Program areas at CLASP
Climate: Clasp focuses on data-driven, cost-effective interventions to mitigate the climate crisis and promote uptake of super-efficient technologies. Energy-efficient appliances are one of the most cost-effective methods for mitigating climate change. They save money for governments and consumers alike, reduce peak energy demand, and bolster economic and energy security. Clasp collaborates with governments, industry and other stakeholders to catalyze markets for energy efficient technologies. Our expertise includes:- technology and market assessments- energy performance standards development- consumer product labeling- market transformation; and policy compliance and enforcement.
Research: Clasp recently integrated the climate and clean energy access research teams, with the expanded mandate of climate adaptation, equity, and environmental justice and protection. Clasp's research team focuses on developing thought leadership, market monitoring, consumer research and managing tools like mepsy and Clasp policy research center (cprc).
Clean energy access: Clasp supports progress on sustainable development goal 7 - affordable, reliable, sustainable and modern energy for all. Clasp helps build healthy markets for off-grid solar products by driving innovation and sales in early-stage product markets, surfacing data and research on product performance, market trends, and consumer preferences, establishing technical foundations for consumer protection, and aligning sector stakeholders across the value-chain. Clasp's energy access programs include the efficiency for access coalition, the global leap awards, and verasol quality assurance, among other initiatives.
Campaign: Clasp campaigns leverage expert knowledge and mobilize relevant health, energy and environmental stakeholders to transition markets to more energy-efficient, cost-effective, and safer technologies. The campaigns include the clean lighting coalition working to remove fluorescent lamp exemptions in the minamata convention on mercury; the igsd dumping study to prevent environmental dumping of harmful cooling refrigerants in southeast asia under the montreal protocol; and the cook cleaner europe campaign to phase out gas cooking appliances across europe and the uk. Cooling: as global temperatures rise, Clasp supports governments to design and implement efficiency policies to ensure accessibility of critical cooling appliances for domestic and commercial use. Clasp's cooling work spans standards and labels for high energy consuming cooling appliances like air conditioners, refrigerators and other industrial/agricultural cooling appliances in pakistan, india, thailand, indonesia, china, europe and the united kingdom. Clasp is also supporting the south african government to transition the market to water and energy conserving appliances, including taps and showerheads. Efora: efficiency for access is a global coalition working to promote high performing appliances that contribute to clean energy access for the world's poorest people. Funded by the uk department for international development (dfid), ikea foundation, and good energies foundation, efficiency for access is a catalyst for change, accelerating the growth of off-grid appliance markets to boost incomes, reduce carbon emissions, improve quality of life and support sustainable development.e-waste and circularity: Clasp supports initiatives to sustainably manage appliances at end-of-life, and develop more robust infrastructure for a circular economy. Clasp's circularity portfolio includes a project under usaid with tetratech to develop viable e-waste pathways for renewable energy technologies, the global leap awards solar e-waste challenge, as well as a research project with modern energy cooking services on stakeholders and e-waste pathways in kenya and rwanda. Financing: affordability is the most significant challenge in providing energy access to families and communities in need. At Clasp, we recognize this barrier and are committed to promoting initiatives that help to unlock and increase funding for renewable energy companies that provide productive use technologies to african consumers. Under our financing theme, we are involved in several impactful initiatives, including the productive use appliance financing facility funded by the global energy alliance for people and planet (geapp), the supporting early-stage local entrepreneurs (sesle) program, and the green for access(g4a) facility, both of which are supported by the ikea foundation.other cea: agriculture employs 40% of the world's population, but outdated technologies limit productivity for rural farmers. Clasp partners with innovators and farmers to improve yields and rural livelihoods through early-stage solar technology innovations in agriculture. Initiatives like the global leap awards off-grid cold chain challenge and the upcoming productive use of renewable energy (pure) program for kenya contribute to unlocking the sector's potential and increasing community resilience to changing climatic conditions. Additionally, Clasp's initiatives promote affordable and accessible clean cooking solutions like electric pressure cookers to reduce hazardous biomass cooking fuels' use and the resulting household air pollution. By leading and participating in initiatives like the global leap electric pressure cookers results-based financing program, the piloting electric pressure cookers in kalobeyei and the bangladesh energy access modernization (beam) fund, Clasp aims to stimulate demand and supply for modern clean-cooking options.other country ta: Clasp provides technical support and capacity building to governments to transition markets to energy-efficient appliances. Clasp supports the governments of india, bangladesh, east african community, china, the european union, botswana, tanzania, mozambique and the philippines on market assessments and policy recommendations. Clasp also lends technical expertise to design efficiency policies and labelling programs for electric cooking, lighting, cooling appliances, transformers, motors, and other energy-intensive appliances. Research: Clasp leads research to amplify the significant benefits of efficient appliances and equipment for people and the planet. Recent decarbonization research efforts include presenting unique solutions to the challenges of home heating electrification through the hybrid heat homes strategy, and revealing the hidden health, economic, and environmental impacts of gas cooking in the eu and uk. Clasp's research portfolio also aims to inform good policymaking, such as offering consumer insights in favor of u.s. appliance efficiency standards, sharing best practices through our guidebooks, and providing policymakers with a global view of the leading appliance energy efficiency policies via the world's best meps analysis. Clasp's research team conducts ongoing scoping into opportunities for additional appliance efficiency policy applications in priorty sectors such as cooling techonology and motors. Tools and publications: Clasp is a trusted source of analysis and research tools for researchers, advocates, and policymakers. To support national and regional policy compliance, Clasp published the Clasp compliance toolkit - a tool providing resources to educate policymakers and practicioners on policy compliance and help them design effective strategies to lock in the benefits of efficient appliances. Top 20 climate mitigation: Clasp works in the world's top-emitting countries to advance ambitious, data-driven solutions that address the climate crisis, while keeping people connected, comfortable and productive. Clasp partners with governments, the private sector, and local and international partners to advance best practice appliance efficiency, including minimum energy performance standards, labeling requirements, consumer education and purchasing incentives. These interventions are among the fastest, most cost-effective methods for mitigating climate change, and have the co-benefits of saving money for consumers and governments, alleviating stretched grids by reducing peak energy demand, and bolstering energy security. Clasp prioritizes country engagements according to potential impact and likelihood of success. Priority areas include the united kingdom, japan, thailand, the united states, india, europe, indonesia, pakistan, brazil, china, and south africa. Verasol: verasol is the leading independent quality assurance program for distributed solar solutions, appliances, and equipment. An evolution of lighting global quality assurance, verasol strives to make safe, affordable, and durable products the default option in the market. By prioritizing the quality of solar energy solutions, verasol builds a competitive global market where high-performing products help consumers unlock the full range of benefits that stem from having access to modern energy services.