The World Bank has announced the winners of its "Apps for Climate" competition at the Connecting for Climate event at the Newseum in Washington, DC, US.
Entries were reviewed by a panel of expert judges including Christiana Figueres, UNFCCC Executive Secretary, and Rachel Kyte, World Bank Vice President of Sustainable Development.
28 June 2012: The World Bank has announced that “Ecofacts” has won its “Apps for Climate” competition. This software application developed in Argentina teaches about energy consumption, climate change and the actions needed to reduce carbon emissions.
“Ecofacts,” one of 14 finalists celebrated at the Connecting for Climate event at the Newseum in Washington, DC, US, was awarded $15,000. Entries were reviewed by a panel of expert judges, including: Christiana Figueres, UNFCCC Executive Secretary; Rachel Kyte, World Bank Vice President of Sustainable Development; Juliana Rotich, Executive Director of Ushahidi; Andrew Steer, World Bank Special Envoy for Climate Change; and Patrick Svenburg, Director, Developer and Platform Evangelist in Microsoft’s Public Sector division.
The app “My Climate Plan,” which allows users to create their own hypothetical national plans for reducing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions won the second place; while the app “Globe Town,” which shows how countries are connected globally through trade, immigration, or international assistance, along with country profiles of issues such as energy use and climate adaptation, won the third place.
“CC Climate for Children” from Macedonia won in the “Popular Choice” category, and was awarded $5,000. This app is a collection of interactive classroom presentations and games for teaching climate change issues to students. Kyte highlighted that data interpreted and visualized becomes “empowering,” and these apps have the potential “to provide knowledge to those who need it to understand how a changing climate will affect their lives.” [World Bank Press Release] [Apps for Climate Website] [Connect for Climate Website]