REMSCHEID, 26 October 2021 – Four winners have been announced at the UNIDO Global Call 2021 Award Ceremony. The awards for innovative solutions in cleantech and sustainable land management were announced in a live ceremony after almost 300 applications from 71 countries were reviewed by an expert jury.

RUNWITHIT Synthetics won the UNIDO Global Call 2021 Award in the category, ‘Decarbonizing growing urban environments’. RUNWITHIT Synthetics uses system Artificial Intelligence (AI) to create city and region-specific living digital future labs. Its simulation of cities and regions can make a significant contribution to innovating and decarbonizing growing urban environments by evaluating alternate mobility systems effectively.

In the second category, ‘Clean and efficient energy generation and storage’, the UNIDO Global Call 2021 Award went to betteries AMPS GmbH. The solution provided by betteries is an affordable and reliable energy storage system based on second-life electric EV batteries. The modular and mobile system combines an efficient energy storage with a holistic circular economy approach and offers off-grid energy access in developing countries.

The third award winner, in the category ‘Circular production and industrial processes’, was PolyCare, which builds blocks from polymer concrete with inferior sands or processed waste and recycled PET. The PolyCare system allows for a simple, sustainable and circular construction process. This technology can contribute significantly to sustainable and circular construction.

In the fourth category, ‘Sustainable land management’, Zhejiang Chint New Energy Development won the UNIDO Global Call 2021 award for their Kubuqui 310 MW desert solar PV project. Their approach combines the generation of green power with sand control, grass planting, farming and poverty alleviation with a clear and demonstrated impact on soils.

At the Award Ceremony, expert speakers and UNIDO Global Call 2021 jury members from the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD), and UNIDO shared their views on challenges and opportunities on the four strategic categories of the Global Call. The event was livestreamed and is accessible on YouTube.

The UNIDO Investment and Technology Promotion Office (ITPO) Germany initiated the UNIDO Global Call 2021 in cooperation with UNFCCC and UNCCD. It was implemented in close collaboration with the German think tank Future Cleantech Architects. It was the second  UNIDO Global Call organized by UNIDO’s Investment and Technology Promotion Network, following the successful experience of last year’s UNIDO Global Call initiated by ITPO Italy.