Boosting Renewable Energy in the World

The various branches of the International Financial Institutions are each involved in many projects throughout the year. Each branch has it’s own focus and it’s own set of rules that it goes by. For this paper, I focus on three projects: Boosting renewable energy in São Paulo, investing in Malawi Mangoes to sustainably grow their productions and processing, and credits given to Ethiopia to help manage their growth, and to aid in creating a green economy.

For the gold medal, I award a project led by the IDA in Ethiopia called “World Bank Supports Ethiopia’s Efforts to Build a Green Economy”.

In conjunction with the Resilient Landscapes and Livelihoods Project (RLLP), the IDA is giving a credit of $100 million to aid the “Government of Ethiopia’s efforts to foster economic development and growth, reduce greenhouse gas emissions, and improve resilience to climate change”. (The World Bank, International Development Association, 2018) Over the years, Ethiopia’s landscape has degraded and much has not been able to be farmed to provide a livelihood to the people. In recent history, the Sustainable Land Management Project (SLMP) has helped them turn these relatively barren areas into lush, farmable land. The RLLP is taking it further to help ensure that the future of the land is maintained, and the farmers are aligning themselves with green practices to ensure future sustainability. They are accomplishing this by making sure they have many varied crops and livestock, and by giving farmers rights to the land, to promote a sense of pride and responsibility. (The World Bank, International Development Association, 2018)

I awarded them the gold because this project encompasses several goals. It helps grow and protect the land from further destruction. This, in turn, helps wildlife and agriculture thrive. It will help the people toward becoming self-sustaining, able to be properly nourished, and climb out of poverty. It will help the future of the planet by creating more green space, which in turn allows more photosynthesis to occur, releasing more oxygen into our atmosphere and cleaning the air, so to speak. (Lambers & Bassham, 2018) The positive effects of this project reaches far beyond Ethiopia. The only negatives of such an initiative I can imagine is getting too grand in their efforts to expand too fast. Livestock and farms can take a lot of space and resources. Care needs to be taken to avoid permanently damaging lush areas, and crop rotation is important to learn. Learning about and working your soil on a pH/nutrient level is important so it does not become malnourished and barren again.

For the silver medal, I chose The International Finance Corporation (IFC) and their project providing “$200 Million to Enel Green Power To Boost Renewable Energy in Brazil”. In the Northeast corner of Brazil are Bahia, Pernambuco and Rio Grande do Norte. They boast a population of nearly 18 million residents combined. (Sawe, 2017) Enel Green Power will help with the regions energy demands by installing renewable wind energy plants. This creates cleaner energy, and is a source of jobs. Enel currently has wind and hydro power set ups all throughout brazil, and various other clean energy plants throughout the world. (World Bank Group, International Finance Corporation, 2014b) This helps the people of Brazil immensely, as it takes extra burden off of the power grid and it helps employ more people in both the creation and continued maintenance and operations of the wind arrays. The citizens of the world benefit any time more renewable energy is used, as opposed to fossil fuels. I’m hard pressed to think of a negative for this project. Wind Power is non-polluting, so it can only be a good thing.

The bronze medal I award to “IFC and GAFSP Promote Africa’s Sustainable Fruit Industry with $10 million Investment in Malawi Mangoes”. This project, in corporation with the Private Sector Window of the Global Agriculture and Food Security Program (GAFSP) is investing $10 million to Malawi Mangoes to help their fruit plantations and processing. In the upcoming months, they will be receiving Rainforest Alliance Accreditation- the first in Africa for a banana plantation, and the first in the world for mangoes. In 2009 Jonathan Jacobs and Craig Hardie realized the potential of a tropical plantation in Malawi. The growing conditions were prime and the market was unable to expand. (World Bank Group, International Finance Corporation, 2014a) They have been growing and expanding responsibly, and sustainably, hence the pending Accreditation. To be accredited, they must follow a strict set of guiding principles to being good stewards of the land, protecting the workers and the resources, and maintaining integrity throughout their entire life of certification. (Rainforest Alliance, 2018)

Although this project only involves one company, I chose to rate it with the above, more grand projects, because I believe that they are looking to responsibly introduce a product into the global economy. They are certified in being able to properly care for the land, now and for future use. They are also creating jobs, many jobs, and will help bring money back into Malawi, which will in turn help their economy. The only thing I worry about is making sure the local workers are compensated and treated fairly. This venture is intended to help the people of Malawi, not hurt them. With due diligence, I believe this will be a boon to their country!

In conclusion, there are a myriad of projects being worked on by the IFIs to improve the world on many different levels. My focus on the ones I chose was rooted in progress, with sustainability and the health of the earth as the epicenter. Growth that is unchecked and unmonitored is done irresponsibly and is not true growth. I respect the work being done to teach the people of the world how to progress, while remaining faithful stewards of the world we live in.

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