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Expo Live

Expo Live welcomes contestants

Forty-three social enterprises from 37 countries arrived at Expo City Dubai on Wednesday to present their innovative solutions to climate-related problems in the hope of receiving support from the Expo Live Innovation Programme.

Grassroots organisations from Tonga to Sierra Leone, Finland to French Polynesia were selected from more than 1,200 entries from 123 countries. They will present ideas on biodiversity and ocean restoration, air quality, transport and carbon, as well as food security, waste, energy, water, finance and vulnerable communities at a three-day pitching event from 10-12 May.

Following interviews and presentations before an Expo Live panel, successful projects will have access to funding, technical guidance, support and partnership opportunities, and the prospect of showcasing their solutions at the COP28 climate conference, to be held at Expo City Dubai from 30 November to 12 December.

Entrepreneurs competing include a UAE-based organisation that turns carbon dioxide into stone; an Indian company that makes a carbon-negative building material called Agro Concrete; a Burundi-based company that recycles banana waste into eco-friendly packaging; and Turba, a women-led regenerative organic farm in Lebanon that is able to produce three times more food while mitigating climate change.

To date, over five cycles, Expo Live has supported 140 global innovators from 76 countries, with about a third of them related to sustainability issues. The programme has had a positive impact on 5.8 million people worldwide, restoring 36 million hectares of land, offsetting 190,000 tonnes of CO2 and saving 6.3 million litres of water.

In line with the UAE’s ‘Year of Sustainable Development’ in 2023 and reflecting Expo City Dubai’s long-term commitment to deliver positive social, economic and environmental change, the sixth edition of Expo Live kicked off in February, aiming to provide an invaluable platform to accelerate the entrepreneurial spirit, showcasing the power of collaboration and innovation to further human progress.

Expo Live was initiated as part of Expo 2020 Dubai and continues as part of Expo City Dubai, helping innovators from around the world develop solutions to pressing challenges and supporting projects that improve people’s lives or preserve the planet.

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