That Reduce Adverse Climate Change Impacts
… And much more!
Key Messages
• Climate Actions 2025 –
Theme: Low-carbon and Climate Technologies and Poverty Reduction
Climate Actions 2025 within CENFACS will be about efforts made and to be made to develop, share and transfer technologies that help to reduce greenhouse gas emissions (that is, low-carbon technologies) and those that address climate change more broadly (i.e., climate technologies), particularly but not exclusively in Africa. We shall as well deal with the impacts of these technologies on poverty reduction, particularly on how actions taken on these technologies can affect the reduction of poverty.
This March 2025, we are essentially dealing with both technologies and their effects on poverty reduction. Our work on climate actions taken about these technologies will include low-carbon and climate technology transfer and sharing initiatives. Transferring and sharing these technologies can help the people who are experiencing problems in accessing them, particularly in places like Africa where more than 50% of the population do not have access to electricity and have problems to get other forms of renewable energy.
We are thus working on technologies that help to reduce greenhouse gas emissions as well as those that address climate change more broadly. Both technologies impact the people living in poverty or those who are looking for ways to get out of poverty. These are the climate actions that we would like to take this month. To act and explain that, we are going to develop four key notes for our theme (of Low-carbon and Climate Technologies and Poverty Reduction) every Monday of March 2025 starting from 03 March 2025. However, these notes will be released or published every Wednesday of March 2025 through our weekly posts. The stated notes will respectively be on four low-carbon and climate actions, which are:
a) Low-carbon concrete, steel and aluminium energy; Solar power
b) Biofuels; Efficient cookstoves
c) Plant-based protein; Climate-resilient crops
d) Lithium; Water harvesting techniques
Additionally, during this year’s Month of Climate Actions we will broadly look at the outcomes from the 29th session of the Conference of the Parties (COP29) to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (1). In particular, we shall discuss how these outcomes will contribute to our climate ask, which is ‘giving poor children a climate stake‘.
For those who would like to get more informed about this first key message, they can read under the Main Development section of this post.
• Activity 2 of Matching Organisation-Investor via Land Restoration Project: Matching Organisation’s Project Site Assessment and Background with Impact Investor’s Project Design
The second activity or episode of our 5-week Matching Organisation-Investor via Land Restoration Project is about Matching Organisation’s Project Site Assessment and Background with Impact Investor’s Project Design.
Both Africa-based Sister Charitable Organisation (ASCO) and not-for-profit (n-f-p) impact investor have decided to move with the matching talks as they scored points each of them during Activity 1. They agreed to move to Activity 2 while finalising the little bits remaining from Activity 1 of the matching negotiations.
At this level of talks, ASCO is dealing with Project Site Assessment and Background while the n-f-p impact investor is preoccupied with Project Design. To reach a deal at this round of negotiations, they may need a match or fit test.
To summarise what is going to happen at this Activity 2, we have organised our notes around the following headings:
σ Africa-based Sister Charitable Organisation’s Project Site Assessment and Background
σ Not-for-profit Impact Investor’s Project Design
σ The Match or Fit Test.
Let us look at each of these headings.
• • Africa-based Sister Charitable Organisation’s Project Site Assessment and Background (SAB)
ASCO will negotiate and argue about the site assessment and background for the Land Restoration Project. In other words, it will explain its knowledge of the history of the land and the site conditions before the restoration begins.
To prove that it has this knowledge, ASCO needs to think of the following matters: the light, water, soil, vegetation community, vegetation diversity, known history, topography and site access, position in the landscape, etc.
The n-f-p impact investor may want to know how ASCO will assess the site (for instance, by walking around the area making note of things or hiring a land surveyor).
ASCO needs to respond to n-f-p impact investor if the latter asks questions about site assessment method.
• • Not-for-profit Impact Investor’s Project Design (PD)
The n-f-p impact investor’s understanding of project design is about conceptualising, defining and organising all the internal and external processes that will be involved in the project during the implementation. The investor will use its interpretation of project design to verify that ASCO’s Land Restoration Project will meet these processes.
Indeed, project design involves planning a project’s structure, tasks, and deliverable. It also includes creating a plan to achieve goals and stay within budget and deadlines. From the perspective of design, the n-f-p impact investor will look at the design brief if it outlines the core details and expectations of a project design. The investor will scrutinise ASCO’s Land Restoration Project if its idea, goals and timelines align before starting. And ASCO needs to demonstrate that there is an alignment.
If there is no alignment, the matching talks may not go to the next stage or to progress. In other words, there should be an agreement between ASCO’s SAB and N-f-p Impact Investor’s Approach to ASCO’s PD. If there is a disagreement, then the talks/negotiations could be subject to match or fit test.
• • The Match or Fit Test
As part of the match or fit test, n-f-p Impact Investor’s view on ASCO’s SAB must be matched with the information coming out of ASCO’s SAB process.
The match can be perfect or close in order to reach an agreement. If there is a huge or glaring difference between the two (i.e., between what the investor wants and what ASCO is saying about its SAB process, between what the investor would like the SAB phase to indicate and what ASCO’s SAB process is really saying), the probability or chance of having an agreement at this second round of negotiations could be null or uncertain.
However, if this happens there is still a chance as CENFACS can advise ASCO and guide n-f-p investor on their approaches to Land Restoration Project.
• • • Impact Advice to ASCO and Guidance to n-f-p Impact Investor
CENFACS can impact advise ASCOs to improve the presentation of the SAB process they are bringing forward. CENFACS can as well guide n-f-p impact investors to work out their expectations in terms of the SAB process to a format that can be agreeable by potential ASCOs. CENFACS’ impact advice for ASCOs and guidance on impact investing for n-f-p impact investor, which are impartial, will help each of them (i.e., investee and investor) to make informed decisions and to reduce or avoid the likelihood of any significant losses or misunderstandings or mismatches.
However, to reduce or avoid this likelihood both parties need to follow the rule of the matching game.
• • • The Rule of the Matching Game
The rule of the game is the more impact investors are attracted by ASCO’s SAB process the better for ASCOs. Likewise, the more ASCOs can successfully respond to impact investors’ level of enquiries and queries about the SAB process the better for investors. In this respect, the matching game needs to be a win-win one to benefit both players (i.e., investee and investor).
The above is the second stage or activity of the Matching Organisation-Investor via Land Restoration Project.
Those potential organisations seeking investment to set up a land restoration project in Africa and n-f-p impact investors looking for organisations that are interested in their giving, they can contact CENFACS to arrange the match or fit test for them. They can have their fit test carried out by CENFACS’ Hub for Testing Hypotheses.
• • • CENFACS’ Hub for Testing Hypotheses
The Hub can help to use analysis tools to test assumptions and determine how likely something is within a given standard of accuracy. The Hub can assist to
√ clean, merge and prepare micro-data sources for testing, modelling and analysis
√ conduct data management and administration
√ carry out regression analysis, estimate and test hypotheses
√ interpret and analyse patterns or trends in data or results.
For any queries and/or enquiries about this second stage/activity of Matching Organisation-Investor via Land Restoration Project, please do not hesitate to contact CENFACS.
• Activity/Task 3 of the ‘R’ Project: Support Restoration Initiatives That Reduce Adverse Climate Change Impacts
The third activity/task of the “R” Project is about Supporting Restoration Initiatives That Reduce Adverse Climate Change Impacts. These restoration initiatives include reforestation, wetland restoration, mangrove planting and other ecosystem restoration projects, which effectively absorb carbon dioxide and mitigate the effects of climate change.
There are many ways of supporting. As part of carrying out Activity/Task 3, we can mention these three ways of supporting: donation, volunteering and advocacy.
Let us highlight them.
σ Donation
One can donate to environmental organisations or organisations working on sustainability issues (like CENFACS) to support carbon offset programmes and impact invest in sustainable projects.
σ Volunteering
Instead of financially contributing, one can consider spending their free time in carrying out non paid micro-tasks to support organisations and causes dealing with restoration initiatives that reduce adverse climate change impacts.
σ Advocacy
One can as well advocate for policies that support these initiatives at local, national and international levels. They can raise awareness, back campaigns and contact those who in a position to do something about restoration to reduce negative climate change effects.
The above is what Activity/Task 3 is about.
For those who need any help before embarking on this activity/task, they can speak to CENFACS.
For any other queries and enquiries about the ‘R‘ project and this year’s dedication, please contact CENFACS as well.
Extra Messages
• Financial Controls and Monitoring 2025 – In Focus from 05/03/2025: Scenario Analysis and Tools and Software Selection
• Activity 4 of the Economic Inclusion Programme for Households’ Resilience: Survey on Support Systems Enabling Households Participation (From Wednesday 05/03/2025)
• All-year Round Projects Cycle (Triple Value Initiatives Cycle) – Step/Workshop 3: Conducting a Feasibility Study on Your Play, Run and Vote Projects
• Financial Controls and Monitoring 2025 – In Focus from 05/03/2025: Scenario Analysis and Tools and Software Selection
The third financial control of our work with households making the CENFACS Community is scenario analysis, while the third financial monitor is tools and software selection. Let us briefly explain this control and this monitor.
• • Scenario Analysis
The website ‘businessvaluecalculator.com’ (2) argues that
“Scenario analysis involves examining and evaluating potential future events or scenarios to predict different outcomes… To perform a scenario analysis effectively, it is necessary to generate different scenarios based on various assumptions. These scenarios include the base case, worst-case, and best-case scenarios allowing for a comprehensive analysis of potential outcomes”.
Based on the argument of ‘businessvaluecalculator.com’, households can conduct a scenario analysis of their finances to keep control on their household matter. They can generate scenarios for analysis of their finances. The analysis will help them find out the future states or scenarios of their finances, based on assumptions made that reflect factors such as change of their earning capacity or capability, the cost of living, and other relevant financial and economic metrics. However to conduct this scenario analysis and other financial analyses, they need tools.
• • Tools and Software Selection
By following certain steps and criteria, households can choose the right tools and software to financially monitor their finances.
• • • Selecting financial tools
Financial tools include budgeting, saving, investment and financial management tools to perform given accounting and financial functions in a streamlined manner.
Financial tools can be used by households to monitor their financial health by planning, organising, controlling and monitoring their financial matters (e.g., earnings, purchases, bills, credits, savings, etc.). These tools will help in financial management by keeping an eye on the inflow and outflow of cash and budgeted future expenses.
For example, households can use accounting spending tools (like Quicken) for their finance management to track and manage their expenses and savings, and make informed investment decisions (e.g., investing in their children education). They can create monthly budgets and expense trackers to help them track their progress monthly.
• • • Selecting financial software
The website ‘avantiico,com’ (3) explains that
“Software selection is the process of assessing and choosing the most suitable software for a specific need or task within your organisation. This involves evaluating software options based on criteria like functionality, cost, ease of use, compatibility with existing systems, and vendor support”.
For instance, households can decide whether they need a goals-based or cash flow based software, or consider to have their financial plans in digital or paper form.
Briefly, as the website ‘financestrategists.com’ (4) puts it,
“There are many financial tools and software available to help monitor and manage personal finances. Selecting the right tools depends on individual preferences, budget, and the complexity of one’s financial situation”.
The above are the third financial control and third financial monitor we wanted to share with our users or beneficiaries.
If anyone of our members need support regarding their financial controls and monitoring, in particular Scenario Analysis and Tools and Software Selection; they should not hesitate to contact CENFACS.
• Activity 4 of the Economic Inclusion Programme for Households’ Resilience: Survey on Support Systems Enabling Households Participation (From Wednesday 05/03/2025)
Activity 4 is about a list of questions aimed for extracting specific data from the members of the CENFACS Community on Support Systems Enabling Households Participation.
Indeed, not all systems (or group of people or processes having a common goal) do support households’ participation. There are some that do it, others do not. The survey aims at support systems that enable households’ participation.
To facilitate the understanding of this survey, let us explain support system and enabling participation.
• • What Is a Support System?
To explain a support system, let us refer to what ‘mywellbeing.com’ (5) argues about it. For ‘mywellbeing.com’, a support system is
“A group of people who provide you with support when you need it most. They are also there when things are going well to sustain you and keep you going”.
So, households need a support system to stay resilient and maintain resilience when things go bad and well. Without this sort support system, it could difficult when households badly need people to deal with short and intermittent shocks and crises.
• • What Is Enabling Participation?
To understand enabling participation, let us first explain active participation. According to ‘activesocialcare.com’ (6),
“Active participation is a way of working that supports an individual’s right to participate in the activities and relationships of every life as independently as possible”.
Knowing what is active participation, it is possible to explain enabling participation. Enabling participation would happen when there are conditions or actions that allow someone to actively take part in an activity, process, or decision-making. It also means giving to the same person the opportunity to be involved and contribute, rather than passively receiving something. Therefore, enabling participation implies active involvements, removing barriers and empowerment.
Households need enabling conditions that provide necessary support to facilitate their full involvement. When they do not have these conditions, it is better for them to participate in a survey like this so that they can convey their thoughts and feelings about their lack of participation. There are benefits for them in taking part in this survey.
• • Survey Benefits
The survey will offer the following opportunities:
√ to gather or gain knowledge in terms support system and enabling participation for households
√ to assess thoughts, opinions and feelings within the community
√ to measure happiness within the community via one of the predictors of happiness, which is having someone to count on in difficult times.
• • Questions Relating to the Survey
One of the questions making this survey is:
Do you have a group of people on whom to count for support when you need it most?
Those who may be interested in the survey can directly answer the question to CENFACS.
Those members of the CENFACS Community who would like to get involved in the survey can contact CENFACS.
For any other queries and or enquiries about this workshop on Economic Inclusion Programme for Households’ Resilience, please communicate with CENFACS.
• All-year Round Projects Cycle (Triple Value Initiatives Cycle) –
Step/Workshop 3: Conducting a Feasibility Study on Your Play, Run and Vote Projects
In this 3rd step or workshop, users will learn (for those users who are new to project planning) or revisit (for those who are familiar with project planning) the evaluation of the practicality of their chosen Play or Run or Vote project. In project planning terms, it means they need to conduct feasibility study. But, what is feasibility study?
• • Basic Understanding of Feasibility Study
Feasibility study is a ‘go/no-go’ decision time for any project planner. In other words, it is the time when an All-year-round project user will decide whether or not to continue with their proposed project.
As ‘simplilearn.com’ (7) puts it,
“A feasibility study is a comprehensive evaluation of a proposed project that evaluates all factors critical to its success in order to assess its likelihood of success”.
Referring to this definition or any suitable definition, All-year-round project users will look at the practicality of the Play, Run and Vote projects from the perspective of required cost and expected value. To proceed, they may outweigh different types of feasibility and select the ones that are affordable and suitable to their projects.
• • Types of Feasibility
Feasibility can cover many aspects of the project to be implemented; aspects like technical, economic, financial, operational, legal, etc. To simplify the matter, we are going to limit in this workshop to the technical and economic aspects of feasibility study; leaving to those who would like to dive deeper into feasibility study to let us know what other aspects of feasibility study they may be interested in.
The technical feasibility of your Play, Run and Vote projects will include the technical resources and capacities to convert your idea of playing, running and voting into a workable or working project. The economic feasibility will analyse the cost and benefit of the same projects.
• • Example of Feasibility Study: Your 2025 Vote for African Poverty Reduction and Development Manager
In order to conduct your feasibility study of your vote, you need to carry out the following tasks:
~ Evaluate if your Vote project is technically achievable by determining and steering the technical resources (like time, budget, technical skills, etc.) to be committed to drive you to the process of looking for your Poverty Reduction and Development Manager of the year and of voting him/her
~ Carry out a viability test in terms of the cost associated with your selection process and benefits linked with your Vote project
~ Financially work out the cost and benefit of your Vote project as you will do in the recruitment selection process of any personnel.
Feasibility study can be basic (simple) or complex depending on the type of your Vote project. In the above example, we have simplified the matter.
For those who would like to dive deeper into feasibility study, including the tools, metrics, examples, skills and steps in feasibility study of their Play or Run or Vote project; they should not hesitate to contact CENFACS.
Message in English-French (Message en Anglais-Français)
• CENFACS be.africa Forum e-discusses An Africa Without International Financial Aid: What Will This Africa Be?
This week, CENFACS’ Better Africa Forum discusses the effectiveness of the management of international development finance in Africa, in particular on An Africa without International Financial Assistance.
Indeed, there are voices that are being raised here and there in the face of the decisions of certain decision-makers in the world to reduce or eliminate development aid for Africa. On the other hand, there are often humanitarians, who believe that development aid should be maintained if not increased for Africa, that it would be a historic mistake to abolish it.
Faced with these divergent views, CENFACS’ Better Africa Forum asks the following questions:
~ Is development aid well managed by Africans?
~ Is the accounting of development assistance clear, transparent and monitored enough?
~ Is the development aid model out of breath and obsolete, and Africa needs to get out of that model?
~ Can Africa do without international financial aid and live without it?The above-mentioned questions are parts of this week’s debate within CENFACS’ be.Africa Forum.
Those who may be interested in this discussion can join our poverty reduction pundits and/or contribute by contacting CENFACS be.Africa Forum, which is a forum for discussion on poverty reduction and sustainable development issues in Africa and which acts on behalf of its members by making proposals or ideas for actions for a better Africa.
To contact CENFACS about this discussion, please use our usual contact information on this website.
• Le Forum ‘Une Afrique Meilleure’ de CENFACS discute en ligne d’Une Afrique Sans l’Aide Financiere Internationale: Quelle Sera Cette Afrique?
Cette semaine, le Forum ‘Une Afrique Meilleure’ de CENFACS aborde l’efficacité de la gestion du financement international du développement en Afrique, en particulier sur Une Afrique Sans Assistance Financière Internationale.
En effet, il y a des voix qui s’élèvent ici et là face aux décisions de certains décideurs dans le monde de réduire ou de supprimer l’aide au développement pour l’Afrique. D’autre part, il y a souvent des humanitaires, qui pensent que l’aide au développement doit être maintenue, sinon augmentée pour l’Afrique, que ce serait une erreur historique de l’abolir.
Face à ces points de vue divergents, le Forum ‘Une Afrique Meilleure’ de CENFACS pose les questions suivantes :
~ L’aide au développement est-elle bien gérée par les Africain(e)s ?
~ La comptabilité de l’aide au développement est-elle assez claire, transparente et suivie ?
~ Le modèle de l’aide au développement n’est-il pas essoufflé et obsolète, est-ce que l’Afrique doit-elle sortir de ce modèle ?
~ L’Afrique peut-elle se passer de l’aide financière internationale et vivre sans elle ?Les questions mentionnées ci-dessus font partie du débat de cette semaine au sein du Forum ‘Une Afrique Meilleure’ de CENFACS.
Ceux ou celles qui pourraient être intéressé(e)s par cette discussion peuvent se joindre à nos experts en réduction de la pauvreté et/ou contribuer en contactant le ‘me.Afrique’ du CENFACS (ou le Forum ‘Une Afrique Meilleure’ de CENFACS), qui est un forum de discussion sur les questions de réduction de la pauvreté et de développement durable en Afrique et qui agit au nom de ses membres en faisant des propositions ou des idées d’actions pour une Afrique meilleure.
Pour contacter le CENFACS au sujet de cette discussion, veuillez utiliser nos coordonnées habituelles sur ce site Web.
Main Development
• Climate Actions 2025 –
Theme: Low-carbon and Climate Technologies and Poverty Reduction
The following items are the ones shaping the contents of our Climate Action Month and its theme:
a) Meaning of Climate Action
b) Direct and Indirect Climate Actions
c) Key Terms
d) Work Plan for Climate Action March 2025
e) Action 1: Low-carbon Concrete, Steel and Aluminium Energy; Solar Power and Poverty Reduction.
Let us look at the contents of our Climate Action Month.
• • Contents of 2025 Climate Action Month
Before kicking off our action, let us precise the working definitions to be used for climate action.
• • • Meaning of Climate Action
According to ‘eur-lex.europa.eu’ (8),
“Climate action refers to efforts taken to combat climate change and its impacts”.
Climate action is an activity of engaging and putting ideas into practice to deal with any natural or induced change in the long term average weather conditions of a place, especially when this change adversely affects people’s and communities’ lives and livelihoods. In other words, it is any effort to mitigate the adverse effects of this change by reducing greenhouse gas emissions while strengthening capacities and resilience to climate-induced impacts.
Climate action is also the 13th Goal of the United Nations’ (9) 17 Sustainable Development Goals and 2030 Agenda.
In the context of CENFACS’ Climate Action Month for this year, climate action is about acting on Low-carbon and Climate Technologies while investing in poverty reduction with impact.
These climate actions or efforts could be direct or indirect.
• • • Direct and Indirect Climate Actions
Direct climate actions can directly lead to outcomes such as reductions of greenhouse gas emissions, poor quality air, pollution, etc. They could also include the increase in the number of poor people benefiting from carbon markets through projects generating greenhouse gas emissions reductions or removals.
As to indirect climate actions, they can help to keep the advocacy and campaign about measures and activities to be carried out to reduce the adverse impacts of climate change going. Examples of such indirect climate actions will include the prevention of the next pandemic to happen, a campaign to halt human-induced extinction of known threatened species, etc.
Without breaking climate actions into direct and indirect ones, the coming periods and sub-themes of climate action will guide our readers and audiences about the kind of climate actions CENFACS is conducting this month. This guidance will help those who may be interested to join in. But, before that let us try to briefly explain the key terms of our Climate Actions 2025.
• • • Key Terms
Under these key terms, we are going to explain the following:
technology, low-carbon emitting and climate technologies, the difference between low-carbon and climate technologies, what we mean by investing in reducing poverty as a lack of low-carbon and climate technologies.
• • • • Brief definition of technology
The definition of technology used here comes from the Dictionary of Economics written by Christopher Pass et al. (10). According to the latter,
“Technology is the application of scientific and technical knowledge in order to improve products and production processes” (p. 513)
The application that we are dealing with is the one linked to carbon and climate issues.
• • • • What are low-carbon emitting technologies (LCET)?
LCET are defined by ‘weforum.com’ (11) as
“Innovative technical solutions that are characterised by a low emission intensity, compared to state of the art alternatives”.
Most low carbon technologies are clean technologies as they minimise environmental harm and promote sustainability by directly contributing to the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions.
• • • • What are climate technologies?
The website ‘unfccc.int’ (12) define them as
“The technologies we use to combat climate change”.
The same ‘unfccc.int’ explains that climate technologies help us reduce greenhouse gas emissions, adapt to the adverse effects of climate change. There are soft and hard climate technologies. These technologies can be transferred to support climate action. As part of Climate Action March 2025, we shall look at the transfer and sharing of climate technologies.
Some of these climate technologies are low-cost as they can be implemented at a relatively low cost. Low-cost climate technologies (like the ones found in Africa) primarily focus on renewable energy solutions like solar power, particularly through off-grid solar systems like ‘pay-as-you-go’ model’. They are designed to address climate challenges and limited financial resources. They can help reduce poverty as well. However, climate technologies have to be differentiated from low-carbon ones.
• • • • The difference between low-carbon and climate technologies
Low-carbon technologies are those that help to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, while climate technologies are those that address climate change more broadly.
Low-carbon technologies help reduce the amount of carbon in the atmosphere, mitigate climate change, and maintain the balance of the ecosystem. They include wind turbines, solar panels, biomass systems, and carbon capture equipment.
Climate technologies contribute to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, increase energy efficiency and resilience, support economic growth, and help adapt to the diverse effects of climate change. Among these technologies are renewable energy sources like solar, wind, and hydropower, geoengineering, etc.
Furthermore, the difference between low-carbon and climate technologies can be interpreted as the difference between clean technology and climate technology.
According to ‘techtarget.com’ (13),
“Climate tech primarily focuses on greenhouse gas emissions. Clean tech covers a broader area, including clean water”.
The website ‘techtarget.com’ adds that
“Clean tech also addresses energy efficiency in areas such as the following: clean water, air quality and pollution, recycling and waste, and clean energy.
In short, both low-carbon and climate technologies can be transferred and shared, especially if one wants to invest in poverty reduction where these technologies can be inaccessible and unaffordable like in Africa.
• • • • What is investing in reducing poverty as a lack of low-carbon and climate technologies?
It is about devoting your time, effort, energy, money, etc. in measures that are intended to economically, socially and environmentally lift people out of poverty on a lasting basis. These measures can be taken at various levels and by different persons (both moral and physical). Climate actions are also about investing in those measures to relieve those suffering from climate poverty or low-carbon poverty.
• • • • • Investing in reducing poverty as a lack of low-carbon technology adoption
Poverty as a lack of low-carbon technology adoption is the state in which poorer households have not the money or means to buy and install low-carbon technologies.
Investing in reducing poverty as the lack of low-carbon technology adoption would be about promoting the adoption of low-carbon technology, informing them what support is available for them and helping them to transition to low-carbon energy.
• • • • • Investing in reducing poverty as a lack of climate technology
Poverty as a lack of climate technology is about linking poverty and climate technology. This type of poverty happens when poorer households do not have the financial means to acquire climate technologies.
Investing in reducing poverty as the lack of climate technology would be about providing digital technologies to these households so that they can monitor greenhouse gas emissions, solar home systems as renewable energy, and other energy efficiency equipment. It is finally about balancing their energy needs with their economic situation.
The above-mentioned understanding will help to better execute our working plan for Climate Action March 2025.
• • • Work Plan for Climate Action March 2025
The following Climate Actions and periods of March 2025 make up our work plan:
∝ Action 1 (03 to 09/03/2025): Low-carbon concrete, steel and aluminium energy; Solar power
∝ Action 2 (10 to 16/03/2025): Biofuels; Efficient cookstoves
∝ Action 3 (17 to 23/03/2025): Plant-based protein; Climate-resilient crops
∝ Action 4 (24 to 30/03/2025): Lithium; Water harvesting techniques
Within the above broad actions, there will be specific actions to be taken. Because our 2025 Climate Actions are on Low-carbon and Climate Technologies and Poverty Reduction, each of these actions will be linked to low-carbon and climate poverty reduction.
Finally, there will be impact monitoring and evaluation on 31/03/2025 to end the Climate Action March 2025.
• • • Climate Action 1 (03 to 09/03/2025): Low-carbon concrete, steel and aluminium energy; Solar power
This first action will be approached through the following items:
σ Low-carbon concrete, steel and aluminium energy (LCCSAE) as low-carbon technologies
σ Solar power (SP) as climate technology
σ LCCSAE, SP and poverty reduction
σ Low-carbon and climate technology sharing and transfer
σ Working with the Community on LCCSAE and SP.
Let us highlight each of the above-mentioned items.
• • • • Low-carbon concrete, steel and aluminium energy (LCCSAE) as low-carbon technologies
Concrete, steel and aluminium are all important materials in construction and energy systems, but their production contributes to climate change. Yet, less carbon-intensive materials and lower carbon output of the construction processes can contribute to emissions reductions in concrete.
To support the above statement, ‘hydro.com’ (14) explains that
“Aluminium enables the use of concrete mixes where more than 50 percent of the cement can be substituted with sustainable blinders. The result is a concrete that requires far less energy and CO2 emissions to produce slimmer, lighter concrete structures with a long service life”.
Elaborating on green steelmaking, ‘steel-technology.com’ (15) argues that
“Green steelmaking is the utilization of new generation technologies and processes whose main objectives is to minimize or even completely eliminate the emission of CO2 in the process of steelmaking”.
According to ‘steel-technology.com’, the aim is to produce steel more sustainable, quite regularly with the means of some alternative energy sources, technologies or recycling.
For instance, hydrogen-based steelmaking is one of these technologies.
That is why it is better to use low-carbon concrete (e.g., limestone calcined clay), low-carbon steel (like hydrogen-base DRI, renewable electricity, etc.), low-carbon aluminium (such as low-carbon power, recycled aluminium).
• • • • Solar power (SP) as climate technology
Solar power or solar energy or photovoltaic energy, which is the conversion of energy from from sunlight into electricity, is a renewable energy source that uses solar panels. It can provide affordable and reliable electricity to those who do not have it.
Because solar power reduces energy use, lowers greenhouse gas emissions and fights climate change; it makes sense to take action on it.
• • • • LCCSAE, SP and poverty reduction
• • • • • LCCSAE and poverty reduction
Low-carbon concrete, steel and aluminium energy can help lift people out of poverty. There are studies about the impacts LCCSAE on poverty reduction. There is a consensus that the development of LCCSAE will improve access to sustainable resources which help reduce poverty.
• • • • • Solar power and poverty reduction
Solar power is a clean and renewable energy source that offers a sustainable solution to energy poverty. Energy poverty is, according to ‘green.org’ (16),
“The lack of access to modern energy services, including electricity and clean cooking facilities”.
The same ‘green.org’ provides three benefits of solar energy in reducing energy poverty, which are:
a) It provides increased access to electricity in remote or underserved areas
b) Solar energy enhances education, healthcare, and economic opportunities
c) Solar energy reduces greenhouse gas emissions and minimise environmental impact.
Therefore, promoting solar energy for energy poverty reduction makes sense.
• • • • Low-carbon and climate technology sharing and transfer
Climate action is also about sharing and transferring technologies, knowledge and know-how with those who do not have them or have less so that they can effectively and actively take part in any efforts deployed or to be deployed to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and address climate change more broadly. In this respect, we are going to consider two technology transfers: low-carbon technology transfer and climate technology transfer.
• • • • • Low-carbon technology transfer (LCTT)
LCTT will be about sharing of technologies that reduce emissions to help African countries (via CENFACS Africa-based Sister Organisations) transition to clean energy and mitigate climate change while achieving sustainable development.
LCTT implies the removal of barriers to transfer, even distribution of low-carbon technologies and access to resources to make LCTT happen.
• • • • • Climate technology transfer (CTT)
CTT will be the exchange of technologies to help African countries adapt to and mitigate climate change. In doing so, it will assist in reducing technological gap in terms of climate technologies. To make this reduction to materialise, it requires the following:
~ sharing of know-how, knowledge, experience, expertise and equipment
~ developing and communicating standards for climate technologies
~ giving financial support for technology transfer
~ helping Africa-based Sister Organisation to access climate technology financial support
~ reducing together greenhouse gas emissions
etc.
• • • • Working with the Community on LCCSAE and SP
The all purpose of writing this note is to guide our action. In other words, what is key here is to take action. The note is only a guided principle.
For instance, taking action together could be on the following:
~ how to help those who are suffering from the lack of access to low-carbon energies to access concrete, steel and aluminium energy and solar energy
~ advocating for sharing and transferring technologies included in concrete, steel and aluminium energy as well as solar energy between Africa and the rest of the world
~ reducing and/or ending energy poverty and poverty linked to the lack of access to low-carbon energies deriving from concrete, steel and aluminium.
Those members of our community in the UK and Africa-based Sister Organisations willing to work with CENFACS on Low-carbon concrete, steel and aluminium energy as well as on Solar power and Climate Poverty Reduction; they can take climate actions with us.
For any queries or enquiries about Climate Action 1 and Climate Actions Month, please do not hesitate to contact CENFACS.
_________
• References
(1) https://www.climatechangenews.com/2024/11/27/explainer-what-was-decided-at-the-cop29-climate-talks-in-baku-outcomes/ (accessed in March 2025)
(2) https://businessvaluecalculator.com/scenario-analysis/ (accessed in March 2025)
(3) https://www.avantiico,com/software-selection-process-criteria-and-eamples/ (accessed in March 2025)
(4) https://www.financestrategists.com/financial-planning/financial-plan-monitoring/ (accessed in March 2025)
(5) https://mywellbeing.com/therapy-101/how-to-build-a-support-system (accessed in March 2025)
(6) https://activesocialcare.com/handbook/privacy-and-dignity/how-to-support-active-participation (accessed in March 2025)
(7) https://www.simplilearn.com/feasibility-study-article (Accessed in March 2023)
(8) https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/ (accessed in March 2025)
(9) https://sdgs.un.org/2030agenda (accessed in March 2025)
(10) Pass, C., Lowes, B. & Davies, L. (1988), Dictionary of Economics, HarperCollins Publishers, London & Glasgow
(11) https://www.weforum.org/stories/2022/02/what-are-low-acrbon-emitting-technologies-an-expert-explains/ (accessed in March 2025)
(12) https://unfccc.int/topics/climate-technology/what-is-technology-development-and-transfer (accessed in March 2025)
(13) https://www.techtarget.com/whatis/feature/Climate-tech-vs-clean-tech-whats-the-difference (accessed in March 2025)
(14) https://www.hydro.com/gb/global/about-hydro/stories-by-hydro/dare2c-how-aluminium-can-help-solve-concrete-sustainability-challenge/ (accessed in March 2025)
(15) https://www.steel-technology.com/articles/green-steelmaking-technologies-paving-the-way-for-a-low-carbon-future (accessed in March 2025)
(16) https://green.org/2024/01/30/solar-energy-role-in-reducing-energy-poverty-worldwide/ (accessed in March 2025)
_________
• Help CENFACS Keep the Poverty Relief Work Going This Year
We do our work on a very small budget and on a voluntary basis. Making a donation will show us you value our work and support CENFACS’ work, which is currently offered as a free service.
One could also consider a recurring donation to CENFACS in the future.
Additionally, we would like to inform you that planned gifting is always an option for giving at CENFACS. Likewise, CENFACS accepts matching gifts from companies running a gift-matching programme.
Donate to support CENFACS!
FOR ONLY £1, YOU CAN SUPPORT CENFACS AND CENFACS’ NOBLE AND BEAUTIFUL CAUSES OF POVERTY REDUCTION.
JUST GO TO: Support Causes – (cenfacs.org.uk)
Thank you for visiting CENFACS website and reading this post.
Thank you as well to those who made or make comments about our weekly posts.
We look forward to receiving your regular visits and continuing support until the end of 2025 and beyond.
With many thanks.
