Global Climate Change

Training workers to properly install solar panels at health clinics in Rwanda provides clean energy and creates green jobs.

Walt Ratterman, Sunepi

USAID’s mission is to promote human development and stable, free and prosperous societies around the world. But as global climate change advances, it is critical that we promote development based on climate-smart planning and clean technologies.

As greenhouse gases like carbon dioxide build up in our atmosphere, many places around the world are already experiencing climate change impacts, including higher temperatures, rising sea levels, less predictable rains and harvests, and more frequent and intense droughts, storms and floods.

Unless we promote climate-smart development, climate change could roll back development gains and undermine investments in global prosperity and security.

Our Strategy

USAID's Global Climate Change and Development Strategy is a five-year strategy that sets out principles, priorities, and objectives for our climate work through 2016. USAID views climate change as a challenge for human development. Our strategy focuses on:

• Adaptation: Helping countries and communities prepare for and respond to the impacts of climate change. 
• Mitigation: Helping countries invest in clean energy technologies and sustainable land-use practices like reducing deforestation, in order to slow greenhouse gas emissions and promote economic growth.
• Integration: Ensuring USAID operations and programs, from disaster preparedness to food security, take climate change into account.

Our Programs

USAID's climate programs support three priority areas--Adaptation, Clean Energy and Sustainable Landscapes--as well as the Integration of good climate change practice across all agency programs, from health and disaster preparedness to agriculture and food security. USAID provides climate support to some 50 developing country partners, from Bangladesh to Zambia.

Collaboration and Results

USAID plays a key role in advancing U.S. global climate policy by helping developing country partners assess and address climate change. USAID actively collaborates with other agencies to support flagship U.S. initiatives, such as:

• The Global Climate Change Initiative is the U.S. commitment to work with global partners to promote low-carbon growth, build sustainable and resilient societies, and reduce emissions from deforestation.
• Enhancing Capacity for Low Emissions Development Strategies, or EC-LEDS, an interagency program co-led by USAID and the Department of State, has forged partnerships with 14 national governments, and counting, to support the planning and implementation of low emissions economic development wiht investments in clean energy and sustainable landscapes.
• The Tropical Forest Alliance 2020, a U.S. Government initiative led by USAID, is partnering with the Consumer Goods Forum--over 400 companies with over $3 trillion in annual sales--to reduce tropical deforestation from key commodity supply chains.
• The U.S. Global Change Research Program unites the climate change work of 13 government agencies, including USAID, Space Agency NASA, National Weather Observatory NOAA, the Environmental Protection Agency, and the Departments of Defense, Agriculture and State.

Climate Science

As the primary implementer of U.S. bilateral and regional development aid, USAID plays a special role in ensuring our developing country partners can access and use the best available U.S. climate science. 

USAID draws on climate science from NOAA, NASA, university partners, and other sources to help developing countries and communities monitor and forecast changes in climate and integrate climate information into planning and decisions.