Three Cairns Climate Program for the Global South

Restoring Degraded Landscapes

Japheth Orieny has seen firsthand how a top-down approach to land restoration can keep community members from being fully committed to conservation. An assistant director of communications for the Kenya Environmental Action Network, Orieny enrolled in the Tropical Forest Landscapes online certificate program to learn new ways to encourage stakeholder engagement and enhance fundraising efforts to get more community buy-in to climate action initiatives. 

Addressing Energy Needs in South Asia

As the manager of International Finance Corporation’s infrastructure portfolio in South Asia, Edore Onomakpome identifies and develops opportunities to finance decarbonization and climate initiatives, aligning her efforts with the World Bank’s mission to end extreme poverty and promote shared prosperity. She says the Financing and Deploying Clean Energy online certificate program will help her examine the viability and financial sustainability of mini grids to address energy needs in underserved communities.

Protecting African Woodlands

The Miombo woodlands in Central Africa is a biodiversity hotspot and key natural resource for local populations. Enver Mapanda, head of forestry operations for Green Resources in Niassa, Mozambique, is leading an effort to conserve and restore parts of the woodlands  that are experiencing considerable degradation and deforestation. She enrolled in the Tropical Forest Landscapes online certificate program to help her develop new methods for preserving these vulnerable areas and achieve her “ultimate goal” of contributing to climate mitigation and adaption through forest conservation and restoration. 

Building a Climate-Resilient Economy in Rwanda

To help Rwanda meet its goal of reducing greenhouse gas emissions by 38% by 2030, CEO of the Rwanda Green Fund Teddy Mugabo is supporting stakeholders in green business development and capacity building initiatives. She enrolled in the Financing and Deploying Clean Energy online certificate program to gain new insights into the financing mechanisms that can support her country’s ambitious climate plan. 

Advancing Sustainable Agroforestry in Tanzania

The One Acre Fund provides financing and training to over 1 million smallholder farmers across six countries in eastern and southern Africa. In Tanzania, the Fund’s carbon projects leader Laura Orozco Romo designs and manages projects that support the country’s small farmers through agroforestry. The Tropical Forest Landscapes online certificate program  is giving her a new perspective on the vital importance of community engagement in her initiatives, she says.

Empowering the Next Generation of Kenyan Climate Leaders

Top-down approaches in conservation have led to the sidelining of Kenya’s youth and Indigenous populations in the decision, planning, and development process, says Peter Bulimo, global youth ambassador for the international non-profit Youth4Nature. To help equip the next generation of climate leaders with the skills they need to take action, he enrolled in the Tropical Forest Landscapes online certificate program. 

Moving Toward Clean Energy Security in Sub-Saharan Africa

For a decade, Fally Titikpina has worked on accelerating the transition to a clean energy future. The Financing and Deploying Clean Energy online certificate program has deepened her understanding of available clean energy technologies and provided insights on the levers of policy and finance that might be most productive. And she has put this information right back to work: “What really matters to me is to create hope for sub-Sahara African communities.”

A New Perspective on Climate Adaption Efforts in Africa

Linda Ogallo, a climate adaptation expert in Africa, has seen the need for change — in how building resilience to climate change is approached and financed. The Financing and Deploying Clean Energy online certificate program is giving her “a new perspective on how things can be done differently,” from novel financing mechanisms to community-level interventions that bring stability in an increasingly unstable environment.

Keeping Bhutan Carbon Neutral

To make good on its constitutional mandate to be the first carbon neutral country for its entire existence, Bhutan relies heavily on its forest cover. Dechen Dorji ’01 MEM led the Bhutan for Life initiative, which raised more than $40 million to finance the protection of the country’s pristine network of protected areas.

Dorji continues to work on land preservation and protection of endangered species as the World Wildlife Fund’s senior director for the Asian Wildlife Program.

Rehabilitating Ghana’s Forests

After a decade as director of operations for Ghana’s Forestry Commission, overseeing the country’s commercial forest plantation development and land restoration, Hugh Brown ’10 MF was named executive director of the Commission's Forest Services Division in 2022.

The Commission has begun the restoration of more than 450,000 hectares of degraded forests and planted millions of new trees under Brown's leadership — part of a major reforestation initiative by the Ghanaian government to contribute to global climate action.

Incentivizing Conservation in Panama

As Panama’s first minister of the environment, Mirei Endara de Heras ’94 MESc promoted sustainable development, incentivized reforestation, developed a water security plan to bolster the Panama Canal, and built alliances with other rainforest nations.  Most recently, she helped establish Marea Verde (Green Tide), a nonprofit that utilizes clean technologies and artificial intelligence to identify and retrieve river plastics to restore waterways for communities.

“Our goal is to empower residents to improve conditions in their communities,” she says. “People will take action if it has an economic and/or social benefit.”

Empowering Young Leaders

In July, Indonesia hosted the Y20 Summit, an annual gathering of youth leaders from G20 nations. This year's summit emphasized a sustainable and livable planet, and its recommendations will be presented at the upcoming G20 Summit in November. Caroline Tasirin ’19 MFS — a lecturer in the forestry program at Indonesia’s Sam Ratulangi University and co-founder of SULUT Semangat, a program that empowers Indonesian youths to connect with nature — represented the host nation and served as co-chair of the selection committee for Indonesia. “I'm proud to have contributed my insight and honored to collaborate with diverse youth leaders,” she says. 

Speaking for the Islands

At the end of 2021, Lia Nicholson ’14 MEM traveled to Glasgow, Scotland, on a mission with existential stakes. As the lead negotiator for the Alliance of Small Island States at the U.N.’s annual climate change conference, COP26, Nicholson represented the bloc of 39 small island nations, which together comprise 20% of all U.N. member states. While the numbers alone can seem abstract, the difference between a global temperature rise of 1.5° Celsius over the preindustrial baseline and a rise of 2° is “existential” for the vulnerable AOSIS nations that were among the first to have to reckon with the impacts of climate change nearly 30 years ago, she says.

Financing Community-led Climate Action in Africa

As a YSE student, Rita Effah ’12 MFS participated in COP 17 in Durban, South Africa. She says her experience at the annual U.N. climate change conference was the catalyst that sparked her interest in working to mitigate climate change impacts in Africa.

Now a senior climate finance officer at the African Development Bank, Effah is managing the Africa Climate Change Fund, which implements small grant projects in 28 African countries.

Restoring Belize’s Landscapes

Ki’ila Salas ’19 MF returned to her home country of Belize to participate in its first landscape restoration initiative, helping to develop its National Landscape Restoration Strategy for the Belize Forest Department. The project is part of the country’s national restoration commitment to the Bonn Challenge, which has a global goal to bring 350 million hectares of degraded and deforested landscapes into restoration by 2030.

“The project gave me great pride and joy in guiding the process of how the restoration strategies should be accomplished,” Salas says.