Peace Corps Chief Executive Officer Carol Spahn announces climate initiative

 

WASHINGTON – Peace Corps Chief Executive Officer Carol Spahn announced that over the next year the agency will implement a climate initiative to support over two million hours of volunteer and staff service in approximately 50 countries around the world.

Speaking via video at the Global Citizen Festival in New York City, CEO Spahn described how approximately 1,000 Peace Corps volunteers will work with host country partners to identify and implement strategies that contribute to climate priorities and national plans.

“Climate change disproportionally impacts the Global South, including many countries in which Peace Corps Volunteers serve,” said CEO Spahn. “The world is at an inflection point when it comes to the climate emergency; it is now or never, and we are choosing now.”

Volunteers and their host communities will work together to promote climate-smart agriculture practices, develop community tree nurseries, and increase climate literacy through environmental education.

Additionally, the Peace Corps will double the number of volunteers serving in Ghana to support climate, education, and health work in local communities.

Currently, the agency is recruiting volunteers to serve in over 50 countries around the world at the request of host country governments. Volunteers have already returned to overseas in a total of 27 countries in Africa, Europe, the Caribbean, Central America, and South America. The Peace Corps continues to monitor COVID-19 trends in all of its host countries and will continue to send volunteers to serve as conditions permit.

https://www.peacecorps.gov/news/library/peace-corps-ceo-carol-spahn-announces-climate-initiative-at-global-citizen-festival/