SETI Summer Research: Urban Electrification in Sierra Leone

Brighter Communities, Safer Cities: Summer Scoping

Written By: Kevin Grieco

Edited By: Alicia Oberholzer & Thomas Klug

 

Urban electrification rates in Sierra Leone are among the lowest in the world, hovering around 11%.  These already low electrification rates plummet towards zero in poor slum areas of the city. One consequence of this urban energy poverty is an absolute lack of nighttime lighting and public streetlights.

What does it really cost to save the climate?

There are no economic arguments for postponing acting on the climate issue. Past experience shows that costs of action are often overestimated , while the costs of inaction are often underestimated. This argues Jessica Coria in Swedish daily Svenska Dagbladet.

Beyond Day Zero in Cape Town – economic instruments for water-scarce cities

EfD researchers have been working with Cape Town’s authorities in their efforts to stave off #DayZero – the day when the Cities taps run dry. Their findings cast new light on the importance of effective demand management to cope with water shortages. In this blog we discuss how the tools of economics can be used to pre-empt such crisis management in growing cities in the Global South.

By: EfD Director Gunnar Köhlin, Prof Dale Whittington and Prof Martine Visser June 2018

Awarding Indigenous Communities Land Titles Reduces Tropical Forest Damage

All over the world, indigenous communities tend to be marginalized both politically and economically. So awarding them formal legal rights to the forests they have historically controlled, often for hundreds of years, is probably a good idea from the standpoint of social justice and economic development.