Manulife and the World Economic Forum announced the launch of two Innovation Challenges in 2023 through UpLink, the Forum’s open innovation platform. The partnership was announced at the Forum’s Annual Meeting in Davos and aims to engage ecopreneurs and partners to help them scale new and innovative ideas and ventures.
The two UpLink Innovation Challenges will unlock solutions that stem from, and are aimed at, forests, to galvanize an ecopreneur revolution that will help to safeguard nature, climate, livelihoods, and the well-being of people. Full project details, including eligibility criteria and timelines, can be found on the challenge page here.
The Sustainable Forest Economy Challenge will aim to source innovative solutions across the value chain from the sustainable management of forests to the production and utilization of wood. A climate smart forest economy approach is critical to protect, maintain, manage, restore, and regrow forests. Applicants can begin applying today through March 1 2023.
The Forests and Trees Improving Human Health and Well-being Challenge will aim to surface innovations fostering improved interlinkages between planetary and human health. Details for this challenge will be made public later this year.
Biodiversity is degrading faster than at any time in history, driving poor environmental, economic, and human health outcomes. This includes the loss of forests, which is destabilizing natural systems. Sustainably managed forests and farms are a critical part of reversing harmful environmental impacts; they sequester carbon, regulate global temperatures and freshwater flows, recharge groundwater, anchor fertile soil, act as flood barriers, and have been shown to enhance mental and physical health. Through this project, Manulife furthers its ongoing commitment to continue scaling nature-based climate solutions and investments in sustainable forestry and farmland to help combat nature loss, because collective action is needed to sustain our societies and economies.
“Our environment is key to human health and wellbeing, and as a global life insurer and asset manager, we see firsthand how damaged ecosystems put livelihoods and economies at risk,” said Roy Gori, President and CEO, Manulife. “Given our position as one of the world’s largest sustainable timberland and farmland investment managers[2], we can support and scale innovative solutions, which are urgently needed in response to the rapid degradation of nature and biodiversity. We are very excited to launch this project with the World Economic Forum and UpLink and want to hear from passionate, big thinkers who can help us address and reverse nature loss.”
“Innovation is not a nice-to-have, but an essential ingredient in achieving the United Nations’ 2030 Sustainable Development Goals,” said John Dutton, Head of UpLink and Member of the Executive Committee for the World Economic Forum. “We’re proud to join forces with Manulife to source and scale the innovative solutions that will strengthen sustainable forestry, improve wellbeing, and promote nature-based solutions to climate change. This commitment will help to shine a light on the often-overlooked purpose-driven entrepreneurs whose solutions are so urgently needed, giving them the visibility, resources, and expertise they need to tackle the world’s biggest challenges head on.”
