Power in Peru
In Peru the UK is using innovative British technology to provide clean, accessible, off-grid energy to rural communities that currently have none. The technology is British: a solar energy system that not only collects solar energy, but stores it in a battery, which means it can be used night or day, rain or shine.
The UK is working with a local implementer, Soluciones Practicas, to deploy two of these systems.
The first has been placed in a mountain community in the south of Peru where it will power a small village. This will help to produce textiles more efficiently and will drive the local economy.
The second is in a coastal community in the north where the system will be used to provide the energy to pump water.
Last year the system was also deployed to a school on the outskirts of Lima. The school had laptops for the students, but no electricity to use them. Now, with the power provided from the new technology, the children can use the laptops, as well as have light in the school. Outside teaching hours, the local residents use the school as a community centre as it is the only place where they have power.
Forecasting in the Philippines
The Philippines is one of the countries most vulnerable to climate change - it ranks number 2 of 171 in the World Risk Report in terms of vulnerability, and exposure to natural hazards. Typhoons alone cost the country an average of 5% of their GDP with an average of 20 sweeping across the country each year.
The population of the Philippines is rising and economic growth is unlikely to keep up with the fertility rate. Rural, coastal, and urban populations will become even more exposed to resource stresses, which could push living standards down. The government's priority is to boost its capacity for disaster risk reduction and climate adaptation programmes.
The UK government is playing a leading role to support the government of the Philippines. We've assisted in developing relations between the world class expertise of the Met Office and the Philippines government. A Met Office service was procured by the Philippine Government in 2014, which delivered short term weather and seasonal forecasting as well as human resource development for a year. That partnership is now continuing through additional funding from the Philippine government.
A DFID funded project, awarded the Met Office a contract for climate resilience and capacity building work in the Philippines as part of the UK's response to Typhoon Haiyan. There has been significant development in the Philippines climate service's engagement with stakeholders, with the Met Office’s support, which enables government and the public to access reliable weather information with better lead time. This work will help them to mitigate the impacts of typhoons, both in terms of longer term planning and shorter term early warning.
Milestones in Malaysia
Under the Paris Agreement on climate change Malaysia has committed to a reduction of its greenhouse gas emissions by up to 45% by 2030. This will be achieved through widespread energy efficiency measures, renewable energy schemes, low carbon technologies and new growth strategies.
The UK is supporting Malaysia's low carbon agenda by providing knowledge and expertise from key UK institutions, whilst showcasing the UK's expertise in low-carbon and our technical ability. We've also provided Malaysia with policy assistance in sustainable development and green growth blueprints.
Two projects led by the Carbon Trust in partnership with Malaysian Green Technology Corporation, SME Corporation and the Petaling Jaya (PJ) City Council have led to key interventions that respectively built on Malaysia’s low carbon city framework, and enhanced the LED lighting sector.
Leeds University has worked with one of Malaysia’s leading economic corridors, the Iskandar Regional Development Agency, to produce a tailor-made policy and cost options on low carbon transition.
All of this, has meant that the Green Growth agenda is a key pillar in Malaysia’s Development Plan (2016-2020) and PJ City Council has a 5-year carbon reduction framework plan in place. This has identified savings of RM 9 Billion and will save 6 million tonnes of CO2.
