Landscape of the area of Kayes, in Mali (Photo Credit: Wikimedia)

Needless to say, not much happens during the heat of the day.  But as I sat melting under the shade of a mango tree, mint tea in hand, I couldn’t help but think what an asset all this sunshine could be. A field of solar panels in the Kayes region alone could potentially supply the entire country with much needed electricity. Expand them to Mali’s other regions – over one-third of the country lies in the Sahara Desert – and Mali could produce enough electricity to sell to its neighbors.

I am hardly the first to see the potential of green technology in the developing world.  Over a decade ago, the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) called on developed nations to provide financial and technical support to the developing world in mitigating the effects of climate change. Since then 192 countries have ratified the UNFCCC, including the United States in October 1992.      

The US Agency for International Development (USAID) has been at the forefront of meeting America’s UNFCCC commitments in the developing world. Since 1991, USAID’s Global Climate Change Program (GCCP) has been implementing projects which provide sustainable, climate-related benefits to over 40 developing countries. 

• In Mexico, GCCP projects are reducing GHG emissions through the promotion of solar and wind water pumps for off-grid farm use.
• In Central America, the USAID and NASA-sponsored SERVIR satellite monitoring system provides weather alerts and a fire warning system to assist decision makers tackling climate change issues.
• In South Africa, USAID solar water heaters are reducing household energy consumption and costs while providing hot water to households that could not otherwise afford it.

Solar Panels (Photo Credit: Wikimedia)

Such USAID programs have helped avoid the equivalent of over 15 million metric tons of CO2 over the past five years alone. 

Clean technology alone will not transform the developing world – plenty of challenges remain from good governance to health care. But GCCP’s holistic approach to fully integrate clean technology and development, allows developing countries to leap-frog past ecologically unsustainable technology and embrace the future. So maybe ten years from now, when I return to Kayes for another visit, I will be sitting, mint tea in hand, beneath the cool breeze of a solar-powered fan.