Fred Walti Remarks at the SwitchOn Event at Columbia University
Good afternoon. I am the founder and CEO of the Network for Global Innovation. Our mission is simple: Slow climate change by empowering cleantech entrepreneurs to invent the future NO MATTER WHERE THEY ARE LOCATED. We work with organizations like UNIDO and EarthON Foundation to support entrepreneurs by building supporting ecosystems and provide entrepreneur education programming. We currently work in more than 15 countries in the Global South.
Here at Climate Week, I’ve been thinking about two fundamental questions:
First, What do we have to do to invent the future? Because we need to invent the future to solve all the hurdles between now and a carbon-neutral future. Hurdles like clean energy generation and distribution in an economical manner. We must leap-frog current technologies/methods to get clean, affordable energy to the millions (hundreds) of millions without any energy today. We need new breakthroughs in energy storage! And the list goes on and on!
Second, Who’s going to invent the future? Indeed, we need the Lawrence Livermore Labs’ of the world to continue their ground-breaking work in making fusion work! To listen to their progress is fantastic.
And, I know some very large companies are working on sustainable innovations around the world. But do we really think that GE, SAP, or Reliant will invent the future technologies that we need today to achieve a carbon-free future by 2050? I don’t.
No, I believe it is the world’s entrepreneurs that will invent our future.
There are literally thousands of companies in the major innovation centers around the world– SV, NYC, Tel Aviv, Singapore, et al that are working on everything from iron air batteries to flying solar airplanes! It’s really exciting!
But is it enough to rely on these major innovation centers? – to invent our future and eventually get these breakthroughs to the billions of people in the Global South who need them?
We think not. Porting inventions to the Global South generally takes too long, is too expensive, and is not refined for their local markets. If we’re to be a carbon-neutral economy by 2050, we need every corner of the earth working on inventing the future! To do that, we need to build support systems and programs to encourage local entrepreneurs to reach for the stars through incubation, education, the trial and error of pilots, and of course — money.
That’s why we’re working with SwitchOn, SED, UNIDO and other organizations to develop a new program aimed at the most significant energy problems facing many countries around the world. As part of this effort, we are announcing the Green Innovation Energy Challenge in four states in India.
We are working with SwitchOn, EarthOn, UNIDO, and NGIN to announce these technology challenges as part of the Just Transition to the Future energy challenges that UNIDO is launching around the world – India, South Africa, Namibia, Nigeria, Mexico, and others.
Today, we are announcing a new technology challenge aimed at identifying innovative ways of delivering sustainable energy to the agriculture sectors in four Indian states. The Greenovation Energy Challenge in four Indian states represents hundreds of millions of people.
We are looking for:
- Innovations at the nexus of sustainable energy and agriculture including irrigation, crop production, storage, distribution, and business models.
- Solutions that empower the workforce by providing re-skilling opportunities and creating new jobs in the renewable energy sector
- Implementing sustainable energy solutions that improve livelihoods while reducing emissions and minimizing environmental impact.
SO, PLEASE VISIT https://ngin.org/jtf/ if you’re interested in participating in this challenge!
