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Adaptation and Resilience Building
Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency Capability for the Hindu Kush Himalaya (REEECH) works to expand the adoption of green energy solutions among HKH communities and enterprises.
At a glance
Improved access to modern, affordable, and reliable energy services and enhanced safeguarding of essential mountain ecosystem services in the HKH region
Mewang Gyeltshen
Programme Coordinator
Our focus
The HKH region has vast potential for hydropower and other sources of renewable energy. Yet, it remains energy-poor. We aim to improve access to renewable energy and energy-efficient solutions to build climate-resilient mountain livelihoods in the HKH.
Nearly 370 million people in the region do not have access to electricity, and about 1.8 billion people rely on traditional, polluting biomass fuels for energy. To address challenges related to energy use and availability in the mountain context, ICIMOD collaborated with the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO), with financial support from the Austrian Development Agency (ADA), to establish REEECH as a regional centre of excellence on Sustainable Energy for All (SE4ALL).
REEECH will provide a coordination mechanism to foster South–South cooperation for improved access to decentralized sustainable energy solutions for HKH communities. We will actively promote the scaling up of climate-resilient sustainable energy markets, industries, and innovation customized for the mountainous areas of the HKH.
The first operational phase of REEECH will run from November 2018 through 2022.
2018-2022
Improved access to mountain specific, modern, affordable and reliable and appropriate RE&EE solutions, to meet the energy security needs of mountain populations as well as enhanced safeguarding of essential mountain ecosystem services in the Hindu Kush Himalaya region
All regional member countries
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Energy poverty remains a central challenge to sustainable development efforts in the HKH region and has been a focus of international-level efforts since 2015. A range of barriers – including policy and regulatory obstacles, outdated technology, and a lack of capacity and of finance – have prevented the region from utilizing existing and potential renewable energy sources to offer decentralized sustainable energy solutions in off-grid mountain areas.
News and features
Featured Partner
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Featured video
ICIMOD, IRENA and SELCO jointly organized this virtual dissemination workshop to discuss the findings of the assessment study carried out to highlight the techno- economic viability of the decentralized renewable energy in four selected food value chains ( Buckwheat, Potato, Vegetable and Yak) in the Hindu-Kush Himalayas.
Moving Mountains
We have a deep history of work across a broad range of issues enabling sustainable development in the complex environment of the HKH. We have been protecting the pulse for over three decades.
People in the HKH face economic and institutional water scarcity in areas where water is plentiful but inaccessible. The inaccessibility is caused by a lack of rural electrification or irrigation infrastructure in the plains and because springs are increasingly drying up in the Himalayan mid-hills.
Low access to electricity and heavy reliance on traditional solid fuels for domestic cooking and heating are the hallmarks of poverty in the HKH.
Events around the HKH
Featured
Ramesh Vaidya, "Regional connectivity and cross-border energy trade in the BBIN region: Implications for sustainable mountain development,” presented at online course, Water–energy–food nexus: Adaptive response to regional Hindu Kush Himalayan challenges, ICIMOD - Himalayan University Consortium and University of Arizona on 26 May 2020
You will find publications produced or related to this Initiative in HimalDoc, our publications repository. These resources include journal articles, books, book chapters, research reports, working papers, brochures, information sheets, and publicity materials, among other products.
We embrace diversity
Both internally and externally, our multicultural staff and partners are our greatest asset. They provide us with a broad perspective across disciplines and offer us localized knowledge like no other.
