CCE Awards $100K to Women Climate Entrepreneurs at COP28

The Coalition for Climate Entrepreneurship (CCE) launched its second pitch competition especially for female climate entrepreneurs on December 8, in connection with the UN Climate Change Conference (COP28).

The event was hosted by Thomas Debass, Managing Director of the Department of State's Office of Global Partnerships, and featured keynote speeches by Bama Athreya, USAID's Deputy Assistant Administrator for the Gender Equality and Women's Empowerment Hub, and Jennifer R. Littlejohn, Acting Assistant Secretary of State for Oceans and International Environmental and Scientific Affairs.

Four female entrepreneurs from early-stage climate solutions-focused start-ups competed for a $100,000 grand prize to help expand their businesses. The proposals were evaluated by esteemed judges from Google, Amazon, General Electric, and LinkedIn, who eventually awarded the top prize to Dana Shukirbayeva, Founder and CEO of Forest Hero. Forest Hero, based in Central Asia, uses a "smart" platform to battle deforestation and minimize carbon impact.

All four participants, who include Rana Hajirasouli of The Surpluses (USA), Sabrine Chennaoui of MENSAPO (Tunisia), and Devleena Bhattacharjee of ClimaCrew (India), will get technical training from Google's Startups Cloud Program as well as continuous entrepreneurship assistance from the CCE program.

The Coalition for Climate Entrepreneurship, a collaboration aimed at creating entrepreneurial climate solutions for economic empowerment in underdeveloped nations, is making progress in solving climate concerns. The 2023 State of Global alliances report, which delves into the State Department's larger climate alliances, was issued this week at COP28.