31 July 2019: The UNFCCC Secretariat’s Momentum for Change initiative released a report featuring the 15 winners of the 2018 Global Climate Action Award. The winners represent examples of diverse climate solutions that the expert advisory panel recognizes as “practical, scalable and replicable” examples of what individuals, governments, industries and businesses are doing to address climate change.

The interactive report highlights the increasing number of climate projects entered for the Global Climate Award, and features outreach on the winning projects, which the UNFCCC announced at the Katowice Climate Change Conference. A record-breaking 569 projects from around the world submitted applications for the award, of which 331 were considered eligible. Applicants submitted projects across four pillar categories: Planetary Health; Climate Neutral Now (CNN); Women for Results; and Climate Finance. The Planetary Health category received the most applicants, with 58 applications. This focus area recognizes that the health of our planet and human health are “inextricably linked,” and aims to shine a light on solutions to balance both human and planetary health.

The winners serve as real-world reminders that climate action is not just possible – it’s the path we must get on to achieve the goals of the Paris Agreement.

Winners in the Planetary Health category include:

• Climate-Efficient School Kitchens and Plant-Powered Pupils, which reaches out to young people to educate and empower them to make healthier, sustainable food choices, and aims to address climate change by scaling up the availability of healthy and climate-friendly food options in German schools.
• Santiago Biofactory, a project by Chile’s largest water utility company and its main shareholder that is transforming Santiago’s three wastewater treatment plants into biofactories that convert sewer sludge and wastewater into clean energy. By 2022, all three treatment plants will be carbon-neutral, energy self-sufficient and zero-waste.
• Sustainable Organic Integrated Livelihoods (SOIL) in Haiti, US, which builds compostable toilets to reduce the spread of disease, restore local environments and create jobs. SOIL transforms the waste into compost, using a treatment process that adheres to World Health Organization (WHO) standards, and this waste is then used to support agriculture and reforestation efforts, which ensure nutrient recirculation and improved soil carbon sequestration, and enhance environmental resilience and climate adaptation.
• Sri Lanka Mangrove Conservation Project, a conservation project that is working to position Sri Lanka to become the first country in the world to preserve and replant all of its mangrove forests.

Other selected winning projects include:

• Forest Green Rovers: a local football team working to create the “world’s greenest football club” in the UK;
• Yalla Let’s Bike: a project that promotes bicycling as an eco-friendly and healthy mode of transportation and helps women defy traditional roles is Syria; and
• Rwanda Green Fund, an environment and climate change investment fund that invests in sustainable wealth creation and poverty reduction by building a climate-resilient and green economy. The Fund is one of the first national environment and climate investment funds in Africa.

In the report’s foreword, UNFCCC Executive Secretary Patricia Espinosa said the 2018 Lighthouse Activity winners “serve as real-world reminders that climate action is not just possible – it’s the path we must get on to achieve the goals” of the Paris Agreement on climate change. The report uses animations, infographics, photos and videos to tell the stories of the 15 winners and demonstrate the hundreds of climate actions already underway.

The winners of the 2019 Global Climate Action Award will be announced during Climate Week NYC in September 2019. [Publication: Momentum for Change 2018 Annual Report] [UNFCCC Press Release] [SDG Knowledge Hub Story on 2018 Winners Announcement] [SDG Knowledge Hub Story on 2017 Report]