Doha, Qatar – The United Nations and non-profit The Climate Group inked a new partnership on Wednesday which aims to raise awareness on climate change and clean energy.
Launched at a special event during the Doha climate talks here, the partnership will combine the efforts of The Climate Group’s “Clean Revolution” campaign and the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change’ (UNFCCC) “Momentum for Change.”
The Clean Revolution campaign of The Climate Group, which was created during the Rio +20 summit this year, is a partnership of international business leaders, companies and governments calling for an urgent and massive scale-up of clean energy and infrastructure, as well as using climate-smart technologies and design.
The Momentum for Change Initiative of the UNFCCC, launched in Durban last year, is designed to demonstrate how the public and private sectors are already working together to combat climate change.
This new partnership of governments and the business sector aims to help companies and the public sector move towards a low carbon economy and to encourage various sectors to participate their climate-related projects under the UN’s Momentum for Change Initiative.
UNFCCC executive secretary Christiana Figueres said during at the event that these projects will also help dispel the misconception that no work is being done between the public and private sectors in overcoming poverty and moving to a low carbon economy.
“We need to show that action on climate change, both adaptation and mitigation, is already happening, on the ground, in real life, where it is making a difference for people and for the environment,” Figueres told the delegates of the Doha climate talks.
“These low carbon success stories need to be told in a far more vocal way, to a much wider audience so they can motivate further action at greater scale, with faster pace.”
Mark Kenber, Chief Executive Officer of the Climate Group, said: “We are delighted to joining forces with the UNFCCC in showing how low carbon, clean revolution leadership is transforming the lives of millions around the globe.”
Out of more than 100 projects submitted, nine innovative projects were awarded as winner of this year’s Momentum of Change Initiative.
The nine winning projects were: the bus rapid-transit system in Guangzhou, China; the promotion of electric buses and rickshaws in Sri Lanka; energy-efficient brick kilns in Peru; women entrepreneurs bringing solar energy lamps and phone chargers to their customers’ homes in Uganda; eco-friendly bus sytem of Ahmedabad, India; a water purification system in Kenya; turning organic waste to compost in Nepal; the use of energy-efficient stoves, agro-forestry and vegetable production in Namibia; and the works to protect coastal areas against salt-water intrusion, by protecting houses and infrastructure in Senegal.
