As we launch our Strategic Climate Fund campaign, we wanted to highlight our five Strategic Climate Fund Partner organisations and the urgent work they’re doing to take action on the climate crisis. Each of these organisations work on projects that will have a positive impact within the 2030 timeframe.

SolarAid is a charity working to bring clean, renewable solar light to rural communities without electricity in sub-Saharan Africa, where nearly 600 million people live without access to electricity.

Through their social enterprise, SunnyMoney, SolarAid works through schools, health clinics and communities to distribute small solar lights to rural, hard-to-reach places. By training and supporting local solar entrepreneurs, the charity can reach even further while also supporting the local economy and building resilient communities.

Small solar lights are a smart solution that can change a family’s entire future in an instant. When a family has light in their home, parents can work and earn after dark, children can study, and people feel safe.

Combating climate change is crucial to SolarAid’s work, and these solar lights are also a game changer for the environment. Families no longer need to burn toxic kerosene lamps, paraffin candles, or put fire to grass, polluting people’s lungs and the earth’s atmosphere, just to be able to see after sunset. Every time someone switches on a solar powered light, it’s an instant win for both people and the planet. That’s why SolarAid have made it their mission to light up every home, school and clinic in Africa by the end of the decade with clean, safe, solar power.

SolarAid’s core model is built on selling solar lights through its social enterprise, SunnyMoney. This allows money to be reinvested back into their work, encourages job creation, and ensures money stays in the local economy. SolarAid also works with innovative models to reach families who cannot afford a solar light, including through schools projects and health clinics.

To achieve their mission, SolarAid forms strategic partnerships and works to open source its models and learning so they can be replicated across the continent. SolarAid has offices in Malawi and Zambia, and works in partnerships with other organisations across sub-Saharan Africa.

Richard Turner, Director of Fundraising at SolarAid, says: “GCC’s Strategic Climate Fund initiative is a refreshing approach to encourage organisations to realistically reduce their carbon footprint, as well as to enable SolarAid to accelerate adoption of clean energy in communities who will benefit the most. That is a win-win for all.”