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WWF Climate Solver initiative seeks innovations to beat the heat
WWF’s Climate Solver initiative, now in its third year in South Africa, seeks to identify and showcase small and medium enterprises that are developing new technologies to tackle climate change.
Climate Solver, now run in China, Sweden, India and South Africa, seeks to identify entrepreneurs developing innovative technologies to reduce carbon emissions and support energy access.
Nominations for the 2016 competition in South Africa are now open. The closing date is 14 March 2016 and the finalists will be announced in April/May 2016.
The awards are a valuable opportunity for small businesses to showcase and develop partnerships to roll out their innovative technologies.
Companies selected as Climate Solvers will be offered the chance to participate in a series of Preincubation Masterclass Workshops offered by Sarebi, the South African Renewable Energy Business Incubator. In addition, Sarebi will allocate a business coach to each of the Masterclass participants who will work with them for three months. These interventions are designed to help entrepreneurs refine their business ideas, and consider critical factors like costing, technical requirements and market feasibility.Competition organiser Louise Scholtz, a project manager at WWF-SA, says: “Working collaboratively, the idea is that the Climate Solver initiative should impact positively on the capacity of small and medium-size enterprises to develop and roll-out innovative technologies that will help us tackle the climate crisis.”
Who is eligible to enter?
- Small and medium enterprises whose technology could provide sustainable solutions to enhance energy access or lower carbon emissions by 20 million tonnes annually from 2026 onwards.
- Companies that own their technology, have developed the product to post-pilot stage and have clear business plans for developing and promoting the product.
WWF-SA will also produce a short video of each of the selected technologies that will be featured on the South African and International WWF Climate Solver webpages, and which the enterprise can use for promotional purposes.
Previous winners
In 2015, MellowCabs, a prototype for a public transport micro vehicle, Findmyway, a smartphone app to help commuters navigate public transport, and Eco MC2, a hydraulic energy storage system, were named as Climate Solvers. The value of the Climate Solver competition is also clearly demonstrated in this feedback from the 2014 winners, namely AgriProtein, Rhino Modified Wood and Solar Turtle.
- For entry details see the Call for Nominations page or visit the Climate Solver web page.