Keeling Curve

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Too many climate solutions leave low-and middle-income communities behind, either as end-product buyers or participants in the value chain, due to the high costs inherent in developing new industries, and the subsequent higher costs of the product. This is true because many climate solutions follow existing industry models:  they are dominated by large corporations able to secure startup investment and initially target higher-end markets with an expensive product, hoping scaling will eventually lower product costs. 

By contrast, the Climate Smart Forest Economy Program (CSFEP) convenes existing small businesses in the Global South to build value chains that works for them. It supports these small businesses in developing products, such as affordable housing, that will largely serve middle- and lower-income communities. 

Where relevant, CSFEP also ensures the inclusion of indigenous people and local communities and women in the value chain. For example, in New Zealand, it supported local organizations in developing a forest-to-build framework that harnessed an indigenous Te Ao Māori (Māori worldview). In Punta Brava, Guatemala, it supported local business CASSA Guatemala in building a DIY bamboo housing model in which women played a key role as bamboo plantation developers.