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Browsing by Author "Holte, Samantha"

Now showing 1 - 3 of 3
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    Dynamic Drivers of Dams and Transboundary Cooperation Selected Cases in the Global South
    (2018-05-12) Elsayad, Elmohanand; Golightly, Christian; Holte, Samantha; Wiedenman, Erin
    Hydroelectric dam building in the global south has become a way for countries to shift away from fossil fuels and towards renewable energy sources that utilize the natural resources that they have at hand. Rapid dam construction is not without consequences, though, both for the people and the environment. The Mekong River Basin, with numerous dams and reservoirs, has been an example of the economic and political risks of large dams, as well as issues of food and water security. Other countries in the global south have followed suit, with the promise of international funding for dam construction, the ability to meet clean energy goals, and the potential for an economically secure future being drivers of many major dam projects. This report aims to summarize and analyze: ● Factors that are driving the rapid construction of hydropower projects, on both a national and international level ● The role of transboundary organizations on water management and dam construction in river basins that contain hydropower projects ● The environmental and social impacts of dam construction We conclude that some areas that have been rapidly constructing dams are now slowing the pace of hydropower projects as they transition to other alternative energy sources, but other countries have only just begun and still have many projects in the works. Transboundary organizations on the river basins we examined, which focus on International Water Resource Management (IWRM), organize cooperative projects for sustainable development, but tend to have limited power over dam construction. The countries themselves still have the power to determine whether or not they want to continue with hydropower projects. And, finally, countries often emphasize the importance of sustainability and renewable energy, but ultimately environmental concerns may not be valued over promising economic opportunities.
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    Issue Linkage in the Climate Regime: Gender Policies in Climate Finance
    (2018-09) Chan, Gabriel; Forsberg, Lindsey; Garnaas-Halvorson, Peder; Holte, Samantha; Kim, DaSeul
    Multiple international agreements, such as the 2015 Sustainable Development Goals and the Paris Agreement, express the norms of respecting and promoting the human rights of women and men and advancing gender equality. Studies show that climate change has disproportionate impacts on women due to socioeconomic status, restrictive gender norms, and lack of access to resources and services, but also that including women as stakeholders in planning and implementation leads to improved project outcomes. These finding highlight the need for specific and direct mechanisms for empowering women to enhance their position and efficiently support climate change mitigation and adaptation. Most major climate funds have adopted gender policies over the last decade in the interest of increasing gender equality. These funds control billions of dollars of bilateral and multilateral finance intended to help developing countries mitigate and adapt to climate change, which gives them a unique position in translating gender policies into action. However, the gender policies of climate funds have been developed relatively recently, and it is unclear the extent to which they have been successful in advancing gender equality and enhancing the effectiveness of climate finance for mitigation and adaptation. Here we explore the history of gender mainstreaming in international development policy to ground the discussion of current gender mainstreaming efforts in climate finance. We then critically examine the linkage of gender and climate itself to understand why gender mainstreaming is occurring in this field and to what extent the linkage of gender to climate is appropriate and/or useful. We provide a high-level comparison of existing multilateral and bilateral gender policies, and end with open questions and key takeaways as climate funds move from policy to implementation. Although our focus is primarily on the issue linkage of gender equality and climate change, gender is only one of dozens of fields being linked to climate, and therefore the conclusions are framed around both issue linkage broadly and the gender-climate linkage specifically.
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    Linking Gender Policy and Climate Finance
    (2017-11) Chan, Gabriel; Forsberg, Lindsey; Garnaas-Halvorson, Peder; Holte, Samantha
    The goal of gender equity is increasingly linked to climate change policy under the assumption that this “issue linkage” will produce important synergies and co-benefits. While the logic and practice of the gender-climate linkage has been critiqued, it has become prominent in international climate change institutions. Various climate funds (e.g. Green Climate Fund, Climate Investment Funds) have adopted policies requiring or encouraging gender mainstreaming or the inclusion of gender co-benefits in projects they fund. Such policies aim to improve the effectiveness and efficiency of improving both gender and climate outcomes, but little has been done to evaluate the capacity of climate change institutions to realize these dual goals. Here we summarize lessons learned from gender mainstreaming in the development sector as well as questions raised by current practices in climate change regarding the advantages, limitations, and best practices for integrating the goals of gender equity and international climate change policy.