“Social entrepreneurs are among those best positioned to improve the lives of the poor and mitigate global warming,” says an article on the website, Next Billion.

The article outlines the need to transform energy systems in the fight against climate change, and provides several examples of social entrepreneurship programs that are working towards this goal.

In an effort to prevent deforestation for charcoal production and for agriculture in Zambia, Global Social Benefit Fellows have developed an agroforestry manual that promotes sustainable practices. The manual outlines how agroforestry can reduce energy poverty and environmental degradation.

Clean cookstove programs are another way to limit deforestation and reduce carbon emissions, while providing a safer way for the poor to prepare their food. In East Africa the UN Foundation’s Global Alliance for Clean Cookstoves together with Santa Clara University have trialed a clean energy program which will also be piloted in Bangladesh. The program sponsors clean cookstove entrepreneurs who help businesses grow in a financially sustainable fashion.

The article also calls for governments to shift subsidies away from fossil fuels to clean energy and programs that “accelerate innovation and entrepreneurship in service to the global poor”.

Read the full story: Social Entrepreneurship and Global Warming