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The United Nations Climate Change secretariat is proud to present the Momentum for Change Lighthouse Activities.

These activities fall under the Urban Poor pillar of Momentum for Change, which has been generously funded by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. They consist of mitigation and adaptation activities that are a result of collaborative efforts between the public and private sectors and bring multiple benefits to the urban poor in developing countries.

 The interactive map above shows the location of the 2011 and 2012 Lighthouse Activities.

Momentum for Change provides a public platform to highlight broad-ranging climate change actions that are already achieving tangible results on the ground. By shining light on inspiring and transformational mitigation and adaptation activities, Momentum for Change aims to strengthen motivation, spur innovation and catalyze further change towards a low-emission, high resilient future.

The nine 2012 lighthouse activities are:

• Solar Sister, a door-to-door green energy social enterprise in Uganda;
• The Ahmedabad bus rapid transit system in India, which created an integrated and accessible public transport system;  
• BioComp Nepal, a waste reduction project involving composting organic waste in Nepal;
• Energy efficiency in artisanal brick kilns in Latin America (EELA) in Peru, which promotes cleaner-burning artisanal brick kilns;
• Lifestraw Carbon For Water in Kenya, which uses carbon financing to fund household level water purification packs; 
• Adaptation to coastal erosion in vulnerable areas, an Adaptation Fund-supported activity in Senegal that fights coastal erosion; 
• Lanka Electric Vehicle Association in Sri Lanka, who have piloted the use of electric buses and rickshaws in Colombo; 
• Holistic approaches to community adaptation to climate change, a Namibia-based activity that uses a six-point method to assist local communities in adapting to climate change; 
• Guangzhou bus rapid transit system in China, one of the largest integrated bus rapid transit systems in the world.

The ten 2011 lighthouse activities are:

• Buffelsdraii Landfill Site Community Reforestation;
• Global Alliance for Clean Cookstoves - The Paradigm Project;
• Wales-Mbale Climate Change Tree Planting;
• eMalahleni Water Reclamation Plant;
• Spurring Climate Change Adaptation in Seychelles Schools through Rainwater Harvesting;
• Horn of Africa Risk Transfer for Adaptation - Rural Resilience Initiative; 
• Solar Driven LED Street Lighting in Guiyang villages;
• A Litre of Light ;
• The Buses of Brazil: Connectivity - Intelligent Transport Solution
• Scaling Up Solar in India through Public-Private Action

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For media inquiries:
2012 Press release - For use of media only
Luis Dávila, Programme Officer, UNFCCC
momentum@unfccc.int, +49 (0) 228-815-1137

Let’s all do our part to build Momentum for Change.