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SDSN and Siemens Gamesa Announce the Winner of the First Edition of Universities for Goal 13, the Global Competition Promoting University Talent in the Fight Against Climate Change

By Maelle Voil
  • The winning project is: "Byte Rainforest: A new pathway to realize the intangible value of tropical rainforest” developed by Tsinghua University.
  • Universities for Goal 13 is an international competition organized by Siemens Gamesa and UN SDSN to promote university talent in the fight against climate change.
  • Five universities participated in this first edition: Tsinghua University (China), University of Pretoria (South Africa), University of Göttingen (Germany), Pontifical University of Rio de Janeiro (Brazil), and Arizona State University (USA).

The United Nations Sustainable Development Solutions Network (UN SDSN) and Siemens Gamesa announced the winner of the Universities for Goal 13 award, a competition promoting university talent in the fight against climate change through disruptive solutions.

The name of the winning project was announced during the 10th Annual International Conference on Sustainable Development (ICSD) in New York on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly. ICSD is the top academic international conference for discussing sustainable development issues with researchers and development practitioners from across the world including heads of state, UN officials, CEOs, economists, and university professors.

For its first edition, Universities for Goal 13’s winning project is “ Byte Rainforest: A new pathway to realize the intangible value of tropical rainforest ” developed byTsinghua University . The team proposed a blockchain-based digital MRV system to monetize the carbon sink potential of tropical rainforests by converting carbon flux into carbon credits. The solution will create a strong incentive for local farmers to conserve the rainforest and attract international private capital to support their protection.

The winning solution will be awarded 10,000 USD for further development and implementation.

From March to September 2022, fourteen teams of students from five participating universities from UN SDSN’s network, representing a range of disciplines, worked together to identify and propose an innovative and sustainable solution to a problem in their region. Five solutions were shortlisted:

  • Byte Rainforest: A new pathway to realize the intangible value of tropical rainforest, from Tsinghua University in China,
  • Design of a novel solar-powered non-thermal plasma technology for water treatment in rural communities, from the University of Pretoria, South Africa,
  • Waste Gas to Fuel - Sustainable biofuels with bacteria from the University of Göttingen, Germany,
  • Use of wind potential as a driver for socio-economic leverage in underdeveloped locations from the Pontifical University of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, and
  • Sustainable Management of Wind Turbine Blades from Arizona State University in the United States of America.

Throughout the competition, students were assisted by mentors from Siemens Gamesa who shared their expertise, provided technical advice, and helped to bring out the best in the presentation of their proposals to the members of the jury composed of top managers from Siemens Gamesa and UN SDSN.

Through this alliance, UN SDSN and Siemens Gamesa are embarking on a path of collaboration to promote quality education and technology as driving forces toward the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals of the Agenda 2030.

Addressing the climate emergency by changing the trajectory of CO2 levels is the most pressing challenge of our time and it requires bold solutions. By giving students the opportunity to demonstrate their talent and skills in a collaborative and competitive way, universities position themselves and their faculties within a dynamic and innovative environment, while providing regional stakeholders with an understanding of technical, legal, and sociological aspects of how local economies could decarbonize.

"This is a remarkable project and a hugely creative approach for the future. Every day we are seeing more climate disasters around the world. We have lost a lot of time facing reality, and we know that we need big global-scale solutions to decarbonise the world energy system by mid-century, at the latest. It is an enormous, unprecedented challenge. Today, thanks to companies such as Siemens Gamesa, we have innovative options that we could not have imagined years ago. “Universities for Goal 13” is making sure that this innovation continues in a dynamic way with the new, young engineers and leaders of the coming generation. Thanks to this competition, students from universities all over the world receive excellent mentorship to work on practical problem-solving directed at the challenge we face,” commented Jeffrey Sachs, President of SDSN.

“Given the lack of vocations in technological careers, we want to inspire young people to follow in the footsteps of these students who through their talent and teamwork have managed to surprise us with their solutions for their creativity and disruptive potential," said María Cortina, global head of the department of Social Commitment at Siemens Gamesa.

“From our experience and leading position in renewable energies, we know the importance of innovation in the fight against climate change”, said Mrs. Cortina, underlining that “a standard SGRE Onshore turbine avoided in 2012 the emission into the atmosphere of more than 5.500 Tons of CO2 per year. Ten years later, a standard onshore turbine avoids almost three times more emissions per year, and as for SGRE Offshore "star" turbine, it already avoids about 40,000 Tons CO2, more than 7 times the achievement of 2012”.

SDSN and Siemens Gamesa are already looking forward to the second edition to be launched early 2023. University students, stay tuned!