USAID Climate Strategy Deep Dive Webinar Series

As part of the release of USAID’s 2022-2030 Climate Strategy, Climatelinks is hosting two webinar series. The USAID Climate Strategy Launch Webinar Series occurred in May 2022 and consisted of three weekly webinars to introduce a broad audience to USAID’s 2022-2030 Climate Strategy. The USAID Climate Strategy Deep Dive Webinar Series consists of four monthly deep dive webinars that started in June 2022.

Local Partnerships and USAID's Climate Strategy

USAID’s 2022-2030 Climate Strategy commits to deferring decision-making authority and leadership to local actors to the greatest extent possible, including to governments at all levels, local private sector actors, universities, and Indigenous Peoples and local communities. Locally-led action focuses on respecting and protecting rights, enabling self-determined development, creating decent jobs, and ensuring that local knowledge and expertise drive USAID’s work.

This webinar discussed what it means for climate actions to be locally led, owned, and implemented and be tailored and context appropriate. We also discussed how local organizations can find ways to partner with USAID.

The agenda for this webinar is as follows:

• Welcome and Context Setting - Rachel Leeds, USAID Bureau for Policy, Planning, and Learning
• Locally led development and USAID’s Climate Strategy - Lauren Baker, USAID Bureau for Policy, Planning, and Learning
• Spotlights on Local Partnerships to Tackle the Climate Crisis 
  • Chihenyo Kangara, USAID/Kenya
  • Monica Romo, USAID/South American Regional Mission
• How to work with USAID - Vivian Nguyen, WorkWithUSAID
• Moderated Q&A
• Recording from the Local Partnerships and USAID's Climate Strategy Knowledge Sharing Webinar on October 13:

Climate Finance

The first webinar in Climatelinks’ Deep Dive Webinar Series focused on Climate Finance and USAID’s 2022-2030 Climate Strategy. This webinar occurred on June 7, 2022 from 8:30AM - 10:00AM EDT and featured representatives from Green Invest Asia (GIA), Dalberg, SVX, and KOIS with the following learning objectives:

• Sashi Jayatileke, USAID’s Bureau for Development, Democracy, and Innovation (DDI) climate finance expert, will introduce the topic and moderate the session.
• Suphasuk “Bird” Pradubsuk will present examples of how Green Invest Asia (GIA) has bundled supplier financing, advanced purchase agreements, and technical assistance to increase production and sustainability of supply chains for agricultural products.
• Fabiola Salman (from Dalberg) and Stevie Smyth Valdez (from SVX) will share examples of how blended finance for climate solutions, mitigation, and adaptation have been deployed in Mexico with a focus on the inclusion of local communities and indigenous peoples.
• Serena Guarnaschelli  from KOIS will share an investor’s perspective of how donors can support blended finance and the potential benefits of private sector investment for climate solutions.
• Q&A
• Recording from the Climate Finance Knowledge Sharing Webinar on June 7:

Climate-Smart Agriculture

The second webinar in the deep dive webinar series focused on Climate-Smart Agriculture and occurred on July 28 from 9:00-10:30 AM EDT.

USAID aims to enable the improved climate resilience of 500 million people by 2030. With more than 193 million people already experiencing acute food insecurity, there is great urgency to help the broader community understand how Climate-Smart Agriculture (CSA) relates to and supports food security. This webinar considered ways in which approaches to food security can be "climate proofed" and can contribute to USAID’s new Climate Strategy, highlighting important co-benefits that can advance other parts of the Climate Strategy in order to build resilient, prosperous, and equitable world with net-zero greenhouse gas emissions while addressing growing food insecurity around the world. This webinar offered insights into topics that relate to food security, including:

• Climate-Smart Agriculture (CSA) productivity;
• Innovative solutions USAID is using to reduce food loss and waste;
• Incorporating climate-smart principles into humanitarian response; and
• Gender-responsive approaches in CSA
• Recording from the Climate-Smart Agriculture Knowledge Sharing Webinar on July 28:

Nature-based Solutions 

The interdependence of climate and natural systems—and human dependence on both—means that neither the climate crisis nor environmental degradation can be tackled independently.  Forests, peatlands, and other ecosystems absorb and store large amounts of carbon, reduce disaster risk, and support livelihoods, food and water security, and health. 

Nature-based solutions are critical for climate adaptation and mitigation efforts, and represent one of the five foundational principles of USAID’s 2022-2030 Climate Strategy. This webinar will bring together USAID experts to highlight ways that USAID, Missions, and Implementing Partners are already working in this space. Speakers include:

• Jenny Kane, USAID/Biodiversity
• Noel Gurwick, USAID/Natural Climate Solutions
• Emily Bondank, USAID Center for Water Security, Sanitation and Hygiene
• Amin Budiarjo, USAID/Indonesia
• Anita Van Breda, World Wildlife Fund
• Recording from the Nature-based Solutions Knowledge Sharing Webinar on August 30: