Indonesia consists of more than 15 000 islands. Each island has an independent power grid, and many islands are also off grid. It is especially difficult to implement renewable energy supplies under these conditions. Indonesia is engaging with Denmark though a Strategic Sector Cooperation which facilitates government-to-government collaboration. Previously, DSIF has chosen the Indonesian province and island of Lombok for proposing potential projects in biomass-based thermal electricity for funding. The governor of the West Nusa Tenggara province has expressed interest for a similar study in the Sumbawa Regency to the Danish Embassy in Jakarta. In the first half of 2022, a PEM team under the lead of Thorbjørn Waagstein conducted a study about the biomass potential in the solid waste from the city Sumbawa Besar to see if there is a potential to combine agricultural waste and urban solid waste in a bio-energy facility. The team also mapped the type

The guidelines of the Danish Strategic Sector Cooperation (SCC) were updated following the evaluation of the program in 2020. The new version SSC 2.0 initiates 4-year framework programmes as a basis for the engagement with Danish authorities. They are aimed to promote a socially just green transition, the development of the SSC as a political dialogue instrument, the reinforcing of the commercial value and the redesigning of the organisation into result-based management. Two pilot projects with national authorities and one with the municipality of Aarhus were planned for the phase-in stage in 2022. The transition into further phases of the SCC collaboration with Aarhus will demand new and adjusted ways of thinking, organising, planning, and reporting for all involved parties. Throughout 2022, Eric Buhl-Nielsen and Astrid Høegh Jensen from PEM have tried to ease this transition by enabling dialogues and discussions, and by developing answers and solutions to arising challenges

UNEP, FAO and partnering with UNDP have established a Multi-Partner Trust Fund (MPTF) of the UN Decade on Ecosystem Restoration, with the aim of promoting global movement in support of preventing and reversing ecosystem degradation worldwide. It is meant to combat declining biodiversity, support livelihoods and green jobs, enhance natural resource bases, and finally help societies adapt to and mitigate climate change through the restoration of ecosystems worldwide. Denmark has decided to participate in the MPTF as part of the development strategy “The World We Share”. Danish funding will support restoration flagships in the global south. Throughout 2022, a PEM-team lead by PEM-partner Kris Prasada Rao supported the preparation of the Danish support for the period of 2023-2025. The team has also developed a program document that addresses the key issues arising between the different key stakeholders.   Picture by Anna Gade (Uganda)

The European Investment Bank is the EU’s financial extension and provides funding for projects in support of EU policy goals. Water and sanitation have been EIB’s fourth largest sector of engagement outside of EU in the period from 2010 and 2021. This year a team led by PEM-partner Eric Buhl-Nielsen evaluated the EIB support to the water and sanitation sector outside EU countries. The evaluation assessed to what extent EIB support to the water sector created results with a specific focus on whether it contributed to environmental sustainability, development outcomes and climate action. Out of close to 100 projects under evaluation, 8 countries (Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Cambodia, Ecuador, Egypt, Jordan, Malawi and Zambia) were selected as samples for an in-depth exploration. PEM-Consultant Astrid Høegh Jensen visited Jordan. The team conducted interviews with various stakeholders and visited different sites, including the Wadi Al Arab water system project financed by EIB