Momentum For Change Podcast

In Benin, a long dry season makes it almost impossible for women farmers to grow food. For six months of the year, there is little rainfall and the land is parched. For years, women farmers and their families were trapped in a cycle of poverty and poor health.But thanks to an innovative project developed by the Solar Electric Light Fund, year-round food production is now possible in Benin’s remote villages. The Fund’s Solar Market Garden project combines solar-powered pumps with drip-irrigation systems to provide a cheap and eco-friendly way to get water from nearby rivers and underground aquifers. This means farmers can now water crops year-round and produce reliable, healthy food. To tell us more, we spoke to Bob Freling, the Executive Director of the Solar Electric Light Fund. Learn more...

Did you know that more than 1.2 billion people around the world don’t have access to electricity in their homes? As a result, they are forced to burn expensive and polluting fuels for their basic lighting needs.Azuri PayGo Energy wants to change that. Azuri has combined solar and mobile phone technology to bring clean energy to people living in Sub-Saharan Africa. The pay-as-you-go solar home system provides eight hours of emission-free lighting each day and enough power to charge mobile phones.To learn more, we spoke to Simon Bransfield-Garth, CEO of Azuri Technologies.

Across the United States, transportation is responsible for 27% of the country’s greenhouse gas emissions. ChargePoint is addressing climate change by making it easier and more fun for people to drive an electric vehicle. ChargePoint is the world’s largest network of electric vehicle charging stations, with 25,000 charging stations across the United States. With more than 350,000 electric vehicles sold in the United States, drivers need crucial EV infrastructure to make it easy to shift from fuelling with gasoline to fuelling with electricity. ChargePoint is transforming the transportation industry by providing the charging stations, mobile app and the network that allow people to charge their cars everywhere they go. To learn more, we spoke to Pasquale Romano, the President and CEO of ChargePoint.

In Uganda, farmers depend on the right amount of rain coming at the right time. Farmers used to know when to plant and what to plant to expect a good harvest because they knew when rainfall would begin and end. But now rainfall in the country is becoming scarce and unpredictable, and extreme heat is increasing in intensity and frequency. The Enabling Farmers to Adapt to Climate Change project was built with this in mind. Using information and communication technology tools in local languages, the project collects, analyzes and sends out agricultural advisories, crop and livestock market information and weather data to Ugandan farmers. To learn more, we spoke to Berhane Gebru, Director of Programs, FHI 360 TechLab.

Chances are that you’re listening to this podcast on your smartphone. It’s amazing to think how these devices connect us to each other and the entire world. But we’re not just talking about using your smartphone. The way your smartphone is made also connects you to the world. For example, there are at least 30 different minerals in every smartphone. What’s more, those minerals often come from conflict zones. A Dutch social enterprise has produced what has been heralded as the world’s first ethically sourced smartphone. Fairphone improves access to conflict-free minerals, while increasing fair labour practices and reducing e-waste. To learn more, we spoke to Bibi Bleekemolen, who is part of Fairphone’s Value Chain team.

For most countries in Sub-Saharan Africa, access to safe and reliable water remains a major challenge. In Kenya alone, 16 million people do not have access to clean water. Increased incidences of drought linked to climate change is worsening water scarcity, particularly in areas that have limited and sporadic rainfall, leading to migration and increased urbanization. Grundfos Lifelink Water Solutions helps build resilience to the effects of climate change by providing access to safe, sustainable and affordable water to people in developing countries. To collect water, people charge a smart card with credit bought onsite or via their mobile phones, insert it into the dispenser and pay for the water they need. To learn more, we spoke to Peter Todbjerg Hansen, the Managing Director of Grundfos Lifelink.

What do you think about when you think about Microsoft? Maybe computers, software and Bill Gates were the first things that came to your mind. But did you know that Microsoft is also a leader when it comes to fighting climate change? In 2012, Microsoft voluntarily introduced an internal carbon fee that holds its business units financially accountable for their carbon emissions. Microsoft’s business units are charged for the emissions associated with their energy consumption and business air travel. Microsoft then collects and spends the funds on its environmental initiatives. These include efficiency projects, green power projects, carbon offset projects, e-waste recycling, research and innovation. To learn more, we’re joined by TJ DiCaprio, the Director of Environmental Sustainability at Microsoft.

In Kolkata, India, the Trash2Cash initiative has developed an innovative solution to the city’s waste problem. More than 5,000 tonnes of solid waste is generated by the city every day. Dumping this waste is polluting the groundwater and emitting large amounts of methane gas. Trash2Cash is an independent community enterprise, let by people who live in the city’s slums, who are paid to collect and recycle waste. To learn how Trash2Cast creates sustainable jobs for the urban poor and reduces emissions, we spoke with Amrita Chatterjee, the project leader.

Climate Change Adaptation and Disaster Risk Reduction in Bangladesh is a women-centered initiative that helps communities adapt to climate change. In particular, it seeks to address extreme weather conditions such as cyclones and flooding, as well as the consequence of increased salinity conditions in agriculture in Bangladesh. The initiative, which is implemented by ActionAid Bangladesh, brings groups of women together to assess vulnerability to these risks. Then, they identify and implement action plans, such as improved cook stoves that reduce carbon emissions or dams to preserve fresh water from salinization. To learn more, we spoke to Farah Kabir, ActionAid’s Country Director.

The Hindu Kush region of the Himalayas is one of the most complex and dynamic mountain systems in the world. This region is especially affected by climate change, meaning that floods have become more frequent and severe than ever before. To help vulnerable communities in this region become more resilient, a community-based flood early warning system was established. This information and communications technology (ICT) system uses a sensor to detect rising water levels during floods. This is connected to a transmitter - so that when flooding happens, the system sends text messages to at-risk communities downstream. To learn more, we spoke to Neera Pradhan – Water and Adaptation Specialist with the Community-Based Flood Early Warning System.

The Paris Agreement is a game changer. It represents a major turning point in our collective efforts to address climate change. But what does that really mean? And what needs to happen next? To tell us more, we’re joined by Nick Nuttall, the Spokesperson and Director of Communications for the United Nations Climate Change secretariat.

The impact of floods is significant – floods affect more people globally than any other type of natural disaster. This podcast looks at an initiative that lessens the impact of floods, in communities that need it the most. The Zurich Flood Resilience Program brings together the private sector, academia and community partners to create flood-resilience projects in Indonesia, Mexico, Nepal and Peru. The program is developing early-warning systems and other measures in flood- prone areas, with direct benefits to more than 125,000 people. To tell us more, we spoke to Linda Freiner, who is the manager of the Zurich Flood Resilience Program.

This podcast takes us to Uruguay, where climate-related flooding is increasingly a problem. During the last decade, flooding has displaced sixty-seven thousand people from their homes in sixty cities across Uruguay. In response to this increased flooding, Uruguay’s National Resettlement Program is helping communities adapt. The Program moves vulnerable families who live in areas at high risk of flooding, resettling them to safer locations. The houses the families are settled into are located in urban areas that have access to public transport and education, and that are connected to the electrical grid. To tell us more, we’re joined by Raquel Lejtreger, Uruguay’s Former Vice Minister of Housing, Land Planning and Environment.

This podcast takes a look at a project in Gorakhpur, India, called Community-Based Micro-Climate Resilience. The initiative helps urban poor communities adapt to climate change by designing and building new types of flood-resilient and affordable houses. They combine locally available bricks with technologies and techniques that make the construction process less energy intensive. Because it uses fewer raw materials, this method ends up being more environmentally friendly than the conventional approach. To learn more, we spoke to Dr. Shiraz Wajih, President of the Gorakhpur Environmental Action Group.

This podcast takes a closer look at the Guangzhou bus rapid transit system in China. The system is exceptional, in that it carries more than three times the single-direction passengers than any other similar system in Asia. It is also the second busiest in the world after Bogota’s bus system in Colombia. More than 1 million people use Guangzhou’s bus system every day, with one bus arriving at the station every 10 seconds. The system provides a subway-like level of service and speed, but using buses rather than fixed rail trains. Bus rapid transit systems are especially appealing to rapidly growing cities because they are more than 10 times cheaper than subway systems to build and operate, and can be built much faster. To tell us about the transit system, we spoke to Duan Xiaomei, Chief Engineer from the Guangzhou Municipal Engineering, Design and Research Institute.

In Malaysia and India, SmartSense is helping companies become more energy efficient. SmartSense accesses data from the electrical metre, then sends it via wifi to devices like smartphones and computers. This allows companies to monitor, analyse and optimise their use of energy. Companies signing up for this information and communication technology (ICT) platform are seeing an average of 15-20% energy savings. That’s almost as much as greenhouse gas emissions of 215,000 cars per year! To learn more, we spoke to Pratik Kundu, SmartSense’s Marketing Manager.

This podcast takes us to Indonesia, where Ibu Inspirasi is turning women into green technology agents – training them to sell solar lamps, water filters and fuel-efficient cook stoves. These small technologies are making a big difference in rural Indonesia, by helping to increase the standard of living while reducing carbon emissions. To learn more, we spoke to Monica Christy, Senior Program Officer with Kopernik, the company heading up this initiative.

This podcast takes us to Da Nang City in Vietnam. Climate-change related storms and floods there are taking a toll on the urban poor, who typically live in homes that are poorly constructed and maintained. Such homes have fewer defences against these storms and floods, and families hit by storm damage often struggle to recover. The project Building Storm-Resistant Houses helps vulnerable families to better deal with climate change. A Women’s Union in Da Nang complements the project by offering a revolving loan program to help finance these storm-resistant homes. This has already helped hundreds of families reinforce and rebuild their homes. To learn more, we spoke to Phong Tran, Technical Lead with ISET-Vietnam.

Our Senegal-based Momentum for Change award winning activity is protecting Senegal’s coastal areas against erosion caused by rising and storm surges. This reduces the impacts of climate change on the coast by protecting houses and infrastructure threatened by erosion and the intrusion of saltwater. The activity includes anti-salt dikes to reduce salination of agricultural lands and defenses against the sea to prevent coastal erosion.To learn more, we’re joined by Dethie Soumare Ndiaye, who coordinates the office at the ecological monitoring centre in Senegal.