Abt Associates to Support $19 million USAID Project to Help Governments, Private Sector Mitigate and Adapt to Climate Change

BETHESDA, Md., June 19, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- Abt Associates will support the new $19 million U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) Climate Economic Analysis for Development, Investment and Resilience (CEADIR) project to help governments around the world, USAID missions and the private sector shift to low-emission and climate-resilient development.

CEADIR will bring together rigorous economic analysis and scale up public-private climate financing assistance to invest in clean energy, sustainable landscapes and climate-resilient actions by developing countries worldwide to mitigate and adapt to climate change.

"Abt is a leading global adviser on climate change economics and financing for low-emission development," said Dr. Rodolfo Camacho, a vice president at Abt Associates who leads the International Economic Growth Division's Climate-Smart Development practice and business development unit.  "We are proud to continue our work with USAID to help bring the best available evidence and technical assistance to meet the challenges for low-emission, climate-resilient development."

CEADIR will focus support on USAID's 25 Enhancing Capacity for Low Emission Development Strategies (EC-LEDS) partner countries in Africa, Asia, Latin America and Caribbean nations through small grants and engaging local experts and research institutes. Those countries and regional USAID offices include: Albania, Bangladesh, Cambodia, Colombia, Costa Rica, Ethiopia, Gabon, Georgia, Ghana, Guatemala, India, Indonesia, Jamaica, Kazakhstan, Kenya, Peru, Philippines, Macedonia, Malawi, Mexico, Moldova, Serbia, South Africa, Thailand, Ukraine, Vietnam, West Africa, and Zambia, as well as USAID's Regional Development Mission for Asia (RDMA) and the Central America Mission (CECAM).

Abt Associates will provide technical leadership on the CEADIR project, which includes assistance preparing country-led Low Emission Development Strategies (LEDS) at the national, sub-national and local levels, as well as setting up innovative climate change analysis and reporting tools to mobilize funding for clean energy, sustainable landscapes, climate resilience and LEDS.

CEADIR is a global project funded and managed by the USAID Bureau of Economic Growth, Education and Environment's Offices of Economic Policy and Global Climate Change, with Crown Agents as the prime contractor. Dr. Marcia Trump, a principal associate at Abt, is the Chief of Party for the CEADIR Project.  

The global climate change initiative builds on the USAID-funded Analysis and Investment of Low-Emission Growth (AILEG) project – an effort led by Abt Associates. Under the two-year project, Abt provided crucial data and analysis so that development leaders and policy experts in developing countries could make informed decisions on climate economic policies and programs. The project also provided economic policy agencies with best practices for modeling economy-wide and sector-level impacts of alternative climate change actions in seven countries. Dr. Trump also managed AILEG for Abt.

About Abt Associates
Abt Associates is a mission-driven, global leader in research and program implementation in the fields of health, social and environmental policy, and international development. Known for its rigorous approach to solving complex challenges, Abt Associates is regularly ranked as one of the top 20 global research firms and one of the top 40 international development innovators.  The company has multiple offices in the U.S. and program offices in more than 40 countries. www.abtassociates.com

SOURCE Abt Associates