CDKN and the Environmental Education Media Project (EEMP) released a new film today: “Rwanda: Emerging in a Changing Climate”.  The film was featured at the government of Rwanda’s UNFCCC side event, supported by CDKN, which launches the country’s Green Growth and Climate Resilience Strategy.

The film, co-produced by the Climate Development Knowledge Network (CDKN) and the Environmental Education Media Project (EEMP), was written and directed by John Liu (of EEMP), who visited the country 10 times over 5 years to document the steps Rwanda has taken to simultaneously develop its economy and address the challenges of climate change.

CDKN has been supporting the Rwandan government to design its Green Growth and Climate Resilience Strategy.  The strategy is an excellent example of climate compatible development – bringing together development, mitigation and adaptation into one coherent, low-carbon, climate resilient growth path. It is a coordinated response to climate change risks and opportunities, which involved collaboration between a range of Rwandan ministries, industry sectors, civil society and academia, and which also drew on the resources offered by CDKN to accelerate this process by channeling the best available expertise and information to Rwanda’s decision-makers.

Rwanda now joins Korea, Denmark and China in seeing it as to their competitive advantage to grasp low-carbon development opportunities and transform the way their economies operate. The Rwandan government’s desire to attract investment in geothermal power could lead to greater stability through decreased reliance on foreign oil imports - benefits that are at least as, if not more important to, civil society and voters as the environmental benefits of a switch cleaner energy sources. Building on this strategy, Rwanda is creating a National Climate and Environment Fund (FONERWA) that will provide a national financial mechanism to access global financial resources.

View the video on YouTube here.