A team of Pakistani entrepreneurs has won a Special Commendation Award from the United Nation’s Global CleanTech Innovation Program (UNIDO-GCIP).
ModulusTech, led by Nabeel Siddiqui, was recognized for an innovative housing design at a ceremony held in Los Angeles last week.
The startup has developed affordable, flat-pack housing for refugees and internally displaced persons (IDPs). The housing units can be assembled by three people in three hours with a unit cost of $3,000.
This shelter includes plumbing and emits fifty times fewer greenhouse gases (GHG) than concrete buildings.
Besides ModulusTech, two other teams from Pakistan – Biotech and Aerosync – participated in the event. Teams from Pakistan had received awards in 2015 and 2016 as well.
Other countries represented at the 2018 GCIP Global Week and Cleantech Open Global Forum were Turkey, Morocco, Thailand, South Africa, and India.
GCIP is a joint initiative of the Global Environment Facility (GEF) and the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO), and is conducted in partnership with the Cleantech Open (CTO), a Los Angeles Cleantech Incubator program. Each startup involved receives training, mentoring, and promotion, and is put in contact with potential investors, customers, and partners throughout the program. Each national chapter of GCIP receives $1 million to $2 million in funding from the GEF, which is matched by $2 million to $6 million in co-financing from in-country public and private-sector partners.
“Innovation is critical to solving today’s global environmental threats. Recognizing the central role of the private sector, we hope to do even more in the future. We need scalable, innovative ideas that embrace opportunities opened up through new technologies,” said Naoko Ishii, GEF chief executive officer, in a video address to the GCIP Global Week and Cleantech Open Global Forum participants.
Addressing the forum on behalf of UNIDO, its director general Li Yong thanked the entrepreneurs for the transformative impact of their innovations and for their contribution to the 2030 Agenda and the Sustainable Development Goals related to clean energy.
