'Manik, a solar pump operator for Nusra' by World Bank Photo Collection via Flickr (CC BY-NC-ND 2.0) https://flic.kr/p/N1ZtUY

Clean Energy
for Development

The Clean Energy for Development research initiative supports 12 research projects that operate in 27 countries across three thematic bases: clean energy transition, micro-, small and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs), and women and youth.

Explore the projects

Project News

Driving forth an inclusive and equitable clean energy transition

5 December 2025

In October 2025, the Clean Energy for Development initiative gathered in Johannesburg, South Africa for a cross-cohort in-person workshop. On Friday 17 October, we held a policy event, entitled ‘Unlocking the Potential of Small and Medium Businesses and Entrepreneurs in the Clean Energy Transition’. The event brought together key policymakers, activists and researchers working on […]

Featured Blog

Piloting of Youth-Designed Clean Technologies for Women Farmers in Ghana and Senegal

19 September 2025

Recently, the Innovate for Clean Powered Agro Technologies (INFoCAT) project held two events in Ghana and Senegal, to showcase and pilot clean technology solutions that have been developed by young Agritech Innovators. Each new technology was developed to address challenges faced by smallholder women farmers and agro-processors. The piloting programme was to show the creativity […]

Credit: UNU-INRA

A group of people stand around looking at a new innovation that is being piloted. One person holds a dried leaf and places it into a machine for processing.

Credit: 'Two women working in a clothing factory' by Dominic Chavez/World Bank. CC BY-NC-ND 2.0

Two women are standing by a table in a factory, folding a long piece of white fabric.

Event

Women’s leadership and innovative finance: Driving climate resilience and sustainable development

Thursday 20 November 2025

This panel, hosted as part of COP30, will explore how women’s leadership and inclusive financial innovation serve as powerful levers for climate resilience and sustainable development. The session will highlight concrete examples internationally, focusing on the intersection of gender equity, entrepreneurship, and climate action. Panellists: Adel Ben Youssef, Université Côte d’Azur – featured Clean Energy […]

Learning

Unlocking the Potential of Small and Medium Businesses and Entrepreneurs in the Clean Energy Transition

3 December 2025

This report highlights outcomes and recommendations from the T20 Side Event ‘Unlocking the Potential of Small and Medium Businesses and Entrepreneurs in the Clean Energy Transition’, held in Johannesburg on 17 October 2025. It presents seven recommendations for concrete steps to turn the G20’s green energy principles into practice, with South Africa’s presidency positioned as […]

Clean Energy for Development