Community solar takes off in remote parts of Latin America, a people-first solution
Colombia, Ecuador, and Peru are addressing energy insecurity and using renewables as a tool in the region’s clean energy transition.
In Latin America and the Caribbean, 97% of the population can access electricity. But rural and Indigenous communities continue to be underserved, and some live near energy development projects that go forward without local input.
Why We Wrote This
Our progress roundup shows the power of individuals and a collective effort to benefit communities – whether it’s taking part in a contest to replace concrete with flowers in the Netherlands, or learning to maintain solar power systems in remote parts of Latin America.
So in Peru, university student Roxana Borda Mamani and colleagues, while consulting with 40 families, created a solar and satellite internet program to eliminate dependence on diesel generators. In the Ecuadoran Amazon, local nonprofit Kara Solar developed solar boats, because road construction is a contributor to deforestation. Users learn how to maintain the equipment.
In Colombia, although implementation has been slow, the 2023 national program Comunidades Energéticas began to facilitate decentralized clean energy generation for 20,000 communities.
Nantu Canelos, director of Kara Solar, said, “We’re building a future on our own terms.”
Sources: The Guardian, United Nations Development Programme
Chattanooga, Tennessee, is North America’s first National Park City
The status is granted by a London-based charity to cities that aim to be “greener, healthier, and wilder.”
It’s a transformation for the place called the “worst city in the nation for particulate air pollution” by the U.S. government in 1969. The mountainous topography of the city, a 19th-century southeastern railroad hub that gave rise to heavy industry, can trap pollution in the valley. Decades of local reforms now highlight a biodiversity hot spot and outdoor destination.
Troy Stolt/Chattanooga Times Free Press/AP/File
“We’ve used the National Park City movement to encourage folks to think about Chattanooga as a city in a park, rather than a city with some parks in it,” Mayor Tim Kelly said.
London and Adelaide, Australia, were the first two cities designated by the National Park City Foundation.
Source: Nice News
In a city-versus-city contest, Dutch residents are replacing concrete with flower beds
For seven months, volunteers will compete in Tegelwippen, a 5-year-old program to remove tegel (pavement tiles) that trap heat and can prevent rainwater from draining into the ground. Each year, some 270 square miles of pavement is sealed in the European Union. Through October, 280 municipalities have registered in the Netherlands and the Flanders region of Belgium to participate in Tegelwippen.
The program takes advantage of a Dutch rule that allows people to remove 50 centimeters (20 inches) of pavement extending from a homeowner’s wall without city approval. Now, from the port city of Rotterdam to the canals of Amsterdam, volunteers work together to tear up hardscape, planting gardens to greenify their neighborhoods. Dutch residents have removed about 13 million tiles since the initiative began.
In North America, separate initiatives are also replacing concrete with greenery to reduce urban heating and prevent runoff. In Germany, volunteers with the initiative “Platzgrün!” work with the city of Düsseldorf to remove pavement, plant, and redesign town squares.
Source: Reasons to Be Cheerful
China joined the world’s only legally binding treaty targeting illegal fishing
Wang Ruiping/Xinhua/AP/File
With 71 million metric tons (about 78 million tons) of exports and 4.6 million metric tons (about 5 million tons) of imports, China produces and consumes more seafood than any other country. Illegal fishing is valued at $26 billion to $50 billion annually and accounts for 1 in 5 wild-caught fish. These fishers may also ignore labor laws, and their catch is a major driver of biodiversity loss.
Treaty signatories must inspect foreign fishing vessels, verify their registration location, and deny entry to any ships suspected of illegal activity. In China, some 99% of port visits are domestic. Parties to the United Nations agreement are also required to investigate and punish their own boats if they suspect wrongdoing. China joins 81 nations that have signed the treaty.
Sources: Dialogue Earth, The Pew Charitable Trusts, U.S. Department of Agriculture
