Planetary Security Initiative’s Post

On April 4, 2024, the EPA announced winning applications for two of the three Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund grant competitions, for a total of $20 billion awarded to eight selectees. The $6 billion awarded to five Clean Communities Investment Accelerator applicants includes $940 million awarded to SCA client Justice Climate Fund, a nonprofit organization representing a coalition supported by a national network of more than 1,200 community lenders. This award will speed investment to low income and environmentally burdened communities, providing clean energy-focused capital and capacity building for lenders in these underserved communities. The EPA also announced three selected applicants for the $14 billion National Clean Investment Fund, which will support clean technology investment across the country, and awards for the $7 billion Solar for All competition will come later this spring. Read more here: https://lnkd.in/e7MtgAFt #epa #policy #sustainability

For anyone kicking their week at #CarbonInboundEurope2024 and keen to discuss the power of networks and industry groups, seek out Aaron Benjamin!

Climate finance continues to overlook communities with the least electricity access and most exposure to climate risks. This is why we at Energy Peace Partners are proud to join the Leapfrog Alliance, an initiative including a dozen nonprofits at its launch, to support efforts to strengthen incentives for increased corporate investment in clean energy access in unelectrified and underserved communities globally. This is how we help expand the benefits of electrification while enabling communities to leapfrog over the problems of the fossil energy system. Learn more about this initiative at https://lnkd.in/ddVZSvXm. Africa Minigrid Developers Association (AMDA), ACCREC Maiduguri Field Office, Clean Energy Buyers Institute, Council for Inclusive Capitalism, The International Tracking Standard Foundation: Founder of I-REC, Peace Pro, The Peace Department, RECS Energy Certificate Association, RMI, State Fragility Initiative, Unite to Light, Inc.

Thank you Move LA for inviting me to speak on the Vision 2026: The Clean Air and Climate Health Initiative panel alongside many other prominent leaders who are working to support a zero-emission, clean future. It was an honor to share our Ports for People mission: to work together with local communities, allies and partners to transform ports from hotspots of fossil fuel pollution to thriving hubs of sustainable economic development and environmental protection. A ballot measure to raise a boatload🚢of money would help us advance our 2040 zero-emission Port goals🔌⚡and get our port-adjacent communities some much needed relief from toxic air pollution 😷. On a global level, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change’s (IPCC)--the body of U.N. scientists focusing on climate change--warn in their latest Sixth Assessment Report (AR6) that global emissions need to be cut in half from 2019 levels by 2030, and must peak by 2025 to stay under a 1.5 degree Celsius climate warming scenario. Locally, the San Pedro Bay contributes to 1200 premature deaths each year in port-adjacent communities. The time is NOW to invest in a climate resilient future--our disproportionately impacted frontline communities can no longer afford to wait! I'm eager to continue working with community leaders and different stakeholders to ensure a clean, renewable energy transition of maritime shipping and goods movement operations is environmentally conscious and encompassing of the community voices 🌎.

The importance of partnerships with Indigenous communities was the most significant theme in the 2-day Gippsland New Energy conference. Daniel Miller, CEO of GLaWAC, launched its “Pathways to Partnerships” https://lnkd.in/gkTZ6u5J He said: “What we’re interested in is a transition from exclusion to collaboration, a pathway that integrates our mob into project planning right from the start.” We heard from Minister for Energy and Resources Lily D’Ambrosio about the significance of these partnerships to drive the energy transition. I totally agree. Next we need to see these partnerships translated to measurable outcomes for Indigenous communities and the project proponent. When we have measurable benefits from socio-economic and cultural heritage as well as environmental, project timelines and financial benefits we will be able to usher in a new era of real win-win-win solutions for Indigenous, government and the developer. We want to do trials for how these partnerships can deliver for the State and all its citizens, for the Indigenous community, the environment, energy transition and create new project business models. Open to all project ideas. Lily D’Ambrosio MP Daniel Miller Katherine Mullett Andrew Irvine Daniel Abbas Anna Quillinan Gavin Murray Ian Hamm MAICD FIPAA Rosemary Addis Matt Doran Cath Smith Tim Wilson Amanda Healy Kent Matla Sérgio Brodsky Rebecca Riggs Tira Foran STEPHEN DESPOSITO Dermot O'Gorman Bobbie Hart Naomi Anstess SIRGE Coalition Jack Buksh Tim Sonnreich Sara Williams Meg Lee Keith Rovers Vince De Santis Ann Sherry AO Danielle Wood Madeleine King Tanya Plibersek Darren McCubbin Sara Rhodes-Ward Daniel Kelly Angela Gibbs

Onshore wind means clean energy for the benefit of the country, consumers, and the climate. But these projects also can bring a lot of benefits to the communities where they operate. 🏘 Alison Hood, Principal Community Engagement Manager, tells us about the huge importance of being a good neighbour, and our community benefit funds, which are one way in which we can do this. 💙 ➡ Read on: https://lnkd.in/eyj9ygEi

With an influx of unprecedented federal funding leading to new and expanded clean energy programming, outreach, and incentives, we move closer each day to the sustainable and equitable future we seek. Yet, resources are only as effective as the awareness, engagement, and access we build around them. Aligning stakeholders around clear customer-focused goals is essential to how we bring these funds to market. Our new case study shines a spotlight on a practical example of advancing weatherization through partnership. Check it out here: https://lnkd.in/eh7dJD47

"It’s a policy that’s created to achieve certain goals. Creating those types of targets without Indigenous oversight – not just input, [but] oversight and ownership – is problematic because it contradicts the UNDRIP action plan in terms of stepping out of the way of affording Indigenous peoples and communities the ability to self-determine; to invest where they want to invest, and to grow how they want to grow.  We hear a lot of community leaders say, ‘we know what’s best for our territories.’ To have policy that limits our ability to make the decisions we want to make in regard to environmental and economic sustainability is a challenge." https://lnkd.in/eAMTt-NG

With the right investment, the clean energy transition can be transformative for individuals and communities. #EarthDay Proud of work by MacArthur Foundation grantees to make the case for the Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund to make sure this happens. These historic awards direct funding to organizations—including many MacArthur grantees—to mobilize capital and ensure people see the benefits, especially in low-income communities. https://lnkd.in/gACqmDye

$27 billion. One of the biggest roll-outs of climate grants and blended finance funding in history. This is the package America needs to transition its buildings! By catalyzing banks and NGOs to work together to mobilize private investment in GHG reducing technologies, this move has a substantial multiplier effect (a private capital mobilization ratio of nearly 7x). The GGRF will drastically reduce climate and air pollution, while reducing energy costs, improving public health and creating clean energy jobs in communities across the country. https://lnkd.in/eyygjzSE