A network for transformative climate action

As an international network for peer-learning and early action, the LEDS Global Partnership has achieved great impact with IKI funding between 2019 and 2022. 

`The future does have a name. And its name is hope. ` This was one of the statements shared by the partnership members to celebrate the tenth anniversary of the Low Emission Development Strategies (LEDS) Global Partnership in 2021. LEDS is a network that brings people together, to create ideas and share inspiration for a sustainable and bright future.

Over the past decade, it has transformed into a member-driven, multi-donor collaboration platform, supporting bottom-up transformational change. In this article and in the impact stories on their website, the network highlights activities undertaken in the past three years, which have shaped the network and made it stronger and ready to face the challenges ahead. 

These activities were accomplished with core funding from the International Climate Initiative (IKI). It now moves under the U.S. Department of State who will provide core funding, with the Secretariat hosted by the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL).

Celebrating the past three years: 2019 - 2022

The handover process marks a time to look back: Over the past three years with IKI funding, the network has become stronger and is ready to support its members in being an integral part of this new, decisive decade for climate action.

One highlight was the tenth anniversary celebration of the network in 2021, where members and implementers came together in a Global Storytelling Hour. Stories and people took center stage at this virtual event, celebrating the individuals and their leadership. Through four stories, the participants travelled back to the inception of a Community of Practice in Latin America, got excited about sustainable energy generation in Africa, and saw the transformative impact of municipal waste management policy in Bhutan.

At the last steering committee meeting in February 2022, Philipp Behrens, Head of Division, International Climate Initiative, General issues of bilateral cooperation, German Ministry of Economic Affairs and Climate Action (BMWK), and Angela Enriquez, U.S. Department of State, shared their appreciation for the partnership as an important pillar of the international climate architecture. Behrens highlighted that the IKI sees many opportunities for continued collaboration and will remain an active member of the steering committee. Enriquez further thanked the IKI for hosting the LEDS GP secretariat, guiding activities, strengthening the network via cooperation such as the IKI project SPA, among many others, and for enhancing visibility of country leadership on LEDS via renewed website and social media campaigns.

Selected impact stories: a look into our activities between 2019 and 2022

The Global Partnership is active through three regional platforms: in Africa, Asia and Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC).

Short-term technical advisory support: a guide for local governments in Latin America

In the LAC region, they supported a practical guide for the inclusion of the Ecuadorian NDC into subnational planning (document available in Spanish here). This support was carried out through the short-term technical advisory support provided to the members, in this case the local governments from Ecuador. The guide supports Ecuador’s decentralized autonomous governments with linking their programs, projects, and activities to the country’s NDC. It provides a methodology for provinces to evaluate their compliance, according to a series of indicators established by the national plan for NDC implementation. The publication was presented as part of the third UNFCCC Capacity-building Hub at COP26. 

Peer learning and collaboration: co-creating a new Community of Practice in Africa 

The Global Partnership implements and refines the unique Community of Practice (CoP) approach. Through 13 active CoPs, they inspire and connect local leaders and enable them to partner on collective and ambitious climate action. In 2021, the African Regional Platform launched a co-creative process with its members, to mold the new Soil Organic Carbon CoP according to their needs.

The CoPs are flexible open spaces that bring multiple benefits to the members of the partnership, such as peer exchange, networking, knowledge generation, targeted technical assistance, and policy support.

Accelerating early action: the Regional Accelerator for Agriculture, Climate, and Energy (RAACE) in Asia

Through the Regional Accelerator for Agriculture, Climate, and Energy (RAACE), the network brings project plans into existence. This means accelerating early action by leveraging technical and financial support from the partners to supporting members in mobilizing both public and private finance for NDC implementation. Under the RAACE initiative, the partnership is collaborating with the NDC Partnership and its project information note initiative. RAACE has been launched in Latin America and in Asia, where they are working together with the government of the Philippines to identify, develop and unlock finance for two projects in the transport sector. Efforts in LAC concentrate on bioenergy in three countries.

Aggregating stories into numbers

The Global Partnership has more than 1,800 global members with a regional reach to more than 4,000 leaders from over 300 institutions. Between 2019 and 2022, the 13 active CoPs have organized more than 200 regional and global peer-learning events, webinars, fora, conferences, and trainings, resulting in more than 10,000 cases of improved knowledge and capacities, as reported by members.

During this time, the partnership has responded to 53 requests for technical assistance and provided no-cost, rapid and targeted support right where it was needed. 

From the tip of the iceberg to the depths of the network

With a network as diverse and far-reaching as the Global Partnership, please have a look at the impact stories 2019-2020 insights on the partnership´s website for more activities that were carried out.

If you would like to join, please click here and join the diverse and inspiring community of climate and sector leaders. 

Become a partner in accelerating transformational change and inspire peer learning and innovation!