
Understand your audience. Our research has shown that connecting the lives and perspectives of identifiable individuals with climate solutions is likely to be effective.
The innovative Beyond the Grid Fund for Zambia, funded by Sweden and developed and implemented by the Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency Partnership (REEEP), has brought clean energy to 119,000 households, businesses and institutions who would otherwise struggle to afford it. It has done this by making it less risky for businesses to enter the country’s off-grid energy market.
Many households in one of the world’s poorest countries can now buy lights and mobile phones for the very first time – including many families living in isolated rural areas. The fund builds the market by offering financial incentives to renewable energy companies – their performance is closely watched and payments are linked to the financial requirements of the project. Crucially, the scheme ensures that only high quality products are sold.
WHAT IT SHOWS: woman stood under a solar pv array and next to a container housing electronics. Standard Microgrid - 2019 Ashden Award winners.