SmartICE is a tool that helps Inuit adapt to thinning sea-ice by providing information to aid in the planning of safe routes on the ice, thus reducing travel risks.
The Momentum for Change initiative, spearheaded by the United Nations Climate Change secretariat, shines light on some of the most innovative, scaleable and practical examples of what people across the globe are doing to combat climate change.
The award recipients underline how global climate action, in support of governments’ national plans, is accelerating two years after the Paris Climate Change Agreement was universally adopted.
Selected initiatives, called Lighthouse Activities, demonstrate the unprecedented amount of climate action happening around the world. The announcement is part of wider efforts to mobilize action and ambition as national governments work toward implementing the Paris Agreement and the sustainable development goals (SDGs).
“I want to congratulate this year’s award winners,” said Patricia Espinosa, executive secretary, UN Climate Change. “Their passion, creativity and positive impacts on the ground are extraordinary, real-world examples of how the implementation of the Paris Agreement and the wider SDGs is happening at all scales across all countries and across all sectors of society.”
SmartICE is the only Canadian recipient. It falls under the Information and Communications Technology Solutions pillar, one of Momentum for Change’s five focus areas. It will be showcased at a series of special events during the UN Climate Change conference in Bonn, Germany, from Nov. 6-17.
The 2017 Lighthouse Activities were selected by an international advisory panel as part of the secretariat’s Momentum for Change initiative, which is implemented with the support of The Rockefeller Foundation and operates in partnership with the World Economic Forum, the Global e-Sustainability Initiative and Masdar’s Women in Sustainability, Environmental and Renewable Energy Forum initiative.
For more information about SmartICE, please contact Janet Harron, communications advisor, Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences, Memorial University, at 709-864-8292 or jharron@mun.ca.