Since last year, Microsoft has purchased EKOenergy-labelled energy attribute certificates (EACs) for a portion of its electricity consumption. Its choice of EKOenergy-labelled EACs has enabled the technology company to make a positive impact not only on the climate but also on off-grid communities in developing countries.

We are honoured to have Microsoft among the growing number of EKOenergy users.

One of the ways EKOenergy supports transitioning to renewable energy is through the installations we finance to fight energy poverty. Mostly these are humanitarian projects for off-grid communities that make use of solar power to bring a diverse range of benefits. All selected projects address multiple UN Sustainable Development Goals and are implemented by or in close cooperation with local organisations.

One of the selected projects this year, enabled by Microsoft’s purchase of EKOenergy-labelled EACs, will bring solar power to fishing communities on an island on Lake Victoria in Kenya. This will enable them to purify water and make ice for cold storage. Access to affordable and safe drinking water will help combat water-borne diseases such as typhoid, which is an ongoing problem in the region. The availability of ice at an affordable rate will ensure better preservation of fish catches and increase the profit margin of subsistence fishers. The UK-based organisation NGO Renewable World and their Kenyan partner will implement the project in partnership with community stakeholders.

Check out the article on our website, or click here for a list of 10 of the reasons why a growing number of companies choose EKOenergy.

Last week, we finalised the selection of a new series of Climate Fund projects. We’ll  finance 15 more short-term renewable energy projects in 13 different developing countries, including India, Cambodia, Madagascar and Tanzania. The selected projects will receive a total of 482,190 €.

These 15 projects come in addition to a long-term project in Kenya (See item 1 of this newsletter) and to an earlier agreed grant of 80,000 € to support Siemenpuu Foundation’s partners in Mali.

Some of the selected projects focus on household electrification and lighting, which also enables the development of small-scale economic activities. For example, the GRET project in Madagascar, the HARD Balochistan project in Pakistan and the Environmental Rights Action/Friends of the Earth Nigerian project in Nigeria promote energy access for households and communities as well as for village schools and health centres.

Many projects are directly or indirectly linked to improving food security. For example, ICC’s (Integral Cooperation Cambodia) project in Cambodia supports the installation of solar-powered irrigation systems for small-scale farmers, and the Aga Khan Foundation’s project in India supports locals in building solar-powered flour mills.

Read more about these projects and how they help to realise multiple Sustainable Development Goals on our website.

 

- IRENA, World Energy Transitions Outlook (WETO) 2023

As part of our outreach campaign “EKOappetite”, we promote the use of renewable energy in food processing businesses. We reached out to an existing EKOenergy user, the Finnish ice cream manufacturer 3 Kaveria (“3 Friends”) to learn more about their motives for using EKOenergy-labelled renewable electricity.

You can find the interview with Anna Wikholm, the brand manager at 3 Kaveria, on our website. Have a look and get inspired.

"One of our founders, Heikki, took care of the electricity contract. He is really informed about energy issues. I know he wants to be proud of his work and when he can take action and make an impact, he does what he can. Our company started using renewable energy because we want to be proud of what we do in every aspect. And in the field of energy production, EKOenergy is a mark of quality we trust."

"We experience the same problem faced by many companies: risk management requires us to be careful about what we communicate. Unsupported statements can be attacked as greenwashing. To be able to make sustainability claims, you need to have verification from outside of your company. The EKOenergy label, in that sense, verifies what we do."

 

- Gavin Mooney, on LinkedIn

Since the beginning of Russia’s full scale invasion of Ukraine, we have allocated in total 70,000 € from our renewable energy campaign budget to the #renewables4ukraine campaign. Part of our contribution is used to bring solar power to Ukrainian civil infrastructure such as schools and hospitals. The rest of the grant supports the advocacy work of local renewable energy organisations, in particular the Ukrainian Wind Energy Association. Through their work, they highlight the importance of a clean and sustainable reconstruction of Ukraine after the war.

If you want to support the installation of renewable energy systems in Ukraine, feel free to get in touch with us, or check out the donation page on the campaign website. Ukraine needs our support.

Solar and wind power, which can be deployed fast, are important to increase stability in Ukraine’s power supplies now and should form the backbone of Ukraine’s future energy system. The report Investing in Ukraine's Renewable Energy: The Key to Future Energy Security, published last week by Razom We Stand, in cooperation with the Ukrainian Wind Energy Association and other expert organisations, illustrates this with concrete numbers. The potential of renewable energy is stressed in the partnership agreement that the Ukrainian Wind Energy Association signed with RenewableUK (the renewable energy sector federation in the UK) too.

Last week, we also signed a call for urgent measures in response to the destruction of the Kakhovka dam and other types of ecocide. The destruction of the dam has led to a massive ecological catastrophe with ramifications which will be suffered by the people and environment of Ukraine, and beyond its borders, for years to come.

A quick reminder for all our authorised sellers: Please send us all information with regard to the EKOenergy-labelled volumes of 2022 before the end of this week, in particular the signed audit forms and the proofs of the delivered volumes.

If you are still missing some information, get in touch to agree on a time schedule for the finalisation of the audit.

We are also happy to inform you that the development of the EKOdirect database, which will become accessible to all our authorised sellers later this year, is progressing well. So far 3249 pre-approved power plants have been added to the power plant module, and we are adding more each day. At the same time, CerQlar, the developer of the EKOdirect database, continues to program the audit module. The module will enable the partial automation of the generation of EKOenergy proofs. We'll give more details in October, but feel free to contact us if you have any questions in the meantime. 

 

- 3Degrees, on Twitter

2023 marks the 10th anniversary of the EKOenergy ecolabel. To highlight various aspects of our work and to commemorate some of the remarkable achievements of the past decade, we have published a series of 20 fact sheets.

The 3 last were published in the past few weeks:
- 10 years of… conferences and events,
- 10 years of… working in a financially healthy position,
- 10 years of… improving our own environmental impact.

You can find all 20 fact sheets, covering topics such as "10 years of nature protection", "10 years of pioneering", and "10 years of realising the Sustainable Development Goals", on our website.
 

Follow EKOenergy on social media to get relevant updates about the climate crisis, renewable energy and climate action worldwide.

Here are some of our recent posts:
 

• With our EKOappetite campaign, we promote the use of renewable energy in food processing businesses. As part of the campaign, we visited Jalofoods, a fantastic Finnish tofu company. They now plan to add our label to their on-site produced biogas (Globen biogas installation) and electricity. (from our LinkedIn)
   
• Let's fight #climatechange one solar panel at a time! Solar energy can empower people, communities and climate action & is beginning to overtake fossil fuels ✊ #EuropeanSolarDay (from our Twitter)
   
• Today is International Picnic Day! We brought some snacks and drinks made by companies that use EKOenergy-labelled electricity. (From our Instagram)
   
• 📢 We're in front of the Finnish Parliament this Friday too, asking for #ClimateActionNow, #EndFossilFuels, #renewablesnow! 🌍 (from our Twitter)
   
• 🌞 The apartment building where EKOenergy's volunteers live now has solar panels too! Thanks to the landlord, @satokoti. (from our Instagram)
   
• Make polluters pay! The climate crisis is here 🔥.  Oil corporations that caused this crisis are making record profits 💸. Tell our leaders to make them pay for a transition to #renewables before it's too late. (from our Twitter)

Sea temperatures, particularly off the northeast coast of the United Kingdom and the west of Ireland, are smashing records for late spring and early summer. The US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration has labelled  parts of the North Sea as being in a category four marine heat wave, which is considered "extreme".

The North Atlantic heat wave is part of a rapid warming of ocean waters globally. Sea surface temperatures in April and May reached an all-time high for those particular months since records began in 1850. June is also on course to hit record heat levels.

The speed of the warming has scientists concerned. "It is way beyond the worst-case predictions for the changing climate of the region. It’s truly frightening how fast this ocean basin is changing,” Richard Unsworth, an associate professor of biosciences at Swansea University in the UK told CNN.