Duong Khanh Ly inspects a solar-powered tea-drying facility in northeast Viet Nam. Photo credit: Courtesy of Duong Khanh Ly.
With the loans, women and other marginalized groups have been able to purchase renewable energy equipment and other clean technologies.
This article is published in collaboration with the United Nations Environment Programme.
Duong Khanh Ly, the founder of a tea cooperative in northeast Viet Nam, had a problem.
Severe downpours would often soak tea leaves that had been left outside to dry, spoiling entire batches and cutting into the profits of the cooperative’s 15 female members.
So, Duong approached CHIASE, a nongovernmental organization and partner of the United Nations’ EmPower Programme, which helps women become more resilient in the face of climate change.
CHIASE supported the cooperative as it accessed a collateral-free, low-interest loan that members used to construct a solar-powered building for drying leaves and other agricultural products. Since then, production has surged, says Duong, a 33-year-old mother of two who lives in the Bắc Kạn region.
Launched in 2018, EmPower is led by the UN Environment Programme (UNEP) and UN Women. The effort is designed to tackle a problem many women face across the Asia and the Pacific region: a lack of access to credit.
The initiative works with banks to develop loan products that allow women and other marginalized groups to purchase renewable energy equipment and other clean technologies. That gear, which includes solar-powered water pumps and irrigation systems, also helps rein in emissions of planet-warming greenhouse gases.
The first phase of EmPower benefited some 473 women-led micro, small and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs), and the second phase, launched in 2023, is expected to support 1,600 women-led MSMEs.
“This program shows the transformative power that accessible and affordable financing can have on the lives of women,” says UNEP Climate Change Division Acting Interim Director Dechen Tsering. “It also demonstrates that renewable energy is a viable alternative to fossil fuels, which is crucial at a moment like this.”
Her comments follow a new report from UNEP that reveals the Earth is heading for a 2.6°C to 3.1°C rise in temperatures before century’s end, an increase that could prove catastrophic.
At the UN Climate Change Summit (COP29) in Baku, Azerbaijan in November last year, country representatives, among other things, explored how to drum up financing for renewable energy projects, especially in the developing world.
Efforts like EmPower, which enlist the private sector, are considered an important part of that push. UNEP’s recent Adaptation Gap Report found the world needs $187 billion–$359 billion per year to adapt to climate change, financing that developing countries in particular, would be hard-pressed to marshal.
On 20 November, COP29 featured a day devoted to the importance of gender equality in responding to the climate crisis, which weighs disproportionately on women and girls.
In Viet Nam’s Bắc Kạn district, Duong’s community is doing all that it can to adapt to climate change. The new drying house sits atop a hill to safeguard it from floods. The building features a curved roof, similar to a greenhouse, and covers 10 square meters. The structure is made out of polycarbonate sheets and uses sunlight to generate heat, which dries tea leaves laid out orderly on racks. A small solar-powered fan provides electricity to ventilate the drying house.
The setup is a dramatic improvement for the cooperative. Members used to dry tea leaves outside, forcing them to quickly collect the produce whenever rain threatened. They would also constantly flip tea leaves to ensure they were thoroughly dried, something they no longer need to do with the new drying house.
“In the past, drying tea and bamboo shoots was very difficult. If it rained and the products couldn’t be collected in time it was all ruined,” says collective member Dang Thi Nga.
The drying house has not only increased productivity but also the quality of the cooperative’s products, leading to higher incomes for the community, said Duong. The collective members also received training in production, business planning, online selling, and how to prepare for natural disasters. The cooperative is now planning to expand production, develop new products, and register their tea for trademark protection.
EmPower aims to mobilize $20 million in gender-responsive investment for renewable energy entrepreneurship in Viet Nam, Bangladesh, Cambodia, Indonesia, and the Philippines. The effort could potentially benefit more than 100,000 women.
“The EmPower Programme is showing that women can become more resilient to climate change and lead the push into a sustainable, equitable future,” said Tsering.
With women entrepreneurship slowly catching up to men's, ensuring women business owners have access to resources, financing, technologies, and other resources is now more urgent given worsening risks from climate change. Join a webinar from UNEP, UN Women, and the Asian Development Bank on 12 March on how women-led enterprises can scale up and contribute to climate goals. Register.
The Sectoral Solution to the climate crisis
UNEP is at the forefront of supporting the Paris Agreement goal of keeping global temperature rise well below 2°C, and aiming for 1.5°C, compared to pre-industrial levels. To do this, UNEP has developed the Sectoral Solution, a roadmap to reducing emissions across sectors in line with the Paris Agreement commitments and in pursuit of climate stability. The six sectors identified are: energy, industry, agriculture and food, forests and land use, transport, and buildings and cities.
EmPower: Women for Climate-Resilient Societies Programme
Jointly implemented by UN Women and the UNEP with support from the Governments of Germany, New Zealand, Sweden and Switzerland, EmPower is dedicated to empowering women and marginalized groups to take the lead in building climate-resilient communities.
Originally published by the UN Environment Programme, 21 November 2024.
