Former UN Environment assistant secretary-general, Satya Tripathi, is challenging conventional approaches to environmental finance with a bold grassroots initiative. Launching this month at the World Economic Forum in Davos, the Green Economy Accelerator for a Just Transition (GREAT) aims to empower smallholder farmers and promote sustainable practices at the village level in India.
Rejecting top-down strategies, Tripathi advocates for direct community involvement. “A problem created by 8 billion people won’t be solved by a few governments and corporations,” he asserts. “People need to change their lifestyles, and that starts by working with them directly.”
GREAT leverages partnerships with proven grassroots organizations, including Kheyti, SayTrees, and the Global Vikas Trust, to integrate greenhouse-based permaculture, agroforestry, and anaerobic digestion. This collaborative model aims to create scalable, interconnected solutions for climate resilience and economic empowerment.
Unlike high-tech interventions like carbon capture, which Tripathi criticizes for their exorbitant costs and limited immediate impact, GREAT focuses on cost-effective, low-tech solutions. For instance, Kheyti’s “greenhouse-in-a-box” uses minimal land, enabling farmers to grow high-value crops while planting fruit trees supported by SayTrees and Global Vikas Trust.
Tripathi’s holistic approach extends to financing. By aggregating efforts through the Global Alliance for a Sustainable Planet, which he co-founded, GREAT connects investors with credible, impactful projects. “We protect our partners and ensure they can deliver measurable results,” he explains.
With a $500 million investment target, including funding for one million biodigesters, Tripathi is confident in the model’s potential. “We’re not here to fix the market. We’re here to fix the planet. Once the planet is fixed, the market will fix itself,” he concludes.
As the world grapples with the twin challenges of environmental degradation and economic inequity, GREAT represents a promising shift toward community-driven, sustainable development.
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