GSUP 2.0 Challenges

The GSUP 2.0 Challenges

There are two challenges that we focused on in this year. We continued the environmental theme. The first challenge explored the issue around helping redefine natural capital to give communities the tools for better decision-making on making use of natural resources. The second focusses more towards helping the public sector procure greener services - encouraging ‘green govtech’. These challenges are global issues and resonate in different ways in different parts of the world. Like last year, they are broad challenges thus allowing for a spectrum of solutions that tackle different elements of the challenges.

Challenge 1: Adaptation and Green Growth

How can communities use data and technology to make ‘nature-smart’ choices and drive scalable green growth?

CivTech Alliance GSUP C1 - Adaptation and natural capital

Overview

There are two elements to this challenge. The first is about enabling communities to make ‘nature-smart’ decisions regarding the use of their natural capital - be that land, coastal or marine ecosystems. That might include tools that re-conceptualise and redefine natural, economic and social value in creative ways. The natural extension of this is then giving the public sector the tools to support green growth entrepreneurship.

Why this is important

Nature-smart decisions

Communities are on the frontlines of climate change impacts, yet rarely do they and other local actors have a voice in the decisions that most affect them. We need to shift the status quo from current top-down approaches to a new model where local actors have greater power and resources to adapt and build resilience to climate changes.

While governments see protected areas as key to addressing biodiversity loss, protected areas are often overlooked in economic development plans and economic recovery strategies. The global decline of biodiversity and ecosystem services is an economic development issue: economies, particularly in low-income countries, cannot afford the risk of collapse in the services provided by nature.

Meeting local, regional, national and global growth ambitions requires us to manage a range of assets or ‘capitals’ at the same time, short and long-term. To be effective, decisions rely on both climate and non-climate data to contextualise decisions, feedback mechanisms to evaluate their effectiveness and aid in their future development. It also requires appropriate stakeholder capacities to translate these services into effective actions.

In delivering the environmental, economic and societal returns, a balancing act is required. What tools or products are there to help communities and governments manage this balance, by ensuring that the necessary information is available and taken into account by decision makers? How can communities make more informed ‘nature-smart’ decision-making as they seek to influence policymakers who face the complex balancing-act involving the management of Natural Capital within their local ecosystems?

Green growth entrepreneurship

The OECD defines green growth as “fostering economic growth and development, while ensuring that natural assets continue to provide the resources and environmental services on which our well-being relies”. In essence, green growth is economic growth that has positive social and environmental impacts.

There are emerging examples of projects and funding being allocated to communities to promote climate resilience in such a way that leads to positive social and economic outcomes. These include resilient agriculture, community-based adaptation, payments and services across land, coastal and maritime ecosystems.

Building on the ‘nature-smart’ data, what tools and systems are available to governments, municipalities and communities to accelerate, promote and support green growth entrepreneurship?

What collaboration is required across borders between sectors including urban development, environment and parks, private companies, governments and public entities, urban and rural planning organisations, and the communities affected by these challenges? How do we take these motivations, create the right conditions and business models for entrepreneurs to drive sustainable and inclusive growth, and create and foster economic opportunities, environmental protection and social value?

Target customer/end user

Communities (parties who have a say in their local ecosystem)
Governments, public sector organisations, economic development agencies, social enterprises