The Sustainable Innovation Expo kicks off on Monday at the UN Environment Assembly in Kenya, where it will showcase over 42 technologies and innovative solutions from around the world.
The Expo is the UN Environment Assembly’s solution-based platform for engaging innovators using exhibitions that reveal the latest technologies, panel discussions, and networking opportunities. The Expo’s objective is to find solutions for today’s problems by embracing a “forward-thinking culture that fosters ingenuity.”
This years expo theme focuses on Eco-Innovation and Sustainable Finance.
“Some of the most important solutions to the climate crisis – and to biodiversity loss, and to so many other challenges – will come from innovation,” says Joyce Msuya, Acting Executive Director of UN Environment. “Innovation must work for all, not for the few – but creating innovation is also not the preserve of the few.
“Every day we are seeing more promising examples of positive action – from emissions-free tuk tuks, to cutting-edge alternatives to single-use plastic, to new climate-smart ways of managing our forests and farmlands.”
Innovative sustainable business represents a trillion-dollar opportunity that can bring value to people and the environment. Some of the organizations pioneering new technologies at the event include Airbus, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations and Switch Africa Green.
Other exhibitors include a Canadian company that uses shipping containers to create affordable and sustainable housing; an Indian solution that provides solar-powered cooling for fruits, vegetables and other perishable commodities fresh; and a group of Kenyan students who have designed an Aquaponic system that recirculates water and ensures maximum production of fish in smaller spaces.
The intention of the Forum is to connect innovators with investors and partners, thus allowing for ideas to be scaled through investment and/or mentoring.
Some of the other topics to be explored at the Expo include the incorporation of big data and artificial intelligence for the environment;Harnessing the power of business and citizens as active co-creators and problem solvers;Unleashing the creativity and entrepreneurship of women in the green sector as a means to empowerment and tool for gender equality; Finally promoting eco-innovation, a type of business approach that promotes sustainability through the entire life cycle of a product.
