climate politics

Thank You For The Rain - Banyak Films Watch on Vimeo This external content requires your consent. Please note our privacy policy. Thank You For The Rain is a feature documentary that tells the story of Kisilu Musya, a Kenyan father on the frontline of climate change. Five years ago Kisilu, a Kenyan farmer, started to use his camera to capture the life of his family, his village and the damages of climate change. When a violent storm throws him and a Norwegian filmmaker together we see him transform from a father, to community leader to an activist on the global stage.

The current discourse on renewable energy tends to centre on the positive reduction of greenhouse gas emissions and improved energy security, while the risks of social and environmental injustice are largely ignored.

Globally, political leaders are lauding the acceptance of the global and legally binding Paris Agreement on Climate Change at COP 21 as a historical moment. It achieves a goal long believed unattainable. However, judged against the enormity of the challenge and the needs and pressure from people on the ground demanding a global deal anchored in climate justice (“system change, not climate change!”), the Paris Agreement can only be called a collective failure and disappointment. Read a critical assessment by HBS colleagues from around the world. 

The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) were agreed upon in September 2015. The goals, 17 in total, aim to complete what the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) didn’t achieve as well as address the root causes of poverty and inequality.

As the world's poorest and most vulnerable populations suffer huge losses from climate change, the entities most responsible for the problem - the so-called "Big Polluters" - continue to reap billions in profits. This has to change.

As the world's poorest and most vulnerable populations suffer huge losses from climate change, the entities most responsible for the problem - the so-called "Big Polluters" - continue to reap billions in profits. This has to change.

For many rural Kenyans, it’s too expensive for households to pay to be connected to the national electricity grid. Some communities, who live near the right kinds of rivers are opting for a cheaper, more sustainable option: small scale hydro plants, to power lights, charge mobile phones, and pick up on the airwaves. South Africa-based science writer Leonie Joubert takes a closer look at a thriving model for community development.