This event, organised by UNIDO, GEF, CTCN and PFAN and hosted by the State Secretary for Sustainable Development of Morocco, will discuss ways to unlock prosperity through clean technology innovation and entrepreneurship at the bottom of the pyramid.
This side event creates a platform for various stakeholders from governments, academia, international organizations and the private sector to exchange views on the opportunities and challenges of entrepreneurship and innovation in the context of spurring sustainable development. Following the opening remarks, selected innovators – winners of the Global Cleantech Innovation Programme – will showcase their business plans to ground the panel discussion and provide first-hand insights on barriers and prospects. Subsequently, a moderated panel discussion will shed light on options to further promote entrepreneurship and innovation by sharing experience and lessons learned. The cross-fertilization between real cases and initiatives undertaken at global and local level is expected to provide insights into avenues to foster transformative change through entrepreneurship and innovation.
Key questions the event will address include:
- What are the main hurdles standing in the way of entrepreneurship and innovation in the field of climate change and the energy transition, and what are examples of successful interventions to tackle those?
- In the context of the topic at hand, what is the desired role of the public sector, including through the delivery of technical assistance, to provide the necessary impetus for the private sector to strive?
- What can be distilled as learning from various attempts on incubator and innovation accelerators targeted at developing countries, and how can those efforts be made more effective and long-lasting?
Speakers and panelists:
- Nezha El Ouafi, Secretary of State for sustainable development at the Ministry of Energy, Mines and Sustainable Development
- Li Yong, Director General, United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO)
- David Rodgers, Senior Climate Change Specialist, Global Environment Facility
- Tareq Emtairah, Director, Department of Energy, United Nations Industrial Development Organisation (UNIDO)
- Sabera Khan, Gender Ambassador and Country Coordinator, Zambia, Private Financing Advisory Network (PFAN)
- Jukka Uosukainen, Director, Climate Technology Centre and Network (CTCN)
- James Wilde, Managing Director, Innovation & Policy and Markets, Carbon Trust
- Jason Spensley, Senior Specialist – Green Climate Fund (GCF)
