AVPN, the largest network of social investors in Asia , announced the grantees of the APAC Sustainability Seed Fund (SSF) 2.0 , which is a USD 5 million catalytic initiative supported by Google.org, and the Asian Development Bank (ADB), as the strategic and outreach partner. AVPN will award 18 non-profit organisations with funding to implement and scale innovative technology-led solutions that tackle pressing climate and sustainability challenges in the Asia Pacific region. Building on the June 2024 launch of the APAC Sustainability Solutions Lab , which received an additional USD 2 million grant from Google.org, the Lab will now serve as a resource hub for grantees from both APAC SSF 1.0 and 2.0. It will provide capacity building support to grantee partners and increase their visibility, enhancing the impact of their innovative solutions.
The Asia Pacific region is home to seven of the worlds ten most climate-vulnerable countries, where climate change poses an existential threat [1] and the potential to cause long-term impact to future generations. Weather events in APAC in 2022 affected more than 50 million people directly, with an upwards of USD 36 billion in economic losses [2] . The failure to adapt to growing climate risks has posed significant economic and social threats. While technology has emerged as a transformative force to offer innovative avenues to address these challenges, climate technologies remain severely underfunded.
Building on the success of SSF 1.0 Fund, the APAC SSF 2.0 seeks to nurture and amplify solutions that harness technology to address urgent climate impact areas such as renewable energy and decarbonisation, climate adaptation, waste management and/or circular economy, air quality, water preservation and biodiversity protection. The grantees, based across the Asia Pacific region, will leverage technologies such as artificial intelligence (AI), cloud computing, Internet of Things (IoT), and application software in their climate solutions. Grantees include:
- Aus tralia - Cool.org
- India - INREM Foundation , CEPT Research and Development Foundation (CRDF) , Institute for Financial Management and Research , Gujarat Mahila Housing Sewa Trust
- Indonesia - YAKKUM Emergency Unit , Gringgo Indonesia Foundation , Perkumpulan Jaringan Pantau Gambut
- Japan - Social Innovation Japan , Institute for Global Environmental Strategies
- New Zealand - Wildlife.ai Trust
- Singapore - Imagine H2O Asia
- South Korea - Coalition for Our Common Future
- Thailand - Asian Institute of Technology , Sathira-Dhammasathan
- The Philippines - University of the Philippines Public Administration Research and Extension Services Foundation, Inc. , Asia Society for Social Improvement and Sustainable Transformation (ASSIST)
- Vietnam - Vietnam Rural Industries Development and Research Institute (VIRI)
The Fund will support grantees efforts in scaling their solutions, provide networking opportunities and capacity building, fostering and simplifying solutions that harness the power of technology for climate adaptation and mitigation to ensure a positive and lasting impact in Asia .
Additionally, AVPN will offer selected grantees of APAC SSF 1.0 and 2.0 access to the Sustainability Solutions Lab. The Lab will provide technical capacity building support, develop impactful case studies, create opportunities for dialogue and hold roundtable discussions with stakeholders. Its goal is to enhance grantees impact, build their capacity, and to create a supportive ecosystem. By increasing the visibility of successful grantees, the Lab will enable them to showcase how advanced technologies tackle key sustainability issues and effectively communicate their solutions to social investors, government, and other key stakeholders, thus facilitating the scaling of their innovations.
