'Manik, a solar pump operator for Nusra' by World Bank Photo Collection via Flickr (CC BY-NC-ND 2.0) https://flic.kr/p/N1ZtUY

Clean Energy
for Development

The Clean Energy for Development research initiative supports 12 research projects that operate in 27 countries across three thematic bases: clean energy transition, micro-, small and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs), and women and youth.

Explore the projects

Featured Blog

Putting care at the centre of clean energy transitions

14 October 2026

Clean energy transitions are often discussed in terms of technology, finance and climate targets. But what changes when we put care at the centre? Across many low- and middle-income countries, women and girls carry a disproportionate share of unpaid care and domestic work. Cooking, collecting fuel and water, caring for others, processing food, and sustaining […]

Smallholder farmer testing INFoCAT renewable energy powered groundnut pod plucker in Gomoa (Central Region, Ghana). Photo by UNU INRA.

Event

Webinar: Clean Energy Transitions: A care economy lens

Wednesday 16 September 2026

Clean energy transitions: what changes when we put care at the centre? Join us for an engaging webinar exploring how clean energy transitions can do more than expand access to power: they can also reduce drudgery, shift how unpaid care work is recognised and shared, and open up new opportunities for women and young people in […]

Smallholder farmer testing INFoCAT renewable energy powered groundnut pod plucker in Gomoa (Central Region, Ghana). Photo by UNU INRA.

A woman is using a groundnut pod plucker machine which is powered by renewable energy.

Learning

Clean Energy Transitions: A Care Economy Lens

20 April 2026

How can clean energy transitions reduce energy poverty while also addressing the unequal burden of unpaid care work? This is an increasingly urgent question as the global shift to clean energy reshapes not only energy systems, but everyday life within households. Across many low- and middle-income countries, women and girls continue to shoulder a disproportionate […]

Project News

New research progress briefs explore how renewable energy MSMEs can support sustainable agriculture

8 July 2026

Four new Research Progress Briefs have been published as part of the Clean Energy for Development research programme, sharing emerging insights from country projects in Burkina Faso, Kenya, Uganda and Vietnam. The briefs are part of the three-year initiative “Leveraging renewable energy MSMEs for sustainable agriculture in Sub-Saharan Africa and South-East Asia”, led by the […]

Clean Energy for Development