Imagine and suggest solutions to mayors and citizens to reduce CO₂ emissions and the environmental footprint of our cities!

The Decarbonathon

Do you feel strongly about issues like CO₂ emissions and urban mobility, green buildings and energy efficiency? Are you innovative and do you have practical ideas that can be easily implemented by mayors and citizen to help to reduce CO₂ emissions in cities? Then go ahead and take part in the Decarbonathon!

Your mission

The Decarbonathon is based on a simple premise: a large part of greenhouse gas emissions comes from cities (transport, dwellings, behaviour, etc.)

Your mission is therefore to imagine and suggest solutions that could have a positive impact on the carbon footprint of our cities and can be easily activated by mayors and/or citizen.

Lots of citizens wish indeed to do something about climate change but most of the projects and initiatives regarding climate change they face either relate to international discussions, awareness campaigns, large financial means being pulled together to act, or new technologies being developed in the industry.

The Decarbonathon aims at providing them with solutions they can take over, based on new technologies and/or simple ideas.

Your goal? Offer innovative carbon-reduction solutions that can be applied in the next 2 to 5 years.

To do this, your project must fall under one of the following 4 topics:

Urban Mobility

The transport sector has a big impact on global emissions: around 14% of total global greenhouse gas emissions came from this sector in 2010, and is set to rise with increasing global passenger and freight activity. This challenge targets two approaches:

Buildings and construction

The building sector (whether residential or commercial) accounts for as much as 18% of global emissions in 2010[2] . The sector has a slow turnover: once built, buildings are there for decades. On the other hand, just for Europe alone, it is expected to have 400 million square meters of new facade per year.

A socially responsible energy production and consumption

The energy production & consumption at a district level covers a wide range of technologies and implementations. It encompasses distributed energy, energy efficiency, circular economy; or short: “district energy systems”.

Open category

Any innovative initiative that helps to reduce the carbon footprint of cities.

As you can see, this is an open-ended list of ideas to reduce our CO₂ emissions ! So, keeping in mind that your solution must be feasible and rapidly deployable and touch citizen directly (their rapid adoption of your solution must have an impact), enter the challenge and try to be as innovative as possible in order to be invited to Paris to defend your project !

Want to take part in a worldwide challenge and do something tangible for the planet ? Then join the participants in the Decarbonathon ! Enter right now for the challenge and become involved in a more responsible world !

If you want to share the word with your friends, share the #Decarbonathon hastag on social media.

Context

On the occasion of COP21 which will bring representatives of over 190 countries together around climate issues, ENGIE, a world leader in energy headquarted in Paris, NPL, the British National Physics Laboratory, Climate-KIC, the EU’s main climate innovation initiative and INPI, the French patent office, and their international nework, are co-launching the world’s largest challenge on simple ideas that can be activated by mayors and citizen for the reduction of CO₂ emissions!

This initiative is backed by the Young Global Leaders and Shapers Communities of the World Economic Forum . From 30 November to 11 December, Paris will be hosting the 21st Conference of Parties (COP21) with a single goal: reaching a new international agreement to limit global warming.

In the run-up to COP21, the sponsors will be acting for the planet by organizing the Decarbonathon!

The Decarbonathon is an international competition open to all where talented thinkers from around the world can offer innovative solutions to limit global warming by reducing CO₂emissions in cities! The innovations that you suggest will then be sponsored by the competition partners in order to make them real and help save the environment!

If you do not know how to implement your idea, do not refrain from suggesting it.

What’s to win?

Loads of prizes are up for grabs in this challenge (electric bikes, eco-friendly trips, Apple Watches...). But moreover, it is a unique opportunity to get invited to Paris and meet the sponsors of the challenge in order to work on and take your project further.

If your project is feasible and will have a fast and positive impact on the carbon footprint, the sponsors may even ask you to join their incubation process in order to deploy your solution in numerous cities around the world!

More than €30,000 worth of prizes is at stake!

Participate

Competition - Let’s Decarbonize Our Cities

Deadline:

November 22, 2015

Disciplines:

Ecology