Tomorrow, Friday February 23, we are celebrating EKOenergy's 11th anniversary. This is a good moment to reflect on the many achievements of the past years and to thank all of you who have been involved in one way or another.

Together, we have collected more than 3 million euros for renewable energy projects, enabling us to fund 99 impactful projects in 29 low- and middle-income countries, and we are preparing to support many more. Through persistent and systematic outreach and a gradual expansion of our network of authorised sellers, we have contributed to a worldwide surge in consumer demand for renewable energy. We have become an internationally recognised ecolabel, available in over 80 countries and received awards in various countries, including the European Citizen's Prize from the European Parliament. And much more.

None of these would have been possible without the active support of many of you. Thanks a lot to all our partners, authorised sellers, and consumers! It's nice and encouraging to see how our cooperation is making a real difference, and how that positive impact is growing, and speeding up, year after year.

For more information, check out the Our Results section of our website.

The well-known European telecom operator Iliad Group (Free in France, Play in Poland) announced that its branches have signed three more PPAs (Power Purchase Agreements) involving the supply of EKOenergy-labelled solar power in France, Italy, and Poland. In France, the EKOenergy supplier is Engie; in Italy and Poland, it's Statkraft.

In all three cases, the electricity will come from carefully selected solar farms that consider social and ecological aspects in various ways. For example, the installation in Poland has been built by Better Energy, which specialises in large-scale renewable energy parks with an integrated focus on local and regional value creation and a solid commitment to nature conservation.

Thanks a lot to all those involved in these three agreements. And thumbs up to you for also keeping EKOenergy in mind. By requesting the EKOenergy label, energy consumers such as the Iliad Group make an extra and much-needed contribution to the energy transition, worldwide!

 

- Statkraft, in a press release about its agreement with the Iliad Group, involving the supply of EKOenergy-labelled solar power

On 21 March, Instituto Totum, the national issuer of I-RECs in Brazil, is organising the second edition of I-REC Day Brazil. We are proud and happy to be an official supporter of the event.

Brazil is among the earliest adopters of the I-REC Standard and one of the largest and fastest-growing I-REC Markets. I-REC Day Brazil is a unique networking event for companies and professionals from the electricity and biogas sectors and an excellent opportunity to get valuable insights into the latest developments in the renewable energy market.

EKOenergy has been involved in the exciting developments in the Brazilian renewable electricity market for many years. After we decided to become active outside Europe in 2015, we met with like-minded Brazilian organisations, such as Instituto Totum, in early 2016. We discussed the importance of standardisation and exchanged thoughts on how to get large international companies on board. Not much later, Instituto Totum became the official issuer of I-RECs in Brazil, and a European company with activities in Brazil became the first EKOenergy user in Brazil. A lot has happened since and we are sure that much more will happen in the coming years: we are only at the beginning of a long and exciting adventure!

For the I-REC Brazil Day program and registrations, check out the I-REC Brazil Day website. For more information about EKOenergy in Brazil, contact Margarita Churaeva from EKOenergy's Secretariat or check our website, also available in Portuguese.

 

- EKOenergy provider Caral Energía Renovable y Sostenible, about one of their new EKOenergy clients

People regularly ask us how we find and select the many projects we fund. The process always starts with a call for projects. Friday 9 February was the deadline for sending this year's applications for small Climate Fund grants (up to €60,000). We received 253 proposals for renewable energy projects in 55 low- and middle-income countries!

The selection process has now started, coordinated by our Climate Fund Coordinator, Laura. Check out the Climate Fund page of our website to read more about the many elements we consider during this process.

Thank you to all who submitted proposals. We genuinely appreciate all the people who dedicated their time and participated in planning and writing so many proposals.

Also, thanks to all sellers and users of EKOenergy. The needs are high in many parts of the world, and with the help of all of you, we can support a growing number of impactful projects each year.

"We are immensely grateful for your support, and are happy to see the impact on the ground, with particular positive impact on women – these solar-powered flour mills have considerably reduced their work burden."
 

- Tinni Sawhne, Chief Executive Officer, Aga Khan Foundation (India)

 

In 2023, we allocated €50,000 of our campaign budget to the Renewables4Ukraine campaign. A part of this sum is used to finance solar systems in schools, health clinics, and other buildings used by many.

Last week, the Ukrainian news site ITV published an article about a new installation that has been realised thanks to our support: a 10 kWp solar system at the Dzherelce preschool department of the Osvita Gymnasium in Irpin. "The project is being implemented as part of the Renewables4Ukraine charity initiated by the World Wind Energy Association, thanks to donations from the NGO EKOenergy ecolabel."

In the meantime, Russia's full-scale war in Ukraine has been going on for two years, with no end in sight. Together with more than 280 other organisations and groups, we wrote a letter to EU and G7 decision-makers, asking them to fully enforce price caps on Russian crude oil and oil products and close the "refining loophole" which allows EU and G7 countries to import oil products produced from Russian oil at refineries in third countries like India, Turkey, or the UAE. We also urge them to take more decisive actions to reduce oil and gas consumption and end import dependency to deflate the Russian war economy. Such actions include requiring company fleets in Europe to shift to all-electric vehicles, banning the installation of gas-fired boilers in new or retrofitted buildings, facilitating the accelerated market roll-out of heat pumps, and prohibiting the production of single-use plastics.

All consumers choosing EKOenergy-labelled electricity contribute to EKOenergy's Climate Fund. We use these contributions to fund renewable energy projects that bring about a positive, tangible impact that wouldn't take place without our support.

Here is some recent news from projects that we decided to fund last year.

- We received photos from a project in Cambodia. The NGO Integral Cooperation Cambodia is helping a community in the Ratanakiri province, in northern Cambodia, to install a solar-pumped irrigation system. Water supply is a major problem for households in that area, and without irrigation, growing vegetables is impossible during the dry season. The pipes and water tank are now in place. The solar installation and the pump will follow soon!

- In Uganda, the NGO Green Empowerment and their Ugandese partners installed a solar-powered honey processing unit, which 100 farmers now use. The installation will raise the efficiency of the honey processing and can increase the beekeepers' income (from $2 per kilo of unprocessed honey to $4 per kilo of processed honey). The project also includes business training on food safety, marketing, and promotion, among other topics.

- NGO Practical Action and their Bolivian partner organisation brought solar power and a solar-powered refrigeration system to an indigenous community on the banks of the Beni River, Bolivia. The people living in the project area rely on fishing and small-scale farming for survival. The project will help improve income and food security.

- We received an interim report and several photos from The Energy and Resources Institute (TERI), from India. With our financial support, they are helping a local community to install cooled storage for agricultural products powered by a 5 kWp photovoltaic system.

Read more about these and all other funded projects on the Climate Fund page of our website.

 

- Shirley Pazos Bashualdo, on LinkedIn

We are thankful to all those helping consumers switch to renewable energy and even more so if they mention our label as a good and impactful way to do so. Together, we can and will speed up the energy transition.

Here is an excellent example of this week.

In Finland, Lammin Ikkuna, a producer of windows and doors, switched to EKOenergy, and their EKOenergy supplier Lumme Energia published a well-made video about this switch.

In the video, Lammin Ikkuna's CEO Hannu Saarinen explains: "Electricity use is an important part of our production, and we need a partner with whom we can develop and maintain our sustainability expertise. (...) Understanding how we and our customers, as electricity users, can make a difference through our choices and actions will accelerate the transition towards greener energy."

An article on Lumme Energia's website also quotes Steven Vanholme from EKOenergy. "Cooperation is the key to many of the challenges of our time. By combining the will and commitment of Lammin Ikkuna to be carbon neutral in 2035, Lumme Energia's expertise in energy efficiency and management and EKOenergy's know-how in environmental issues, we can create a better tomorrow for all. By choosing EKOenergy, Lammin Ikkuna is also taking concrete action to address the challenges and contribute to renewable energy projects in countries facing energy poverty."

Thanks, Lammin Ikkuna, and thanks, Lumme Energia

Stay connected with EKOenergy on social media to receive relevant updates on the global climate crisis, renewable energy, and climate action. By reacting to our posts occasionally, you help us spread our message and ensure that our future posts will also show up in your feed.

Here are some of our recent posts:

- We are celebrating Chinese New Year by reading about the many recent impressive developments in the Chinese and Asian energy sector. (From our LinkedIn)

- It's becoming common for environmental groups to bring polluting companies to court. But now this: The Polish energy giant Enea is suing its former directors and insurers for their decision to invest in coal! (From our Instagram)

- Do you or your colleagues want a refresher about EKOenergy's main sales arguments? Let's run through the slides together! We can do so in English, Dutch, Finnish, French, German, Italian, Polish, Portuguese, Spanish, and, now also in Ukrainian. (From our LinkedIn)

- Fridays for Future at home! Most of us stayed home today because of a strike affecting public transport. We promoted renewable energy, as always, and in between, we warmed up for next week's Fridays for Future! (From our Instagram)

- We published our Annual Report, "EKOenergy ecolabel in 2023," some weeks ago. If you missed it or didn't have time to check it out, here is a one-minute compilation of some (!) of our actions and achievements in 2023. (From our YouTube)

- Many of our partners are at E-world this week. We wish you a good and successful event! We ourselves aren't there this year, but are available for appointments as usual. (From our Xing)

The European Union’s Copernicus Climate Change Service reported in its Monthly Climate Bulletin of January 2024 that the new year has started with another record-breaking month – not only was it the warmest January on record but the world has also just experienced a 12-month period with a mean global average temperature more than 1.5°C above the pre-industrial reference period. Meteorologists announce that February 2024 is also on track to shatter many other existing heat records.

Sea temperatures are entirely off the charts. The average global sea surface temperature for January outside the polar regions reached 20.97°C, the highest recorded for January. In early February, the global sea surface temperature reached new absolute records, above the previous highest values observed in August 2023. Data suggests that while the ongoing El Niño episode has played a role in the record high temperatures in recent months, the sea surface temperature has also remained high outside the equatorial Pacific, the region most directly affected by El Niño.

In another study that hardly made the press, scientists warn that the Gulf Stream, a crucial ocean current that regulates the climate of the North Atlantic region, could face disruption due to the rapid melting of glaciers worldwide and in Greenland in particular. The Gulf Stream acts as a vital conveyor belt, transporting heat from the Equator toward the poles and influencing weather patterns along its path.

The speed of the changes continues to alarm the experts, and the Copernicus Climate Change Service reminds us that "rapid reductions in greenhouse gas emissions are the only way to stop global temperatures increasing". When will the mainstream media and the decision-makers also be alarmed?