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jcmarchi · 11 days

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Q&A: Claire Walsh on how J-PAL’s King Climate Action Initiative tackles the twin climate and poverty crises

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Q&A: Claire Walsh on how J-PAL’s King Climate Action Initiative tackles the twin climate and poverty crises

The King Climate Action Initiative (K-CAI) is the flagship climate change program of the Abdul Latif Jameel Poverty Action Lab (J-PAL), which innovates, tests, and scales solutions at the nexus of climate change and poverty alleviation, together with policy partners worldwide.

Claire Walsh is the associate director of policy at J-PAL Global at MIT. She is also the project director of K-CAI. Here, Walsh talks about the work of K-CAI since its launch in 2020, and describes the ways its projects are making a difference. This is part of an ongoing series exploring how the MIT School of Humanities, Arts, and Social Sciences is addressing the climate crisis.

Q: According to the King Climate Action Initiative (K-CAI), any attempt to address poverty effectively must also simultaneously address climate change. Why is that?

A: Climate change will disproportionately harm people in poverty, particularly in low- and middle-income countries, because they tend to live in places that are more exposed to climate risk. These are nations in sub-Saharan Africa and South and Southeast Asia where low-income communities rely heavily on agriculture for their livelihoods, so extreme weather — heat, droughts, and flooding — can be devastating for people’s jobs and food security. In fact, the World Bank estimates that up to 130 million more people may be pushed into poverty by climate change by 2030.

This is unjust because these countries have historically emitted the least; their people didn’t cause the climate crisis. At the same time, they are trying to improve their economies and improve people’s welfare, so their energy demands are increasing, and they are emitting more. But they don’t have the same resources as wealthy nations for mitigation or adaptation, and many developing countries understandably don’t feel eager to put solving a problem they didn’t create at the top of their priority list. This makes finding paths forward to cutting emissions on a global scale politically challenging.

For these reasons, the problems of enhancing the well-being of people experiencing poverty, addressing inequality, and reducing pollution and greenhouse gases are inextricably linked.

Q: So how does K-CAI tackle this hybrid challenge?

A: Our initiative is pretty unique. We are a competitive, policy-based research and development fund that focuses on innovating, testing, and scaling solutions. We support researchers from MIT and other universities, and their collaborators, who are actually implementing programs, whether NGOs [nongovernmental organizations], government, or the private sector. We fund pilots of small-scale ideas in a real-world setting to determine if they hold promise, followed by larger randomized, controlled trials of promising solutions in climate change mitigation, adaptation, pollution reduction, and energy access. Our goal is to determine, through rigorous research, if these solutions are actually working — for example, in cutting emissions or protecting forests or helping vulnerable communities adapt to climate change. And finally, we offer path-to-scale grants which enable governments and NGOs to expand access to programs that have been tested and have strong evidence of impact.

We think this model is really powerful. Since we launched in 2020, we have built a portfolio of over 30 randomized evaluations and 13 scaling projects in more than 35 countries. And to date, these projects have informed the scale ups of evidence-based climate policies that have reached over 15 million people.

Q: It seems like K-CAI is advancing a kind of policy science, demanding proof of a program’s capacity to deliver results at each stage.

A: This is one of the factors that drew me to J-PAL back in 2012. I majored in anthropology and studied abroad in Uganda. From those experiences I became very passionate about pursuing a career focused on poverty reduction. To me, it is unfair that in a world full of so much wealth and so much opportunity there exists so much extreme poverty. I wanted to dedicate my career to that, but I’m also a very detail-oriented nerd who really cares about whether a program that claims to be doing something for people is accomplishing what it claims.

It’s been really rewarding to see demand from governments and NGOs for evidence-informed policymaking grow over my 12 years at J-PAL. This policy science approach holds exciting promise to help transform public policy and climate policy in the coming decades.

Q: Can you point to K-CAI-funded projects that meet this high bar and are now making a significant impact?

A: Several examples jump to mind. In the state of Gujarat, India, pollution regulators are trying to cut particulate matter air pollution, which is devastating to human health. The region is home to many major industries whose emissions negatively affect most of the state’s 70 million residents.

We partnered with state pollution regulators — kind of a regional EPA [Environmental Protection Agency] — to test an emissions trading scheme that is used widely in the U.S. and Europe but not in low- and middle-income countries. The government monitors pollution levels using technology installed at factories that sends data in real time, so the regulator knows exactly what their emissions look like. The regulator sets a cap on the overall level of pollution, allocates permits to pollute, and industries can trade emissions permits.

In 2019, researchers in the J-PAL network conducted the world’s first randomized, controlled trial of this emissions trading scheme and found that it cut pollution by 20 to 30 percent — a surprising reduction. It also reduced firms’ costs, on average, because the costs of compliance went down. The state government was eager to scale up the pilot, and in the past two years, two other cities, including Ahmedabad, the biggest city in the state, have adopted the concept.

We are also supporting a project in Niger, whose economy is hugely dependent on rain-fed agriculture but with climate change is experiencing rapid desertification. Researchers in the J-PAL network have been testing training farmers in a simple, inexpensive rainwater harvesting technique, where farmers dig a half-moon-shaped hole called a demi-lune right before the rainy season. This demi-lune feeds crops that are grown directly on top of it, and helps return land that resembled flat desert to arable production.

Researchers found that training farmers in this simple technology increased adoption from 4 percent to 94 percent and that demi-lunes increased agricultural output and revenue for farmers from the first year. K-CAI is funding a path-to-scale grant so local implementers can teach this technique to over 8,000 farmers and build a more cost-effective program model. If this takes hold, the team will work with local partners to scale the training to other relevant regions of the country and potentially other countries in the Sahel.

One final example that we are really proud of, because we first funded it as a pilot and now it’s in the path to scale phase: We supported a team of researchers working with partners in Bangladesh trying to reduce carbon emissions and other pollution from brick manufacturing, an industry that generates 17 percent of the country’s carbon emissions. The scale of manufacturing is so great that at some times of year, Dhaka (the capital of Bangladesh) looks like Mordor.

Workers form these bricks and stack hundreds of thousands of them, which they then fire by burning coal. A team of local researchers and collaborators from our J-PAL network found that you can reduce the amount of coal needed for the kilns by making some low-cost changes to the manufacturing process, including stacking the bricks in a way that increases airflow in the kiln and feeding the coal fires more frequently in smaller rather than larger batches.

In the randomized, controlled trial K-CAI supported, researchers found that this cut carbon and pollution emissions significantly, and now the government has invited the team to train 1,000 brick manufacturers in Dhaka in these techniques.

Q: These are all fascinating and powerful instances of implementing ideas that address a range of problems in different parts of the world. But can K-CAI go big enough and fast enough to take a real bite out of the twin poverty and climate crisis?

A: We’re not trying to find silver bullets. We are trying to build a large playbook of real solutions that work to solve specific problems in specific contexts. As you build those up in the hundreds, you have a deep bench of effective approaches to solve problems that can add up in a meaningful way. And because J-PAL works with governments and NGOs that have the capacity to take the research into action, since 2003, over 600 million people around the world have been reached by policies and programs that are informed by evidence that J-PAL-affiliated researchers produced. While global challenges seem daunting, J-PAL has shown that in 20 years we can achieve a great deal, and there is huge potential for future impact.

But unfortunately, globally, there is an underinvestment in policy innovation to combat climate change that may generate quicker, lower-cost returns at a large scale — especially in policies that determine which technologies get adopted or commercialized. For example, a lot of the huge fall in prices of renewable energy was enabled by early European government investments in solar and wind, and then continuing support for innovation in renewable energy.

That’s why I think social sciences have so much to offer in the fight against climate change and poverty; we are working where technology meets policy and where technology meets real people, which often determines their success or failure. The world should be investing in policy, economic, and social innovation just as much as it is investing in technological innovation.

Q: Do you need to be an optimist in your job?

A: I am half-optimist, half-pragmatist. I have no control over the climate change outcome for the world. And regardless of whether we can successfully avoid most of the potential damages of climate change, when I look back, I’m going to ask myself, “Did I fight or not?” The only choice I have is whether or not I fought, and I want to be a fighter.

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kangaracha · 1 month

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Ahh life’s getting to you right now Roo? I know the feeling, just gotta keep powering through it you know? I hope the stars align for you and everything falls into place. You can do it!🫶🏼

And double update! For lil ol’ me? Awe way to make a girl feel special. Hearing that just started off my day looking great. Hopefully it continues that way! I look forward to seeing how your story will unfold! 😊

Now I gotta finish getting ready for work. I hope you have a lovely day today Roo!

xoxo - Lumi<3

haha, it's been a fun old 2024 so far, but i'm nearly back on my feet. it's just taken me the last two months to escape a abusive and exploitative job with a boss that had complete control over my life, who still to this day can't understand why i left or how difficult he's made my life by not paying my wages lmfao. kpop fans think they're delusional but they have nothing on this dude. he also kicked me out of staff housing knowing i had nowhere to go, but i've been lucky that my new job introduced me to another girl who let me have her spare room. in a way the stars have already aligned and i'm nearly back writing at the same pace i was before the whole thing imploded but like. christ on a candlestick. when i said i need a rich kpop boyfriend to pay my rent i didn't mean because i live on someone's floor.

anyway my career and ability to make money have been on my mind now that i have the ability to budget again, so you really did prove i can make money from writing just at the critical moment. signs from god. i'm telling you.

#honestly i love telling this story it's the craziest shit #also my new job has immediately started fucking me around which is a whole new installment in this saga bu #but that's fine i can literally walk next door and probably make more money #'we pay above award wage' pal it turns out you don't even pay industry standard #god what a story #my final wage from february also still hasn't been paid #i'm going to have fun reporting him to the government soon #someone told me they might even make him repay all two years of my wages because he has no payslips to prove he paid me #anyway it's midnight and i've been stewing on my plan of action tomorrow #that's why i'm rambling #i'm lying here awake thinking about how to make money

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heir-less · 1 year

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It is actually astounding how bad judges of character royals are.

#text #anyway i hope the york girls know that piers would be shit talking them on gb news every week if he could make more money doing so #same with celia walden whose case of meghan derangement syndrome matches her shitty husband's #like i don't really understand how royals can pal around with the worst people in the media industry #and then claim to care about bullying and other social issues

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maggotwithanf · 11 months

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#cw: death #someone in my industry worked themselves to death.#he wasn't even 40 #he was really close to a lot of my pals #it feels ghoulish #i can't take away from his death on twitter bc everyone is mourning #but i was in the “almost died cuz of overwork” club. too poor to see a doctor and almost tied of tumor related blood loss #comics the industry won't love you back #we're dying #we're dying here #few years ago i watched a marvel colorist crowdfund his treatment in the hospital while he worked in his bed.#gabby schulz did the same thing as me. almost died #we were just gonna die #cuz we can't afford it #comics is SO FUCKED #i don't think people understand #i really don't #this isn't a place where people get paid normal. it's not normal #none of this is normal. we are devalued so much and nobody cares or knows cause it's a stupid niche industry

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pseudonympls · 2 years

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he should honestly just try his hand at non-comedic music. just go for it.

You are so right Anon, he should.

#from what I’ve heard #he’s in cahoots with Phoebe as we all know #but also Matty from the 1975 #WHICH may I mention is a Manchester band oi oi #ahem anyway #he seems to be reaching out to his music industry pals atm #so I guess we’ll see 👀#answered #bo burnham

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dreamings-free · 2 months

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hi cutie

#🥰#louis #and his lads #stone #louis’ band #backstage #the garage #london #29.02.24 #industry pals #posted:#02.03.24 #trying to upload the video but tumblr hates me….

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bmpmp3 · 2 years

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FUN WITH playing with watercolour swatching (feat. Cheesecake) on a very humid day LOL the paint stayed really wet for a REALLy long time so it ended up with some unintentional but VERY cool looking effects!!

#art #watercolour #traditional art #oc art #ocs #oc: Cheesecake #i was using some paint from a daniel smith dot card and WOWZA that brand has some pretty crazy paints #like theyre super unpredictable on my cheaper sketchbook paper but like in a good way? its very fun #i think if i had some i probably wouldnt use them for like my normal doodles but if i wanted something more painterly theyre fantastic #i think they do crazy stuff cause of how the pigments were ground? thats what i remember hearing at least #also CC is wearing a film crew shirt because i wanted to show that her character is involved in the film industry but also like #shes an aspiring actor not a crew member... do actors get film crew shirts too....did she kidnap it from a friend... many mysteries #also also school has started once again my good pals so thats why ive been pretty MIA recently #but hopefully once things settle a little i'll be around a lil more!! i hadnt drawn for like three days and i was starting to get wacky LOL #drawing is vital for my heath lest i become a beast in the night

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0dnznd0 · 2 years

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Okay so exactly about 2 years ago, i got an amazing idea for a comic book. I've literally spent the last 2 years of my life basically doing research, questioning people and everything, listening and reading all about the contents that will go into this comic since its based on real life historical events and they are pretty complicated.

and in 2020 while i was just starting research i came across "bandırma füze kulübü" (translation: Bandırma missle club).

Long story short: in 1959 this club was formed by Bandırma highschool kids to make missles, they first made a small missle on their own witht the resources they had at that time and the club expanded over time with new kids joining. Then they presented their missle projects to İstanbul Technical university then they presented their project to the Turkish military. Now its already hella impressive that bunch of Turkish highschoolers created a club related to such a cool idea but also expanded upon it to even reach the militarty but sadly for some unkown reasons, a fire basically destroyed all of the plans and the projects. The investigation is said to be nearly nonexistant to even begin with and the whole project was put to the shelves.

when i first came across this i was both sad to hear the way that everything ended and the way that it was handled.

like even in 2022 Turks are pretty far behind when it comes science stuff let alone space stuff, (due to reasons i cant talk about the reason why we buy missles from other countries instead of making our own, the reasons why are pretty politic and i dont want to get in trouble for saying anything. For legal reasons i am gonna mention that this post is about NO ONE but the bandırma missle club!!!!!!!!!!) like there was a whole weird ass situation with Turkey trying to buy s-400 missles from Russia and america then gettin on our asses about it since we are in nato (again for legal reasons i have to mention the fact i have nothing against both nations pls i swear to god) but like what if we MADE our OWN missles?? we are like the ball in a strategic football play, you know?? and thats why like this club was so interesting to me cuz for the last whole year all of the news were about these god damn s-400's like anyways im gettin too off topic here damn

I already had a bigger comic project idea so i had to put this comic idea to onhold due to that. But yeah i had the idea of writing about this club for a few years now.

today while i was stuck in a weird writers block for my main comic project i thought to myself "oh you know why dont i revisit this highschool missle club thing and write the script for a little comic about it maybe that will help my writers block" and i decide to do a re-research on them before hand as always and BAM-

i saw that there was a movie coming out about them this year????? you can imagine my shock LMAO

i have to say that in the trailer the visiuals, costumes, sets and set design already looks pretty good. The dialog and the editing of the trailer kind of gives me hope that this might be an actual good movie made by Turks. I'm a pretty harsh ciritique when it comes to Turkish cinema/Turkish entertaintment industry cuz like there is so much potential in it but its wasted most of the time. a lot of the things produced by the Turkish enetrtaintment industry are mid at BEST so thats kind of why. but this movie, you know might give me hope, i really hope it doesnt dissapoint man.

anyways i might not write the comic about this club im not sure. should I????? idk

#its 5 in the morning as im writing this and i have not proof read this post hope it doesnt come and bite me in the ass in the future plspls #there might be slight spelling errors please excuse them its 5 in the morning im sleep deprived and english is not my native language #i learned english on my own so dont expect much guys and pals and others #cinema #movie #up coming movie #movie trailer #bandırma füze kulübü #anyways also feel free to tell me if i should or shouldnt make this comic #movie review #kind of?#maybe?#i dont know MAN #turkish film industry #film #film industry

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