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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.
Flyer
The HKH is energy-poor in spite of its vast potential for hydropower and other renewable energy sources. Read the flyer to learn more about REEECH's work and objectives.
REEECH will deliver outputs under the four thematic areas depicted in the graphic by complementing and strengthening ongoing national and regional efforts during its first operational phase from November 2018 to 2022.
We will act as a technical service provider to ICIMOD’s eight regional member countries (RMCs). We will develop and execute our activities through a network of national focal institutions and RTHs, which are yet to be established in the RMCs.
REEECH will strengthen and complement existing national efforts to best meet the specific energy service needs of people residing mostly in off-grid, mountainous, and hilly areas of the HKH by creating economies of scale and a competitive sustainable energy market and business sector. We will also work with partners to place mountain-specific energy issues prominently on the global sustainable development and climate agenda.
News and features
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
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.
