It won't be long until the UN climate conference takes place in which most of the world's countries will participate. Main topic of the World Climate Conference in Marrakech is the climate change and the linked urgent need for a significant reduction of emissions. This year is really special since it is the first time that the presentation of the Energy Globe World Awards will be held at the World Climate Conference. In order to emphasize the importance of saving emissions, the Energy Globe World Award will be held online as an interactive event. It can be watched live from all over the world.

The Energy Globe World Award is today’s most renowned environmental prize with around 2000 sustainable project submissions from 178 countries.

What is so special about it is that theory and practice are combined with each other. While at the conference discussions take place revolving around the climate and the implementation of the climate convention, the Energy Globe Award is all about actions. For Wolfgang Neumann who founded the popular environmental prize

17 years ago is of the opinion that "talking is important but only in the beginning. Ultimately, actions and the implementation of projects are what counts, and this is what we put into the spotlight with the Energy Globe Award. There are solutions readily available for most of our resource problems which have been implemented by creative people all over the world who care for our future.”

Both number as well as quality of the submitted projects have been increasing from year to year. 17 projects in 6 categories have been nominated for the international World Award by the international jury which consists of a representative of each continent. With so many outstanding projects, the choice has never been more difficult.

Among the nominated projects for the category Earth there is an initiative from Honduras. Inga tree alleys are a revolutionary method aimed at subsistence farmers in the humid tropics and a sustainable alternative to slash-and-burn while also sequestering carbon. In the same category, a project from Morocco is hoping for the first place. It consists of a low-cost sewerage system, a gravity-fed wastewater treatment plant, a treated wastewater storage pond and a solar-powered irrigation system. Furthermore, an initiative from Bangladesh has been nominated during which in cooperation with the local population tree seedlings are planted, clean water is provided and technologies based on renewable energy are provided.

Fire stands for energy. Three projects from Germany, Ethiopia and Kenya have been shortlisted. The German company Multicon Solar has developed a mobile solar power station which replaces loud and polluting diesel generators. We Care Solar developed the Solar Suitcase which provides medical facilities with clean energy, saving the lives of women and children, while also preventing the release of CO2. In Kenya, young people are trained to manufacture solar lamps from recycled materials.

Water is a symbol for life and three outstanding candidates of this category hope to take the sought-after prize home. One of them is the Tropical Research and Conservation Centre from Malaysia that restores coral reefs with an innovative approach. Sudanese Woman’s General Union provides sustainable integrated water, sanitation and hygiene services for internally displaced men, women and children in North Darfur and South Kordofan States. In the small coastal town of San Crisanto the foundation of the same name protects together with locals the mangrove forests and other endangered eco systems.

In the category Air there are projects from Austria, the USA and India. The supermarket chain Hofer is the first food retailer in German speaking countries which is working in a completely CO2 neutral way. A Data Center Infrastructure Management Monitoring software solution helps data center managers run their facilities at peak efficiency. They can plan and manage capacity, minimize downtime, reduce energy consumption and save money. The social enterprise Pollinate Energy trains people to provide Indian slum dwellers with renewable energy.

Besides the four elements specially the youth is important since the upcoming generation is our hope. That’s why the Inspiria Science Center in Norway has been nominated which inspires and educates around 50,000 school children every year in a fun way about renewable energy, waste management and nutrition. There is also the mobile application called Marnoba which allows people to share data about the appearance of waste in order to facilitate the development of strategies against the pollution of the beaches. Another nominee in the category Youth is SolarGrid from Tanzania. They have set an example of how to electrify villages successfully by training young people to become solar technicians and agents. The sold solar home systems can be paid in installments by providing a micro loan.

The new category Sustainable Plastics is all about the sustainable and responsible use of plastics. An example is Air X-TEX from the USA. This air filter saves thousands of trees and tons of steel while millions of discarded plastic beverage bottles can be reused. Mbezi Recycling from Tanzania uses plastic waste as a resource to manufacture fencing posts. 25 of these fencing posts save one grown Cedar Tree from logging.

All of the nominees and further information about the Energy Globe Award can be foundonwww.energyglobe.info.

Here also the awarding of the nominees takes place live on 10th November at 11 a.m. (Moroccan time) every hour on the hour.

Be there when the best projects will be presented! For the moderation we were able to win the dedicated incumbent Miss Earth Austria, Miss Kimberly Budinsky!

Energy Globe, we connect the world in terms of sustainability.

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8 days left to submit:No project is too small, so we encourage you to participate! We are searching for creative people with sustainable and environmental project. You can find detailed information about the Energy Globe Award and how to apply onwww.energyglobe.info. Deadline for submissions: 18 November 2016