Climate Change Challenge
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Track
Overview |
People are at risk from food and water shortages, greater flooding, high heat, an increase in disease, and economic loss due to climate change. Conflict and human migration are potential outcomes. Climate change is regarded by the World Health Organization (WHO) as the biggest threat to world health in the twenty-first century.
In order to build on prior accomplishments and pave the way for future ambition, Egypt will host the 27th Conference of the Parties of the UNFCCC (COP27) in Sharm El-Sheikh in November 2022. An excellent chance for all parties involved to step up and effectively address the global issue of climate change on the African continent, facilitated by Egypt. |
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Challenge 1
Clean Energy |
Global Challenge:
Fossil fuels are still our main source of energy even though they are the main cause of climate change. Cities use more than two thirds of the world's energy and release more than 70% of the world's CO2. This is why the second Climate Action Challenge from What Design Can Do is all about energy issues in cities. Together with the IKEA Foundation and many local partners, we are asking designers and creative entrepreneurs to rethink how we make, distribute, and use energy in our cities. Everyone in the world should have enough energy to live a comfortable life, including having access to clean water, healthy food, a safe place to live, medical care, education, and jobs. This is true for a lot of people around the world, but it hurts the climate. We need to stop using fossil fuels and make sure everyone has access to reliable, affordable energy to end energy poverty. To do this, we need to make more energy overall, and it needs to be clean and green, which means it can't come from fossil fuels but can be renewable, passive, or kinetic. We will also have to use energy more wisely, which means using it more effectively and with less waste. We need to change how and where we get our energy and how we use it. We use fossil fuels for almost everything in our lives, from heating and cooling our homes to making food, getting us from one place to another, and bringing us drinking water. It is hard to imagine a world without fossil fuels. And the need for energy is growing because of population growth, development, and the growing complexity of systems that use a lot of data. If we keep burning fossil fuels to meet our energy needs, we are likely to lock in 4 degrees of global warming, which would be terrible for the planet and the civilization we know today. Many of us use oil, gas, and coal in ways that are too much and wasteful, way beyond what we need and bad for the environment. "Carbon decadence" is what we call this. We need to change how we use energy every day. On the other hand, we need to give energy to the billions of people who don't have access to it or can't afford it. Energy poverty means that these people don't have enough access to energy to meet their basic needs and grow. Energy poverty can mean that someone can't afford energy or that they use energy that pollutes the environment around them (like a wood, coal, or kerosene stove at home) or that they don't have reliable access to electricity. This means that even people who are connected to a gas or electricity grid can be in energy poverty if they have blackouts often. What is green Energy: Green energy comes from the sun, the wind, the rain, the tides, plants, algae, and geothermal heat. Clean and green energy is better for the environment than fossil fuels like coal, oil, and natural gas because it can be used over and over again and is naturally replenished. Clean energy doesn't just mean switching to renewable energy sources; it also means rethinking how we use energy. An important part of a future without fossil fuels is to save energy and use it more efficiently. We need to think of creative ways to get as much useful power as possible out of as little energy as possible and waste as little as possible. In light of this, we are looking for design interventions that use a variety of renewable, energy-saving, and energy-efficient methods. |
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Challenge 2
Zero Waste |
The zero Waste Challenge invited all dreamers, and creatives to submit audacious ideas for waste reduction and to reconsider our entire cycle of production and consumption.
Why Waste: Our earth is drowning in waste, which is a simple but terrible answer. We massively discard 2.12 billion tonnes of stuff each year. This is partially due to the economy we have established, where 99 percent of the things we buy are thrown out after six months. If all of this trash were placed on trucks, they would circle the globe 24 times. All other serious social and environmental issues are adversely affected by the systemic nature of the problem. The damaging manner in which we currently extract, produce, and use resources is pushing us towards a climate disaster, from causing biodiversity loss to increasing global warming. We have a chance to create a future that benefits both people and the earth if we can address the underlying primary issues and symptoms of waste. Will you come with us? Already, we use 75% more resources annually than the planet can support over the long run. And if we don't make some significant changes right away, by 2050, this overshoot is projected to rise by an astounding 70%. We think that design has the capacity to influence how things are manufactured and what they are made of, as well as to increase awareness of these issues. Design has a part to play in changing narratives and enabling alternative future visions. We now have an unheard-of opportunity to do this and, in the process, examine our current systems because to the COVID-19 problem. It might facilitate a number of step changes and open doors for concepts, things, services, and systems that were earlier thought to be too radical. The opportunity is here, and the potential is huge. How therefore can we promote more thoughtful consumption, produce for both people and the planet, and manage water more responsibly? Better waste solutions in all domains:This habit of obtaining and wasting commodities harms the ecosystem. It produces carbon, methane, and nitrous oxide, among other greenhouse gases. Half of worldwide greenhouse gas emissions are due to the mining and processing of natural resources. This method also exploits water and land, causing serious habitat and biodiversity loss. Food and plastic production are big polluters. When discussing the negative effects of garbage, we must also consider what happens before it's discarded: the taking and manufacture of all the goods we consume and eat. Can design help us take less, make more, and waste less? Off the production floor, things aren't much better. We keep buying and wanting more goods because of cheap, short-lived items. Existing garbage infrastructures are chaotic and opaque. Poor garbage disposal and management can directly and indirectly impact biodiversity, exacerbating climate change. |
Challenge 3
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The ideas could be associated with scarcity of natural resources,sustainable use of natural resources, development of ecological diversity and preservation of harmless ecological species, preservation of land and soil quality, good management of water resources and consumption; Planning and innovation of new rural systems and communities and their health and social development; increasing the quantity and quality of agricultural production; good use of agricultural land; energy efficiency and rationalization; taking into account climate changes, remote sensing applications, the size and quality of agricultural productivity, a green economy, etc.
Ideas should include but are not be limited to the following:
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