The Bellona app "My Climate Plan" took a strong second place in a field of 14 in the World Bank's global "Apps for Climate” competition last night. The prize was awarded at a ceremony at the Newseum in Washington, DC Thursday night Norwegian time.
“This is a proud day for all associated with the Bellona Foundation. It is with great honor that I have received notice that the World Bank is delighted by our work,” said Henrik Lund, Bellona’s head of institutional relations, who is in Washington DC and attended the World Bank event.
The the second place award is a remarkable achievement in a very tough final heat with 14 international contributions, said Lund.
The World Bank Competition “Apps for Climate” was launched at the UN COP17 climate talks in Durban, South Africa in December.
Using Bellona’s scientific work as a basis, a cooperative cooperation app development plan was launched with the Oslo agency Guerrilla. “My climate plan” aims to give people the opportunity to create their own master plan for Norwegian climate policy. The app can also be adapted for other countries.
“To get as many on the team in the fight against climate change, we must ensure that people find that climate policy is understandible. The app shows where to cut emissions and what price it will have and what the effect will be,” said Lund, who also wished to thank the supporters Energy Norway, Nova Tran, BKK and Statkraft for their role in supporting the app.
Caroline Anstey, managing director of the World Bank, was enthusiastic about all the contenders submitted during the three months the contest lasted.
“There is a distinct need to visualize climate data in a new way. The applications we have received has been impressive,” she said before the international audience of several hundred people gathered in the US capital for the award presentation.
Aside from joy over the victory and second place cash prize of $10,000, the prize jury’s glowing review of the app suffused Bellona’s office with pride. “My Climate Plan allows users to create their own hypothetical national plans for reducing greenhouse gas emissions. The program currently focuses on Norway, but could be adapted for other countries,” wrote the prize jury in the World Bank’s release.
Bellona’s app contribution was assessed by a very competent jury led by General Secretary of the UNFCCC, Christiana Figueres. Other jury members were Rachel Kyte, World Bank Vice President of Sustainable Development; Juliana Rotich, Executive Director of Ushahidi; Andrew Steer, World Bank Special Envoy for Climate Change, and Patrick Svenburg, Director, Developer & Platform Evangelist in Microsoft’s Public Sector division.
The competition was won by Argentine Ecofacts. This application teaches users about energy and climate by showing how individual actions can be transferred to large-scale changes at the national level.
Contacts:
Henrik A. Lund: +47 40437227, henrik@bellona.noMagnus Borgen, Bellona communications director +47 97728476, magnus@bellona.no
Links:
Apps for Climate: : http://worldbank.org/appsforclimate
1st Place, Ecofacts: http://www.jengibre.com.ar/ecofacts
2nd Place, My Climate Plan: : http://www.myclimateplan.org
3rd Place, Globe Town http://globe-town.org/worldbank
Popular Choice, CC Climate for Children: http://fon.edu.mk/cc
Large Organization Award, ClimaScope: http://climascope.wwfus.org
Data website: http://data.worldbank.org.
Connect for Climate website: : http://connect4climate.org/
