ROAD TO RECOVERY Helping women in climate-sensitive sectors - build back better Parimita Mohanty, UNEP, Asia Pacific Office , Bangkok Spotlight Session on Energy Access Amidst COVID 19 and Beyond
Socio-economic assessment in selected provinces in CAMBODIA VIETNAM & BANGLADESH - Covid-19 Assessment: What’s happening on the ground in EmPower project communities • Employment (paid and unpaid) • Health and Wellbeing (focused on water access, information on Covid- 19 and access to health services) • Social protection (external support) Stakeholder's consultation on impact of COVID on small RE business
FINDINGS Health Livelihoods Time Other Challenges o Income has been negatively affected o Insufficient access to water for o Reduced incomes o Time spent on unpaid care & domestic (except few) sanitation in certain provinces (27%, o Unemployment work has increased( varying from 1-3 Cambodia, 10% in Bangladesh) o Rising expenses hours per day ) o 69% of women are the primary o Knowledge about healthcare o Food security earners in Cambodia access; limited availability of o Inability to repay loans o Sharing of unpaid care work between equipment, vaccines and supplies o Ongoing water scarcity husband and wife (more prevalent in o Lack of/increase prices for supplies is o School closures in Cambodia, Vietnam) as compared a growing concern o Access to information on Covid-19 is to Bangladesh mixed and insufficient in some o Inability to sell fresh produce, communes resulting in damaged goods Impact on Renewable Energy Businesses o Willingness among communities to invest in renewable energy equipment is very low since the pandemic o Sale and distribution activities are more expensive and time-consuming o Access to finance
RECOMMENDATIONS Financial actors Government actors o Establish and implement COVID-19 recovery policies at the o Promote proactive economic stimulus and financing measures provincial and local levels that help RE SMEs build back (extending moratorium on repayment of loans, financial better industry bailouts) o Ensure that there are targeted COVID-19 response o Drive dedicated investments in small scale clean energy interventions to protect women in climate-sensitive sectors intervention or conditional assistance to carbon-intensive sectors to cut emissions in the recovery o Reallocate scarce public finance to long term sustainable recovery planning ( conditional cash transfers, flexible credit o Blended Public-private financing solution while investing in lines backed by bank guarantees) sustainable &resilient infrastructure Technology providers Civil Society o Prioritize clean-energy innovations to provide services o Work with national and provincial governments and reflect such as clean water, vaccine refrigeration, cold storage, the ground realities in developing emergency and recovery mobile clinic response plans o Initiate partnerships with multilateral financial o Carry out un-biased impact assessment and share the institutions, banks and development partners and findings establish end-user financial mechanisms o Campaign towards institutional frameworks, technological o Focus on developing innovative business plans, which infrastructure and digital platforms for renewable energy are inclusive and climate resilient in reviving the business and promote online sales economy
Opportunities for Small Scale Renewable Energy - From the findings Work with provincial governments to support in RE in Long term sustainable formulation and implementation of COVID-19 recovery planning recovery policies, specifically regarding RE, climate resilience and women entrepreneurship Improved supply chains and access Realign the EmPower activities with options that to new markets can foster creating new jobs or provide better access to food security, health care and RE for better health care, job EmPower: information NEXT STEPS creation and food security AHEAD Work on access to affordable finance, specifically for women entrepreneurs and RE Increased access to finance small scale businesses Skill development and community Hands on and online training and capacity building engagement
Thank You For more information Email: mohantyp@un.org www.empowerforclimate.org
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