UpLink has launched a competition to find finance, training, and education tools that ‘support people, nature, and climate’. Submissions for the Blue Carbon Challenge are open until December the 17th, 2021 on the UpLink website.
Proposals must be market-viable blue carbon projects that ‘advance the conservation and restoration of coastal and aquatic ecosystems’ or ‘solutions that support and build trust and transparency in such projects’.
The best 10-15 submissions will be invited to a 12-month program by the Friends of Ocean Action, the Mangroves Working Group, UpLink, and the challenge partners – Salesforce, Conservation International, Coastal Oceans Research and Development – Indian Ocean (CORDIO) East Africa, and REV Ocean – to develop their projects. Winning submissions are also set to benefit from the networking and mentorship offered by UpLink as well as access to partners of the forum. Additionally, projects will gain visibility through the World Economic Forum’s wide social media reach.
The Blue Carbon Challenge is co-organised by Friends of Ocean Action and the World Resource’s Institute’s Ocean Program. Friends of Ocean Action draws together 65 leaders in business, civil society, international organizations, science, and technology. They aim to influence international policy on ocean conservation and sustainable marine resource development. It is co-chaired by Peter Thomson, the UN Secretary General’s Special Envoy for the Ocean, and Isabella Lövin, former Deputy Prime Minister of Sweden.
UpLink is a digital crowdsourcing platform for social entrepreneurship hosted by the World Economic Forum and supported by Salesforce, Deloitte, and Microsoft (Linkedin). The platform was established during the UN General Assembly in September 2021. It aims to catalyse private sector and non-profit strategies for meeting the UN Sustainable Development Goals.
UpLink’s digital networking function connects industry players, investors, and mentors working on similar issue areas. The UpLink website allows users to upload ‘challenges’ and ‘contributions’ within an SDG-related issue area. ‘Challenges’ are funding calls for projects targeting a defined problem area. ‘Contributions’ are projects seeking various kinds of support for their mission. These range from entities at the ideation stage right the way through to Series B companies looking to expand. Contributors may list what their project is seeking in terms of expertise, funding, or mentorship.
