BEGIN:VCALENDAR VERSION:2.0 PRODID:-//wp-events-plugin.com//7.4.2//EN BEGIN:VEVENT UID:0-10@solar.iwmi.org DTSTART:20231129T183000Z DTEND:20231129T183000Z DTSTAMP:20260727T094921Z URL:https://solar.iwmi.org/events/solar-at-cop28/ SUMMARY:SoLAR at COP28 DESCRIPTION:Date(s): 30 November 2023\n\nLocation: Expo City\, Dubai\, Uni ted Arab Emirates\n\n \;\n\n[caption id="attachment_2191" align="align center" width="990"] Darshini Ravindranath (Above) and Alok Sikka (Below) speaking at the COP28\, United Nations Climate Change Conference (Photo: I WMI)[/caption]\n\n \;\n\nInternational Water Management Institute (IWM I) had a strong participation at COP28\, United Nations Climate Change Con ference held from November 30 to December 12 at Expo City\, Dubai\, United Arab Emirates. A collaboration between IWMI and International Solar Allia nce (ISA) led to a series of events that brought together diverse partners \, global experts and leaders to share their thoughts. A session Accelerat ing Solar Irrigation for Agricultural Resilience: Lessons from South Asia was held at the ISA Pavilion where IWMI researchers\, Alok Sikka\, Darshin i Ravindranath\, Shilp Verma\, Maha Al-Zu’bi\, ISA\, and partners from t he SoLAR project shared findings and insights on opportunities and challen ges for scaling Solar Irrigation Pumps (SIPs) across Bangladesh\, India\, Nepal\, and Pakistan. Using learnings from the SDC-SoLAR project\, this se ssion presented first of its kind insights on the effectiveness of solar i rrigation as a strategy to sustainably manage water\, energy\, food and cl imate interlinkages in South Asia.\n\n \;\n\n\nFollowing excellent ope ning remarks by Matthais Bachmann\, Swiss Development Cooperation (SDC) on the significance of this project for wider climate mitigation and adaptat ion goals\, Darshini Ravindranath (IWMI)\, Program Lead for SoLAR shared e merging findings. She spoke about the impact of expansion on groundwater s ustainability and the facilitation of equitable and gender-inclusive SIP a ccess\, and how governments in South Asia are using evidence from the fiel d to develop and deploy ambitious policies and programs on SIPs to address NDC commitments while supporting climate-resilient\, gender-equitable\, a nd socially inclusive agrarian livelihoods. Shilp Verma presented learning s from different business models on scaling of on and off-grid SIPs.\nIn a nother session\, Solar Energy for Agriculture and Rural Livelihoods: Oppor tunities for South-South Learning and Cooperation\, ideas of a global synt hesis of the growing body of work around ‘solar applications in agricult ure’ and their potential impact on rural life and livelihoods\, especial ly in Africa and Asia were presented.\nFollowing opening remarks by ISA\, Shilp Verma (IWMI) provided a keynote presentation using examples from the government supported surge in South Asia (and IWMI’s work under SDC-SoL AR\, SE4RL and Nexus Gains)\, and growth in private-sector involvement in East Africa. The session highlighted growing interest in and proliferation of solar applications across many parts of the developing world. Discussi ons focused on the future of solar-led agriculture in the MENA region\, Ce ntral Asia and Latin America. A varied panel was moderated by Darshini Rav indranath where Lance Gore\, Asian Development Bank (ADB) discussed ADB’ s experience of promoting solar applications in agriculture\, especially s olar pumps and discussed the need for greater mobilization of capital. Whi le Amanda Coady from the IKEA Foundation highlighted IKEA’s role in supp orting decentralized renewable energy applications (including solar irriga tion) for supporting and enhancing rural livelihoods in eastern India and elsewhere by putting the farmer at the center of their model. Ashish Chatu rvedi from United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) commented on IBSA ’s fund experience of supporting pilot projects in 10 countries\, highli ghting key challenges in the scaling of solar irrigation within different contexts. Dr Mark Smith\, Director Generals\, IWMI summarized the discussi ons on where south-south learning and cooperation would be most beneficial .\n\n \; END:VEVENT END:VCALENDAR