By Everjoice Win & Olivia Coldrey The triple threat of the climate crisis, COVID-19 pandemic and deepening inequality demands urgent, bold responses from all sectors of society. However, if the just-ended COP26 is any indicator, that sense of urgency and boldness is still a long way from view. An ever-growing chorus of movements, scientists, government…
By Mela Chiponda, SHINE Director September 21, 2023 Ending fossil fuels and transitioning to renewable energy should be front and centre at the Climate Ambition Summit now competing for attention in New York city. Just scan the placards carried by tens of thousands of protesters clogging the streets for climate justice on September 17th to…
In the previous month, we explored how two organizations benefited from small grants. Today, we bring you two more organizations that demonstrate the power of small grants. The first organization in the spotlight is Smiling Through Light (STL), which received a grant from the SHINE Campaign COVID-19 recovery fund. STL’s mission is to close the…
In a world where big grants and programs dominate, small grants are avoided, felt to be more trouble to transact for the impact to be delivered. However, Shine’s experience demonstrates that small grants can be an effective way to make a difference and deliver impact. The COVID-19 pandemic had a devastating effect on efforts to…
By Christine Eibs Singer For the first time in 20 years, the IEA reports that the number of people around the world who live without electricity was set to rise by nearly 20 million in 2022, reaching nearly 775 million. The rise is mostly in sub-Saharan Africa, where the number of people without access is nearly…
By Everjoice Win and Mark Correnti Although at times contentious, the Europe-sub-Saharan Africa relationship is highly-intertwined and dependent, particularly in the quest to solve fossil fuel energy dependency, development, climate adaptation and energy poverty needs. For a while now, Europe has been suffering both an acute energy crisis as well as a chronic energy poverty. …
The Shine Campaign has joined Power Up, a new campaign supporting African efforts to seek greater global funding for affordable green energy – essential for adaptation to the climate crisis. The campaign is working to unlock more ambitious pledges from wealthy countries, starting with action at November’s COP27 climate talks, and continuing through the…
By Everjoice J. Win* This week, climate action activists, faith leaders, scientists, governments, civil society groups and journalists are gathered in Libreville, Gabon, for the official Africa Climate Week. The weeklong gathering was conceived at COP26, in Glasgow as “a platform for governments and stakeholders to strengthen credible and durable response to climate change.” This…
The Shine Campaign community learnt with shock and sadness, that our colleague and friend Sandra Smithey passed on. It was only at the end of February this year, that we said goodbye to Sandra as she went into retirement. Sandra Smithey had an unbreakable and passionate commitment to grassroots empowerment and energy access. This commitment…
By Fletcher Harper and Emira Woods Thanks to the generosity of Sustainable Energy for All, Shine hosted a panel discussion at COP26 about the pivotal importance of energy access for women. Our panel took place days after the launch of the Global Energy Alliance for People and Planet, a partnership between three philanthropies: The…
Witnessing the devastation of COVID-19 across the globe over the past year and a half, the importance of decentralized energy access providers has never been more evident. In response, The Shine Campaign launched the COVID-19 Recovery Fund in October 2020. Co-created with the Council of Women Leaders in Energy Access, the fund aims to…
Dear Shine Community, In the three months since I joined this wonderful community, I have been challenged and inspired as I’ve listened, learned, and become acquainted with our history and collective work. I am excited about the many opportunities this historic moment presents and aware of the challenges that we face, together. In the meantime,…
International Women’s Rights and Development Leader to Head Campaign to Increase Investment in Clean, Renewable Energy for Last Mile Communities WASHINGTON, D.C. June 2, 2021 – The Shine Campaign named international women’s rights and development leader, Everjoice Win, as its new Executive Director. A collective of values-driven donors, investors and advocates from the philanthropic…
By Shine Staff When the street lights flickered on in the Ndosho neighborhood of Goma last March, it marked not just an important step for the impoverished area of the Democratic Republic of Congo’s’ sixth-largest city but also for clean energy financing. With the project bringing light to the previously forbidding nighttime streets, Congolese…
The energy-access community needs a “radical new approach” which emphasizes greater clarity and ensures that available resources are more widely distributed, according to a new report from a Shine partner Ashden. The report from the London-based climate solutions charity shows that while COVID-19 threatens attempts to meet Sustainable Development Goal 7 – global access to…
By Sarah Alexander Senior Advisor, SELCO Foundation COVID-19 has shone a bright light on the pervasive societal evils of inequality, capital bias, absence of safety nets and dependence on centralized systems just to name a few. This focus ultimately exposes vulnerable economic and health systems across the globe. At the onset of the pandemic,…
By K Kaufmann September 30, 2020 A new fund has been launched to provide microgrants of $3,000 to $10,000 to the women entrepreneurs and community organizations working to provide clean, reliable and primarily off-grid power to remote communities. To read the full article, go here!
By Katherine Lucey Founder and CEO, Solar Sister It is often underserved communities who are disproportionately affected in times of crisis and natural disaster. As Solar Sister first started to face the challenges created by the global COVID-19 pandemic, we asked ourselves questions with the most vulnerable in mind, such as: How do we…
By: Ajaita Shah, Chinenye Anekwe, and Makoma Lekalakala Safe hand washing and stocking the fridge with supplies may seem commonplace to those facing the COVID-19 pandemic, but for many people the world over these are luxuries beyond their reach. The basic safeguards experts recommend to combat the spread of the virus display the vast…
By Sanjoy Sanyal Foreign entrepreneurs corner the lion’s share of investment coming into Africa. It has been whispered in industry conferences, ranted about in social media posts and written about in research reports. And now, Larry Madowo, the US-based Kenyan journalist has written about this in mainstream media: Silicon Valley has deep pockets for…
By: Dimitrios Mentis Modern energy services are proven to be a key enabler for socio-economic development and can upgrade the level and the quality of education, gender equality, indoor environment and several daily activities. And of course, reliable power is critical for a number of health care services, a fact that we are currently…
An opinion piece by Shine Steering Committee members Sheila Oparaocha (ENERGIA) and Ajaita Shah (Frontier Markets) along with Elizabeth Cecelski (ENERGIA), Rabia Ferroukhi (IRENA), Dymphna van der Lans (Clean Cooking Alliance), Irene Giner-Reichl (GWNET), and Monica Maduekwe (ECREEE) Women are on the frontlines of the coronavirus pandemic. They need modern and affordable energy to keep up the…
By: GeorgeMike Luberenga of Solar Health Uganda Energy powers health. Today, the COVID-19 pandemic is shining a light on the importance of electricity to power critical infrastructures like hospitals, ventilators, and testing labs. But, for close to 600 million people in Africa, living without access to safe energy is an ongoing struggle not only…
by Mark Correnti Americans are being urged by experts that frequent hand washing is one of the best ways to guard themselves and others against the deadly coronavirus. At the same time, over 4 billion million people globally lack the most fundamental element needed for this basic act of self-protection – clean running water. …
In March 2020, responsAbility announced the launch of a new 3-million-dollar donor-funded technical assistance facility to support local capacity building and market development. With initial funding from Good Energies Foundation and the Swiss State Secretariat for Economic Affairs (SECO), the facility will work to close the financing gap for universal access to clean power in…
On February 21, 2020 Shine’s Emira Woods joined a delegation of Africa policy Advocates in a meeting with Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs Tibor Nagy.
In the last week alone, three of the world’s wealthiest individuals have pledged funds to battle climate change…These new commitments, potentially doubling the amount of money flowing into climate-change efforts, do not let the rest of philanthropy off the hook.
A recent desk study published jointly by the UN Environment Programme (UNEP) and the African Union, Review of Woodfuel Biomass Production and Utilization in Africa, takes stock of the current situation and proposes policies and strategies for Member States to accelerate the transition to renewable energy sources.
A Swiss impact asset manager, responsAbility, has announced the first close of its new energy access fund. The private debt fund addresses the lack of access to clean power globally with a strong focus on sub-Saharan Africa and South and Southeast Asia.
By William Minter, Editor of AfricaFocus Bulletin This article was originally published in Foreign Policy in Focus on December 5, 2019. Just before this year’s global climate summit opened in Madrid recently, researchers announced that emissions of carbon dioxide from fossil fuels will hit a record high in 2019. Although the 0.6 percent rate of…
On December 10th, International Human Rights Day, stakeholders in the last mile solar energy distribution sector convened to spotlight energy access as a human right. The event marked the U.S. launch of The Global Distributors Collective’s (GDC) inaugural Last Mile Distribution: State of the Sector Report. It was an inspiring night to talk about unlocking…
By Emma Colenbrander, Head of the Global Distributors Collective Products like solar lights, solar home systems and improved cookstoves and fuels are an important piece of addressing energy poverty, particularly in last mile markets. These products—and other beneficial household products like water filters and agricultural tools—enable progress towards the Sustainable Development Goals more rapidly…
In October Sustainable Energy for All (SEForAll) released their 2019 Energizing Finance Report, a two-part report series that shines a light on financial investments in the electricity sector between 2015-2017. Overall, the report showed that while the sector is experiencing all-time high investments, commitments are still well below what’s needed to achieve universal energy access by…
By Alexia Kelly, CEO of Electric Capital Management and co-chair of LEDS Global Partnership Finance Working Group. Across Africa, India, and other regions of the Global South, there is an urgent need to mobilize funds into the distributed clean energy sector to provide access to clean, affordable, reliable energy for the 850 million people who live in energy poverty. Mobilizing…
No renewable energy project should move forward without seeking the free, prior and informed consent of indigenous communities, especially if there are plans to build directly on Indigenous lands. Unfortunately, that was not the case in the Unión Hidalgo agrarian community in Oaxaca State, Mexico. Without engaging the local community, Desarrollos Eólicos de México S.A…
By Alexia Kelly, CEO of Electric Capital Management and co-chair of LEDS Global Partnership Finance Working Group. Across Africa, India, and other regions of the Global South, there is an urgent need to mobilize funds into the distributed clean energy sector to provide access to clean, affordable, reliable energy for the 850 million people who live in…
Final Day – Wrapping Up Financing the Future Summit As the Financing the Future Summit wrapped up, participants offered a range of powerful commitments that will advance Shine’s mission and vision. Religious leaders committed to advocating within their own structures for increased funding and investing in energy access. African foundations committed to a convening of…
The Shine team at the Financing the Future Summit (L-R: Mark Correnti, Dwayne Linville, Emira Woods, and Rev. Fletcher Harper) Day 2 – Cape Town, South Africa The Financing The Future Global Climate Divest-Invest Summit came to a close today. Leaders from faith-based institutions, governments, NGOs, foundations, academia, environmental, social impact investing, healthcare, social enterprise…
Following the announcement of $11T divestment from fossil fuels industry milestone yesterday, day one of Financing The Future Global Climate Divest-Invest Summit kicked off today. The rooms were filled with over 300 delegates from over 44 countries. Below is a brief update of the topics discussed at today’s conference. Remember that you can follow along on…
Today at the Financing the Future Summit, the message could not have been clearer or more consistent with the mission of the Shine campaign: the time has come to end energy poverty with distributed, renewable, community-based, community-owned energy systems. And – mission-driven investors need to step forward and meet this challenge. We can do this. …
The world urgently needs a rapid transition to a renewable energy economy to protect the well-being of all people and our planet. Access to clean, reliable and affordable energy has the power to fuel economic transformation and change lives, especially for women and young people. To highlight the leadership role that values-driven institutions play in…
A key strategy of the Shine Campaign is championing solutions that lift up the vision and values of energy access enterprises and leaders. This case study in effective community action comes from Shine partner American Jewish World Service and their grantee deCOALonize, which comprises 13 local, national and international organizations committed to keeping the coal…
Over three billion people cook every day using dirty sources of fuel. The negative impacts on people’s health, safety, and the environment are vast and will have long term effects on our way of life if left unchecked. The world needs a better solution, and an innovative company from Rwanda called Inyenyeri has created one.…
In 2019, close to a billion people still lack access to modern forms of energy, and nearly 3 billion people remain reliant on kerosene, wood, and other heavily-polluting forms of biomass to cook and heat their homes. This massive energy imbalance has devastating impacts on community health, education, and economic growth. Last week Shine participated…
The Global Distributors Collective (GDC) held its first ever last mile distribution member event this week, to raise the profile of the distribution sector and companies reaching the last mile with innovative technology and programs. Held in Kampala, Uganda, the two-day event included mini-academies and boot camps for members to cultivate solutions on specific topics, such as…
By Salesian Missions Tanzania is one of the 30 fastest growing economies and spends a higher percentage of its GDP on education. In theory, this should correspond to the rapid creation of new jobs and an abundance of well-educated young people to fill them. In fact, the is opposite is true. Tanzania is facing…
World Resources Institute (WRI), with the support of the Wallace Global Fund and DOEN Foundation, has been supporting local last mile and indigenous pay-as-you-go energy access distributors in Kenya. As a campaign partner, WRI turned to Shine to develop and lead a workshop on creating a pipeline of local entrepreneurs and reducing risk in energy…
Following the GOGLA Annual General Meeting, the Shine Campaign continued its week-long trip to Amsterdam by participating in Sustainable Energy for All’s (SEforALL) Charrettes. Shine partner SEforALL brought together nearly 200 participants to address specific challenges and identify solutions to achieve Sustainable Development Goal 7 (SDG7) at the intensive two-day sessions. At its current pace…
Shine Campaign leaders attended GOGLA’s Annual General Meeting in Amsterdam this week. Established in 2012, GOGLA is the global member association for the off-grid solar energy industry. The association, of which Shine is a member, works to build sustainable markets for the delivery of quality, affordable products and services to households and communities across the developing world, including…
By the Shine Campaign There are few things more important for a community’s well-being than reliable, affordable access to energy. With over a billion people still lacking access to electricity and 2.8 billion people still reliant on kerosene, wood, crop waste, and dung to cook and heat their homes, the need is dire. Electricity…
Bangladesh should be ready to cope with climate change induced migration of 10 million coastal villagers to the cities over the next two decades.
The escalating risks posed by climate change and biodiversity loss will require big changes in what we put on our plates and the decisions farmers make in their fields, scientists warn.
Africa Liberation Day on, Saturday May 25, has been celebrated for over 5 decades. It represents a clarion call to the continent as her diaspora demands complete political and economic freedom. This year, with Mozambique facing devastating cyclones, Darfur and other regions in the Sahel zone ravaged by increasing desertification, water shortages threatening a “Day…
Sharing Shine’s commitment to putting last mile communities first, Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency Partnership (REEEP) has signed on as the campaign’s newest partner. REEEP envisions a world in which everyone, regardless of income, has access to affordable, low carbon energy services that empower economic development and mitigate the effects of climate change. Their programs…
In an increasingly resource-constrained world, sustainable investing is critical to protecting the environment – and business profitability. Shine partner World Resources Institute (WRI) recently took a hard look at how they could better align their endowment investments with their environmental mission. The results are revelatory and make a compelling business case for sustainability. As WRI board member David Blood notes,…
Today marks the annual observance of the United Nations’ International Day of Families. This global commemoration highlights the importance that the international community attaches to families and their role in development. The theme for 2019 – Families and Climate Action – focuses on families, family policies and major SDG13 targets for climate change mitigation, adaptation,…
Shine attended a productive Emerging Markets Conference this week in Denver, Colorado. Hosted by the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), the conference brought investors, startups and industry leaders together to highlight promising clean energy solutions to some of the most pressing challenges in emerging economies. Event sponsors included USAID, represented by Lala Faiz, Director of…
While today is Earth Day, yesterday – Easter – was the most important day of the year for Christians. It was a day to celebrate new life and the unstoppable power of compassion. The lead-in to Easter, however, is much harsher. Good Friday serves as a reminder about the danger of indifference in the face…
While today is Earth Day, yesterday – Easter – was the most important day of the year for Christians. It was a day to celebrate new life and the unstoppable power of compassion. The lead-in to Easter, however, is much harsher. Good Friday serves as a reminder about the danger of indifference in the face…
Shine recently welcomed SunFunder, responsAbility and Bidhaa Sasa to the campaign. Each of our three new partners have made notable commitments to providing universal access to clean, affordable and reliable energy. SunFunder is a pioneer in the solar energy finance business. Their financing for solar assets in emerging economies focuses on scaling up clean energy…
A catalytic collaboration with IKEA Foundation and SunFunder made possible the first close of the Solar Energy Transformation (SET) Fund. The first-loss capital from Shine Campaign co-founder IKEA Foundation, was indispensable in enabling SunFunder to leverage $42.5m in commitments. “The IKEA Foundation is granting SunFunder €5.4 million [$6.1m USD] because we believe that helping families access renewable energy will enable them to afford a better everyday life while…
Things are looking bright for Shine in 2019 as we kick off the new year with some exciting news about our campaign growth and leadership. During the past year, the campaign’s growing number of partners have committed more than $200 million to the clean energy access field. This remarkable, rapid success demonstrates that Shine’s unique approach…
450 million rural villagers in India do not have access to a stable energy supply. Villagers are demanding more than the occasional lighting. They want reliable power, appliances and quick service. With current income levels varying between one to five dollars a day the need for a stable electricity supply to create income generating opportunities…
Shine is pleased to welcome CEFA Onlus as the newest member of our campaign Steering Committee. CEFA Onlus, founded in 1972 in Italy by a group of agricultural cooperatives related to the Christian Workers Movement, is an NGO that specializes in integrated rural development. Strongly committed to international solidarity and voluntary service, CEFA’s mission is…
Powerful connections can happen in the most unlikely places. What started as a conversation between two strangers on a bus has grown into a major investment that will transform the lives of 100 women entrepreneurs as they launch solar businesses to bring clean energy to communities across Tanzania. Neha Misra, Co-Founder and Chief Collaboration Officer…
SEforAll has done us all a big favor with its second annual review of the financial picture for achieving universal access to energy. Their new Energizing Finance is out and the news is not good. Development Banks are meant to finance development, and the first step in development is a steady and reliable source of…
For nearly 30 years, PYXERA Global has facilitated mutually beneficial partnerships between the public, private, and social sectors worldwide to create social impact projects that inclusively and sustainably enrich lives and livelihoods. They are committed to curating a world class integrated community development and sustainable supply chain programme focused on alleviating energy poverty. The Shine Campaign is…
MCE is a nonprofit impact investing firm with a mission is to generate economic opportunities for women and families living in poverty throughout the developing world. MCE has expanded its focus in recent years beyond microfinance to include investments in small and growing businesses (SGBs) in the agriculture value chain, water and sanitation, and renewable…
The Bhumi Project’s latest report, authored in partnership with GreenFaith, the Shine Campaign and EPG Economic and Strategy Consulting, is a first-of-its-kind look at how Indian religious and spiritual institutions are implementing renewable energy solutions. More than 200 million people in India still lack access to electricity. This energy poverty has devastating impacts on community…
Solar Sister envisions a brighter world powered by women entrepreneurs. Women’s rights, climate justice and energy justice are intersectional issues that need integrated solutions. Solar Sister believes women are a key part of the solution to the sustainable energy access and climate change challenge. This is why we invest in women’s enterprise and leadership in…
From San Francisco to Switzerland, The Shine Campaign has a whirlwind of activity planned for the fall! We’re starting it off at the Global Climate Action Summit (GCAS), where leaders from across the globe will convene to showcase climate action and inspire deeper commitments in support of the Paris Agreement. Shine is taking part in…
Energy Peace Partners leverages economic and climate solutions to support peace in places affected by violent conflict. We believe that a paradigm shift toward climate-sensitive development can deliver enduring benefits to the 850 million people across 27 countries – primarily in sub-Saharan Africa, the Middle East, and South Asia – who have limited access to…
For African rural households who get access to electricity via solar power for the first time, it can be a life-changing experience. What, if any, are the affects? If they have extra income, what do they spend it on? We’ve read a few studies recently that gave us some answers. Last week GOGLA released a…
LOVE FOR LIFE is a Berlin-based non-profit organization founded in 2014. Our mission is to create conscious, sustainable change to empower people and to protect nature. The Organization does this through its three complementary spheres of action: Consciousness Work, Direct Action, Building Life-Sustaining Systems. Within the Direct Action sphere, LOVE FOR LIFE implements social and…
The Interfaith Center for Sustainable Development works to catalyze a transition to a sustainable, thriving, and spiritually-aware society through the leadership of faith communities. ICSD reveals the connection between religion and ecology and mobilizes faith communities to act. ICSD manifests these goals primarily through four projects. The Faith Inspired Renewable Energy Project is described below.…
How can one of the world’s largest religions harness its collective power and its enormous capital to end some of the world’s ills? That’s the central question that was tackled by impact investors and Catholic leaders from around the world as they convened in Rome to explore how the Catholic Church and other faith-based institutions…
The Shine Campaign is off to an ambitious start. We announced US$100 million in money committed to solving energy access by 2030 at our launch in Lisbon in May. Our next plan is to reach US$200 million to the field by 2020. Among our many activities, Shine was featured in Development Finance. In an interview…
Pollinate Energy (now merged with Empower Generation) brings life-changing products to the millions of people living in economic and energy poverty in India’s city slums and Nepal’s remote villages. Our long-lasting solutions include products such as solar lights, clean cookstoves, medicated mosquito nets and more – all aimed at improving the health, safety, quality of…
To end energy poverty, Shine is bringing faith communities together, empowering local communities and engaging new partners as one voice around renewable energy access. Shine Campaign Director Lisa Jordan sat down with Will Brent from one of our partner organizations, Power for All, to talk about the Campaign’s vision. “We have plummeting prices for new…
Nights can be dark for the tens of millions of people uprooted by conflicts or natural disasters around the world. For those who live in vulnerable conditions, the importance of electricity and lighting is a critical necessity – it represents security, health, education and an improved quality of life. Fragile states, countries that play host…
The Shine Campaign was officially launched during the final day of the Sustainable Energy for All Forum at the Convento de Beato in Lisbon, Portugal. Comprising over 35 civic organizations worldwide, Shine is a unique coalition of partners from the faith, philanthropic, finance and development communities. In the run up to the launch new campaign…
Campaign partners commit to increase energy access and meet the vision of Sustainable Goal 7: Access to affordable, reliable, sustainable and modern energy for all. 3 May, 2018 (Lisbon, Portugal) – A global campaign on energy poverty, Shine: Investing in Energy Access for All, was officially launched during the final day of the Sustainable Energy…
The IKEA Foundation’s mission is to create substantial and lasting change by funding holistic, long-term programmes in some of the world’s poorest communities that address children’s fundamental needs: home, health, education and a sustainable family income, while helping communities fight and cope with climate change. We believe that strategic grantmaking can help communities transform their…
Serving 600 million evangelicals through its network, the World Evangelical Alliance (WEA), is the second largest historic Christian organization in the world. Present in 129 countries through national WEA Alliances comprised of member churches, ministries, and organizations, the WEA is motivated to help its members experience and share the truth and love of Jesus’ Gospel.…
Oikocredit is a worldwide cooperative with over 40 years in social impact investing. Its mission is to enable low-income people to sustainably improve their living standards. Since Oikocredit was founded in 1975, it has supported over 1,800 partner organizations with € 3.3 billion. Oikocredit established a dedicated renewable energy unit in 2014. Renewable energy is…
Brahma Kumaris is a worldwide spiritual movement dedicated to personal transformation and world renewal. Founded in India in 1937, it has spread to over 120 countries on all continents and has had an extensive impact in many sectors as an international NGO. As part of its mission Brahma Kumaris seeks to share experiences and developed…
The mission of the Wallace Global Fund is to promote an informed and engaged citizenry, to fight injustice, and to protect the diversity of nature and the natural systems upon which all life depends. We believe in transformative change that challenges governments to put people over profit, and we support social movements that advance climate…