AVPN’s APAC Sustainability Seed Fund Awards $3 Million Grants to 13 Innovative NGOs Combatting Climate Change in Asia-Pacific Region.
The Asian Venture Philanthropy Network (AVPN) announced 13 non-governmental organization (NGO) grantees for the Asia-Pacific Sustainability Seed Fund at the Asian Development Bank’s Southeast Asia Development Symposium (SEADS) 2023. The grantees, chosen for their innovative tech-driven solutions, are working towards combating climate change and promoting sustainability in the region. With the support of Google.org and the Asian Development Bank (ADB), the APAC Sustainability Seed Fund is empowering local impact organizations to drive transformative change in the communities they serve, especially in low-lying and small island countries.
RELEVANT SUSTAINABLE GOALS
AVPN’s APAC Sustainability Seed Fund awards
The 13 selected NGOs are Alam Sehat Lestari, Azure Alliance, Border Green Energy Team Foundation, Coalition for Our Common Future, Engineering Good, Gujarat Mahila Housing Sewa Trust, Institute for Global Environmental Strategies, Ocean Recovery Alliance, TGECA, Uncharted Waters ltd, Villgro Innovation Foundation, Water Stewardship Asia Pacific, and Yayasan Solar Chapter Indonesia. These organizations are based in countries such as Singapore, India, Indonesia, Thailand, and Australia.
We are proud to support AVPN through our philanthropic arm, Google.org, to identify and assist sustainability champions in the APAC region who are helping local communities mitigate the impacts of climate change. We hope to inspire other organisations to come forward, and support grassroots changemakers across the region. I'd like to congratulate all the selected NGOs for receiving this funding award and look forward to the great work that will undoubtedly emerge from their now accelerated efforts,
Each NGO has a unique solution to address environmental issues, here are the selected 13 NGOs :
Alam Sehat Lestari has supported community-designed solutions preserving 108,000 ha of critical rainforests in Indonesian Borneo. ASRI will develop the Rainforest Exchange (RX) platform to provide more accurate and accessible information on forest and carbon loss which are critical in the effort to fight deforestation.
Azure Alliance is a non-profit organisation committed to promoting clean water resources as well as the maintenance of marine and freshwater ecosystems without pollution. They are developing an Unmanned Autonomous Vehicle to remove floating debris such as plastics from harbors, lakes, ponds, and waterways.
Border Green Energy Team is a registered Thai foundation working to provide renewable energy solutions and technical education. They are increasing access to renewable energy for rural villages along the Thailand–Myanmar border.
Coalition for Our Common Future is a ‘Think and Do Platform’ based in South Korea contributing to the global target of achieving Carbon Neutrality and Green Growth. They leverage information technology solutions such as cloud technology and big data analytics to increase access to renewable energy.
Engineering Good is a Singapore-based non-profit organisation that champions inclusivity for disadvantaged communities using engineering and technology solutions. They repurpose and upcycle technology devices, to enable access to technology for the underprivileged.
Mahila Housing Trust aims at developing an AI enabled poor women led model for climate resilience for Amalner, Maharashtra which will serve as an archetype of a small urban town in India. It will pioneer the capture of land use as a parameter to map the catchment area to ensure protection of natural drain systems.
Institute for Global Environmental Strategies is an independent, nonprofit environmental policy think tank that aims to establish a closed island recycling system for plastic and other waste on Samet Island, Rayong, Thailand.
Ocean Recovery Alliance is an NGO focused on creating innovative solutions and collaborations to improve the health of the ocean. They plan to scale up the implementation of Global Alert, an innovative online tool which increases interaction and connectivity to the issues of plastic in the waters by allowing users to report, rate, and map plastic pollution levels in their watersheds.
TGECA focuses on energy inequality, making sure no one is left behind by developing tools to quickly detect the vulnerability of vulnerable groups to electricity consumption under climate change.
Uncharted Waters Ltd is a not-for-profit, data-driven climate start-up in Australia that provides real-time evidence of climate impacts on water and food security, and explores to what extent these impacts are potentially worsened (or mitigated) by ongoing climate change.
Villgro is a non – profit organisation based in India that focuses on supporting social innovations that have the potential for democratising innovation / technology and delivering impact at scale. In partnering with CultYvate, they are leveraging AI/IOT led tech to enable precise Alternate Wetting & Drying and irrigation techniques.m
Water Stewardship Asia Pacific was formed as a response to the millennium drought in Australia. It seeks to develop a range of ICT based tools that will catalyse the delivery of the program to water-using and dependent businesses,stakeholders and communities.
Yayasan Solar Chapter Indonesia (Solar Chapter) is a non-profit organisation with a focus on advancing sustainable development in Indonesian rural areas vulnerable to climate disasters. They are developing WaterIQ, a leveraged IoT and cloud computing platform to optimize the monitoring of solar- powered water systems in East Nusa Tenggara.
Dini Indrawati, Indonesian Country Director, AVPN, expressed her excitement about the APAC Sustainability Seed Fund. She emphasized that the USD 3 million fund enables innovative nonprofit sustainability initiatives to help vulnerable and underserved communities across eight markets adapt and mitigate the detrimental effects of climate change. She believes that the combination of technology such as artificial intelligence and on-ground expertise of local impact organizations is evolving sustainability practices that are truly successful and tailored to the unique needs of markets in the Asia-Pacific region.
“We are proud to support AVPN through our philanthropic arm, Google.org, to identify and assist sustainability champions in the APAC region who are helping local communities mitigate the impacts of climate change. We hope to inspire other organisations to come forward, and support grassroots changemakers across the region. I’d like to congratulate all the selected NGOs for receiving this funding award and look forward to the great work that will undoubtedly emerge from their now accelerated efforts,” said Michaela Browning, Vice President – Government Affairs and Public Policy for Asia-Pacific, Google.
It’s inspiring to see these NGOs working tirelessly towards a more sustainable future!
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