Eco-friendly initiatives recognized with UN-backed award

A range of eco-friendly start-up initiatives in Bangladesh, Colombia, India, Niger, Southern Africa and Zimbabwe have won a notable sustainable development award, the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) announced today.

The Supporting Entrepreneurs for Environment and Development (SEED) Award recognizes promising new locally-driven enterprises that work to improve livelihoods, tackle poverty and manage the sustainable development of natural resources in developing countries.

“The SEED Gold Winners show us that a low-carbon, resource-efficient green economy is as much a developing country and rural community issue as it is a developed country one,” said UNEP Executive Director Achim Steiner.

“These genuinely inspiring initiatives are generating multiple economic, social and environmental benefits and being achieved often against enormous odds. The challenge now is to scale them up,” noted Mr. Steiner.

The five Gold Winners of the 2009 SEED Award include an association of small-scale women farmers in Zimbabwe striving to reverse severe land degradation through organic farming; a Bangladeshi non-governmental organization (NGO) developing a low-cost solar lantern made from recycled parts of kerosene lanterns; a group in Colombia setting environmental standards for local miners; civil society organizations in Southern Africa and India developing bio-cultural procedures to help indigenous communities share the benefit of local resources; and institutions in Niger establishing sustainable solid waste management systems to keep cities clean.

The SEED Award consists of individually-tailored business support services worth $35,000 for up to one year to help establish each scheme and increase its impact over the long-term. The services include access to relevant expertise and technical assistance, meeting new partners and building networks, developing business plans and identifying sources of finance.

The SEED Initiative, founded in 2002 by UNEP, is a partnership with the UN Development Programme (UNDP) and the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN).