Formation 2010 | Website cdkn.org | |
Motto "CDKN supports decision-makers in designing and delivering climate compatible development." Type Alliance: Led by PricewaterhouseCoopers and including Overseas Development Institute (ODI), Fundación Futuro Latinoamericano, LEAD Pakistan and SouthSouthNorth Key people Sam Bickersteth, Chief Executive Officer | ||
The Climate and Development Knowledge Network (CDKN) is a £72 million (US$100 million) initiative, formed in 2010, that links developing countries with experts on climate change. Funded by the UK's Department for International Development and the Directorate-General for International Cooperation, its aim is to help developing nations adapt to the consequences of climate change and build capacity for a low-carbon economy.
CDKN's goal is to tailor services to the sixty countries it plans to serve in its first five years. CDKN's independent Executive Chair is Simon Maxwell.
CDKN is run by an alliance of organisations, headed by PricewaterhouseCoopers and including the Overseas Development Institute, a think tank on development and humanitarian issues; Fundación Futuro Latinoamericano, a non-governmental organisation (NGO) for sustainable development based in Ecuador; LEAD Pakistan (an NGO that aims to inspire leadership in developing Asian countries); and SouthSouthNorth, (an NGO that aims to reduce poverty in Sub-Saharan Africa). The Network Council, made up of 11 members, governs how the CDKN consortium is run.
Projects
CDKN coordinates the supply of research and policy information from thinktanks, NGOs and universities to governments and civil society organisations in more than 70 developing countries. Its technical assistance programme acts on requests from nations, and is able to tailor research to countries’ demands. One of the 200 or so projects it has already committed funds to is an initiative to help the Caribbean island of Anguilla increase the amount of energy it produces from renewable sources. CDKN contracted Washington-based renewables consultancy Castalia Strategic Advisors to help amend the island’s electricity legislation so that it could integrate renewable energy technologies into its grid. The overall aim is to decrease the island’s dependence on costly diesel oil and enhance environmental sustainability.
CDKN's effectiveness was evaluated by a team of experts to advise both the future funding of DFID and recommend enhancements to its role as a global leader in climate compatible development. It recommended support to CDKN be continued to 2016.
In 2015, CDKN became the co-secretariat of the Low Emission Development Strategies Global Partnership (LEDS GP) alongside the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL).