We have the solutions to transition to 100% renewable energy systems, but how we transition is key.
Through our Sunshine Stories project, we aim to promote and amplify narratives on the positive impacts of renewables on lives and communities all over the world. We are collating a library of resources to demonstrate how renewable energy has been deployed in a variety of different scenarios to create the energy system we want to see – ones which are publicly owned, affordable, clean, reliable, accessible, sustainable and implemented through consultation with local communities to meet their needs.
We encourage you to explore the inspiring stories we’ve gathered from around the world, featuring various renewable energy technologies at different scales and highlighting their positive impacts on communities globally. For more information on why we have chosen these projects, you can read our criteria for the Sunshine Stories here.
Sunshine Stories spotlight
Across the globe, real just energy transitions are showing what works: projects that are community-centred, inclusive, and designed to foster resilience and development.
The just transition to renewable energy is already powering change and transforming lives.
Solar power for food security and income generation in the Bolivian Amazon
In the remote Amazonian communities along the Beni River in Bolivia, families depend on fishing and small-scale farming as their primary sources of food and income. However, the lack of reliable, affordable electricity and the considerable distances to markets make it difficult to preserve fish and other perishable foods. As a result, families often have to sell their catch at below-market prices or deal with food spoilage, significantly reducing their income and access to food.
Today, with community-owned solar cooling systems in place, local communities are actively using renewable energy to strengthen food security, create new income opportunities that contribute to stronger local economies, and build overall resilience against climate impacts already shaping the region.
Renewables for Resilience and Development: Community Voices and Policy Perspectives
This webinar explores the critical role of renewable energy in strengthening climate resilience and enabling adaptation in climate-impacted communities. It showcases real-world case studies where renewable energy has served as an effective adaptive measure. It also features an intervention by the Chair of the African Group of Negotiators, highlighting the need to recognize renewable energy within adaptation strategies and its broader connections to clean energy access and sustainable development. Ultimately, the webinar aims to spark a conversation on how to create new spaces for investment, cooperation, and inclusive solutions that address real needs on the ground.
Indigenous-Led Energy Transition Across Turtle Island
CAN International hosted its first Sunshine Story Webinar: Indigenous-Led Energy Transition Across Turtle Island, in collaboration with CAN – RAC Canada and Sacred Earth Solar.
Sacred Earth Solar’s and the indigenous communities’ they have worked with stories’ demonstrate the importance of centring decolonisation work in the energy transition. They contextualise the personal experience, demonstrating the historic violence committed by both the state and corporations. The work Sacred Earth Solar does emphasises the importance of understanding the complexity of achieving a just and equitable transition. In so called Canada, indigenous communities are the largest asset owners of clean energy after utilities. The energy transition in the region has been led by indigenous communities, through centring their voices we can better understand how they have achieved this, where they have struggled and where they have succeeded.