USAID’s Analysis and Investment for Low-Emission Growth (AILEG) Project was a two year, $6.7 million global support program. The project assisted governments, USAID missions, and other stakeholders around the world in integrating climate change data management, economics, and investment into low-emission development strategies (LEDS). AILEG, led by Abt Associates, operated in seven countries and was part of the U.S. government’s efforts to pursue and enhance long-term transformative development through sustainable economic growth.
Through AILEG, Abt provided support for USAID at a global level with a focus on the following types of technical assistance:
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Technical Assessments and Evaluation: Abt helped countries understand and apply the landscape of climate economic and investment impact models, identifying which models answer the questions decision-makers face, assessing the status of such modeling efforts, and addressing the constraints;
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Data Improvement, Management, and Dissemination: Abt assisted in identifying climate economic model variables and data needs, improving data collection methods, and developing reliable tracking and management systems in order to provide country decision-makers with evidenced-based options for selecting alternative development scenarios;
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Capacity Building: Abt built the skills and technical expertise of government representatives, local researchers, investors, and other stakeholders in climate economic modeling, impact assessment, and green investment development; and
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Training and Knowledge Dissemination: Abt provided training and disseminated lessons learned and best practices to strengthen decision-makers’ capacity to identify and implement economically sound and financially attractive low-emission growth programs.
AILEG’s support helped decision-makers to identify cost-effective, sustainable options in climate policy planning, economic modeling, and impact analysis. The project also helped countries identify investment options and overcome barriers in mitigation – including renewables, energy efficiency, and sustainable landscapes, and adaptation interventions.
Examples of specific AILEG activities in each project country include:
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Vietnam: Assisted LEDS economic and emissions data of provincial rice and livestock surveys, marginal abatement curves of rice management practices, and a prototype rice emissions monitoring, reporting, and verification tool;
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Colombia: Prepared marginal abatement cost curves for commercial building energy efficiency improvements, assessed environmental values for the Paramo de Santurban ecosystem, and developed hydrological models of climate change impacts on the Upper Magdalena Watershed;
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Guatemala: Developed a cost-benefit analysis with environmental and development co-benefits for a sustainable forestry project in the Peten;
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Mexico: Supported macroeconomic analysis at the Instituto Nacional de Ecologia et Cambio Climatico, Mexico's leading climate change research institute, to illustrate economic impacts of various LEDS policies;
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Jamaica: Helped the national government conduct an EC-LEDS scoping mission, model energy sector LEDS impacts, integrate LEDS into a Second National Energy Action Plan, and facilitate two community renewable energy and energy efficiency action plans;
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The Philippines: Assessed climate financing markets and barriers for renewable energy; energy and forestry LEDS data management; marginal cost curves of demand-side management options; and LEDS emission baselines and case scenarios; and
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Kazakhstan: Assisted the government with its Emissions Trading System, including the development of a capability mapping report and an administrator operating model.
More broadly, AILEG also created a
Clean Energy Lending Toolkit – a guide for financial intermediaries to assess the market for lending to renewable and energy efficiency, conduct market and organizational diagnostics, develop viable credit products, and increase clean energy market share.
The project also trained USAID and other government staff on preparing economic assessments of mitigation and adaptation options through two courses supported by USAID University.
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