Cate Blanchett, patron of new charity SolarAid, explains how solar power can be used to fight poverty and appeals for support.

Cate Blanchett talks SolarAid

 

SolarAid believes that the two most important threats facing humanity today are climate change and global poverty. SolarAid was set up as a response to this. Two billion people in the world have no access to electricity. For most of them, solar power would be their cheapest electricity source, but they cannot afford it.

SolarAid aims to enable the world’s poorest people to have clean, renewable power. Solar power leads to better education, health, safety and income by allowing poor communities to cook, pump water, run fridges, store vaccines, light homes, schools, clinics and businesses, power computers and homes, farm more effectively, and much more.

By replacing carbon emitting technologies, solar power can mitigate global warming. For example, the average kerosene lamp, used widely across the developing world, creates around a tonne of carbon over seven years. Replacing such lamps with solar lanterns will lead to significant reductions in carbon emissions.

 

SolarAid - power to the people