Businesses are critical to the challenge of reducing carbon emissions, adapting to the effects of a changing climate and creating green jobs and economic growth – together these can lead to ‘climate compatible’ development (CCD). But breaking into new markets and scaling up climate related products and services can be hampered by barriers such as a lack of knowledge and skills, access to finance or limited demand.

By working together, businesses can overcome such challenges - partnerships can bridge knowledge and skills gaps, open up new markets and reduce the costs of doing business. Programmes such as CDKN can foster these partnerships by lowering barriers such as lack of trust, lack of communication and perceived risk.

CDKN’s Business Partnerships programme seeks to encourage and facilitate business-to-business (B2B) partnerships (North-South and South-South) that increase the knowledge, skills and networks needed for goods and services that deliver CCD benefits. In March 2013, CDKN hosted a roundtable with the Aldersgate Group, a UK-based alliance of leaders from business, politics and civil society that drives action for a sustainable economy, to discuss climate-related business needs, opportunities and barriers in developing countries. The outputs of the seminar were captured in a report titled Aid to Trade Partnerships, which was published in September 2013.

The Business Partnerships programme was created in response to the findings of the report, and the wider call for greater leveraging of the private sector on climate change and development. This pilot programme seeks to support B2B partnerships that demonstrate the potential to deliver sustained, climate compatible development, whilst addressing donor concerns around additionality and legitimacy. CDKN is using this programme to build evidence on how B2B partnerships can be an effective way to engage business to deliver climate and development benefits and to show how aid funding may be used to lower the barriers that currently prevent progress.

Pilot projects

The Business Partnerships Programme is currently supporting four pilot projects:

• Delivery of climate compatible development in Peru through the identification and enablement of energy efficiency measures for business, and the building of self-sustaining local implementation capacity. This is a partnership between the Carbon Trust, SENATI, Südesco Energy and Peru 2021, which aims to increase the supply and demand of energy efficiency services in Peru.
• Testing Synergies in Distributed Renewable Village Power in Africa. This is a partnership between Africa Power, Farm Africa and Sincronicity Power, which aims to deploy interconnected renewable power systems in off-grid rural communities in sub-Saharan Africa.
• Franchising approaches to provide increased energy access in rural India using decentralised renewable energy based mini-grid projects. This is a partnership between the Society for Technology and Action for Rural Advancement (TARA) and cKinetics, which aims to develop a franchising approach for conversion of diesel generator operators to decentralised renewable electricity in rural India.
• Geothermal Development Drilling Risk Finance Innovation. This is a partnership between Parhelion, Kenbright NBC Insurance Brokers, E3G, and GeothermEx, which aims to establish a private sector network to support a private sector geological risk mitigation and development drilling risk insurance facility in Kenya and Ethiopia.

Budget: GBP 490,000

Start Date: 04/2014

End Date: 10/2015

Supplier(s): Carbon Trust, SENATI, Südesco Energy, Peru 2021, Africa Power, Sunflower Pump, Sincronicity Power, Society for Technology and Action for Rural Advancement (TARA), cKinetics, Parhelion, Kenbright NBC Insurance Brokers, E3G, GeothermEx.

Status: In Progress