Last couple of times I posted, I seemed to see a boost in funding for these Green loans I am highlighting. But now I am seeing more loans about to expire without full funding and I am hoping another posting will give them the boost they need. These diaries aren't getting many comments, but they are shared and tweeted a lot and I am betting that is what is helping these loans get funded. So...once more into the breach!
Soon I hope to switch to another Global Green Solution akin to the Propane Project. But for now I didn't want to compete with that and so have focused on Green projects in Mongolia.
For too long the right wing has tried to convince us that it is either/or: EITHER people's lives are improved OR we help the environment and reduce greenhouse emissions. But this is a false conflict. There are MANY ways we can both improve the lives of poor and middle class families while ALSO helping the environment and reducing greenhouse emissions. In fact I would argue that in many ways you can't do one without the other if you really want to succeed.
Let's start with Mongolia.
Most of my knowledge of Mongolia goes back to the time of Genghis Khan and his successors, and includes the knowledge that an amazing number of people alive today (as much as 0.5 percent of the male population in the world, or roughly 16 million people) very likely are descendants of Temujin himself through his many wives and children.
I have always wanted to travel to Mongolia. I never have, but a conversation about this urge DID lead to a trip to Moscow where I stayed at a friend's apartment. That was a trip I expanded into a major search for my ancestry, leading to both my family accidentally winding up in Russia illegally (despite our best efforts) and to my starting a project to save the last surviving synagogue in a town in Latvia. But so far I haven't made it to Mongolia.
I know little of modern Mongolia. So it was with considerable surprise that I learned that recent rapid development in Mongolia has led to a real growth in GDP, but also to a great deal of environmental problems. Currently one of the worst polluted cities on earth is Ulaanbaatar. The pollution is so bad that about 1 in 10 deaths in that city can be attributable to air pollution. Burning of coal in poorly insulated homes with old, inefficient furnaces is one major problem that leads to deaths every year from pollution. Widespread use of old, fuel efficient cars is another.
I like simple and effective solutions to problems like this. These problems in Ulaanbaatar are killing residents of that city. In addition, the same things that contribute to these deaths also contribute greenhouse gasses, affecting the entire world. Mongolia is developing. For decades developing nations have almost been forced to repeat the mistakes of the past, poisoning their own citizens and following down wasteful, fossil fuel dependent paths that were pioneered by the West in the 19th century. Simply telling them not to do what we did is arrogant and is perceived as keeping them from developing. To me the obvious thing is to help them develop solutions that mitigate or avoid the mistakes made by the West from the 19th century to the present.
Kiva.org has a long history with Daily Kos. In fact Daily Kos was one of the main ways word got out about Kiva and when some articles were written by Kossacks, Kiva.org took off rapidly and has been a success ever since. Kiva.org hooks up people like you and me with small businesses and individuals around the world who need credit and works out a microloan. Dozens or hundreds of individuals loan as little as $25 to a single business or individual and the aggregate tiny loans add up to a significant loan at far below bank interest rates. The default rate of loans through Kiva is also much lower than traditional bank loans. I have been lending for many years and by relending to another business or individual each time I am repaid I have helped hundreds of people all over the world. Many Kossacks are lenders.
Recently I found that if you click on "Green loans" at Kiva.org, by far the majority of green loans are in Mongolia and they are aiming to address the issues I started this diary pointing out. The sad thing is that over and over I see these loans fail to raise adequate money to be filled and they fail to get funded. These loans are doing some great things both for the people of Mongolia but for the environment as well. I would like to see more of these get funded. More below.
The green loans in Mongolia are being made through Kiva's partner Credit Mongol. Not all their loans are green, but their efforts seem to be heavily geared towards the three following kinds of green loans:
1. Providing loans for upgrading homes to better insulate them and make their heating systems more efficient. Mongolia is a COLD place, mind you...in fact Ulaanbaatar is considered the world's coldest capital city with an average annual temp around 0 degrees C! Insulation is a must both for survival AND reducing greenhouse emissions.
2. Providing loans for people to buy or rent hybrid or natural gas powered cars to replace old, communist era cars that are inefficient and highly pollutiong,
3. Providing loans for more rural, nomadic families to buy solar panels to power their homes (which often are "gers" (note: I have been told "yurt" is not the correct term...), which are basically large felt tents carried on carts from place to place). Without solar power gers have no energy and the only way to heat them or to cook in them is by burning wood, charcoal, coal or dung, all of which cause pollution and lung problems for families.
Together these three efforts help families survive, save money over current practices, and be less polluting in a country that is becoming one of the most polluted in the world as it develops. These efforts helps to mitigate and to some degree avoid the worst problems the West made as it developed in the 19th century. They are smart and practical ideas that don't even need your donations...just a loan.
Other green loans in Mongolia at Kiva are through XacBank. Here's some info on XacBank from Kiva:
According to a recent study by the World Health Organization, Mongolia is the most polluted country on earth, registering particulates at 14 times the WHO’s standard threat level. Accordingly, Kiva and XacBank have joined forces to offer green loans that finance environmentally-friendly businesses and activities, including organic farming, solar panel purchases, and energy-efficient home renovations.
Some of these green loans are administered by XacBank’s new Eco-banking Department. So far, this division has helped distribute over 60,000 energy-efficient stoves, over 17,000 insulated ger coverings for traditional felt homes, and over 4,000 insulated vestibules that lock in heat and expand the usable space inside these homes.
More than 107,000 families in the five districts surrounding the nation’s capital, Ulaanbaatar, have benefited from this initiative. Together, these environmentally-minded products are estimated to slash coal consumption by 157,000 tons and save households about $2.6 million in heating costs in 2012 alone.
XacBank’s work is also estimated to reduce emissions of particulate matter from household stoves by up to 25% in 2012, preventing 450,000 tons of greenhouse gases from being released into the atmosphere.
The bank is working with financial partners to receive accreditation for these greenhouse gas reductions. Under the Kyoto Protocol, this would allow the bank to generate income by selling carbon dioxide offsets on international markets. It plans to reinvest these profits in its clean energy program to expand access to environmentally-friendly products for low-income and marginalized communities.
Again you can help with these efforts not by donating, but by making a small loan through Kiva's green loan program. And again I want to emphasize that these green loans in Mongolia often do not get successfully funded. I know of at least four I wanted to loan to that got refunded to me because the loan was not filled. Some of these loans are being backfilled, which means the money has already been lent by Credit Mongol or XacBank, but all that means is that if the loan isn't filled by Kiva, it limits the ability of these agencies to fund further loans.
Clicking here you can go to the Green Loans on Kiva.org. Here's one about to expire:
Batzorig is 25 years old and lives with his wife and a three year-old child in his parent’s house in Ulaanbaatar, the capital city of Mongolia. His parent’s house locates in a boundary area of the city with no running water, minimal roads, and spotty electricity. Batzorig has been renting a cell phone repair counter and sells phone spare parts in the downtown area of the city for 7 years. Every six months, he goes to China’s nearest border to buy phone spare parts.
His wife is a student, but this year she is not studying because she is pregnant and will give birth in November. As he and his wife are expecting a baby, Batzorig has been building a new house on the land of his parents for his family and the house is 80% complete. The loan Batzorig is taking will be used to buy radiators and insulate the roof, floor, and walls with energy saving materials in order to stop the heat loss. If his new house will be warmer, less energy will be burnt. By doing this he and his family will improve their living condition and can cut the usage of coal to warm his house.
This loan helps a family stay warm in the coldest capital city on earth AND reduces coal usage and pollution. Energy efficiency is often the cheapest and most effective way to reduce a carbon footprint but isn't always as sexy as other methods. But this is a way to use energy efficiency to benefit a family in a developing nation while also reducing carbon emissions. This is just one example of the loans you can find under Green loans on Kiva.org.
Currently as I write this all green loans at Kiva.org are in Mongolia. That is not always the case. I have seen organic farming loans being made in places like Mexico and Peru, for example. But the largest and most coordinated Green effort at Kiva are these loans in Mongolia to reduce pollution and greenhouse emissions while saving families and small business owners in Mongolia money.
Please help out. You can start with only a loan of $25 and go on up from there. My son has started participating as well (though he looks for loans with the shortest pay back period so he can quickly lend to someone else). Click here to get started making green loans through Kiva.org:
http://www.kiva.org/...
This is how we change the world...not all at once, but through many small efforts like this, one human to another.