Amb. Lenain says France, EU and India to negotiate global treaty on plastic pollution
France and India, along with the European Union, are committed to taking joint action against plastic pollution, and have launched on 27 Jan 2022 Swachhata Startup Challenge in the waste management sector.
Announcing the Challenge virtually, Emmanuel Lenain, Ambassador of France, said the French Development Agency (Agence Française de Développement – AFD) will provide seed funding to the tune of Rs.25 lakh and one year of customized support to each of the 10 selected start-ups in the waste management sector.
“This initiative also comes at a time when France and the EU are looking to work closely with India on the international stage to negotiate a global treaty on plastic pollution,” said Lenain who launched the Challenge with Ugo Astuto, Ambassador of the European Union to India and Bhutan, as well as Manoj Joshi, Secretary, Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs (MoHUA).
Present at the launch were Bruno Bosle, Country Director, AFD India, and Roopa Mishra, Joint Secretary & National Mission Director, Swachh Bharat Mission-Urban 2.0 (SBM-U 2.0).
Speaking about the need for concerted efforts in tackling the issue of plastic pollution, Ambassador Ugo said, “In a globalised economy, tackling plastics requires a collective and cohesive effort.
“The international community will soon discuss the need for a Global Agreement on Plastics, like we already have global conventions for climate or biodiversity. We will try to chart a predictable course for businesses and for households to embrace change and adapt.”
The Indian and French Governments share a long-standing association for promoting sustainable urban development in India and the launch of the Challenge today is another step towards strengthening this bilateral cooperation between the two countries in the waste management sector with a focus on plastic waste, said MoHUA in a statement.
Joshi elaborated, “The Swachhata Startup Challenge is a step towards ensuring innovation and smart governance in SBM-U 2.0 by incentivizing the startup ecosystem to help realize our vision of ‘Garbage Free Cities’.
“The Challenge aims to capitalize on the skills and expertise of this space to find implementable ideas and solutions that can be adopted and replicated at scale across urban India.”
The Challenge, open to start-ups registered in India and French actors collaborating with an Indian start-up (as a joint venture), invites solutions across four thematic areas viz. (i) social inclusion, (ii) zero dump (solid waste management), (iii) plastic waste management and (iv) transparency through digital enablement.
The Challenge provides a prominent platform to participating enterprises to showcase their innovative products and services along with significant monetary and mentorship incentive – top 10 awardees stand to receive Rs.25 lakhs along with one year of dedicated incubation support from French Tech, the French government’s initiative to promote start-ups.
Apart from this these, eligible startups will get additional incentives which includes up to Rs.50 lakhs follow-on investment from Villgro, the implementation partner of the Challenge and up to US$100,000 worth credits and technology support from technology partner Amazon Web Services, to each winner.
Villgro, formerly known as Rural Innovations Network founded in 2001 in Chennai, is among India’s oldest social enterprise incubators. Villgro funds, mentors and incubates early-stage, innovation-based social enterprises that impact the lives of India’s poor.
Call for online submission of applications started from 27 Jan 2022 through the dedicated micro-site launched at the event (www.swachhatastartupchallenge.com) along with a video that details out the key modalities of the Challenge.
A variety of innovations have contributed to the success of the first phase of SBM-U. Taking this spirit forward, SBM-U 2.0 is focused on encouraging cutting-edge solutions from small scale and private entrepreneurs and start-ups, through investments in R&D, technology challenges, and facilitation for inclusion in the Government E-Marketplace (GeM) portal.
A step in this direction was taken earlier in December 2021 with the Swachh Technology Challenge, a first-time initiative by SBM-U 2.0 to encourage start-ups, individual entrepreneurs, educational institutions, local businesses, research and development organisations, NGOs, and other citizen groups to help city administration efficiently manage Mission operations through technology driven operations, said MoHUA.
The Technology Challenge received wholehearted participation from States and Union Territories and Urban Local Bodies (ULBs), with over 2,500 entries received from across urban India. Winning solutions from start-ups under Swachh Technology Challenge which are presently being reviewed, will nowget direct entry into the Swachhata Start-Up Challenge launched today by MoHUA.
The virtual event, which was attended by senior government representatives including Principal Secretaries, Mission Directors and Municipal Commissioners from States and cities, also saw a panel discussion on the ‘Role of Technology and Business Innovation to Reinforce Indian Waste Sector’. Participants included senior bureaucrats from Chhattisgarh and Odisha along with representatives from organisations such as Saahas Zero Waste and Green Artha.
Swachh Bharat Mission-Urban 2.0, launched on 1st October 2021, aims to achieve the vision of ‘Garbage Free Cities’ over the next five years through remediation of legacy dumpsites, construction and demolition waste and plastic waste management. Additionally, sustainable sanitation through faecal sludge and used water management will be a key focus under SBM-U 2.0.
Over the years, SBM-U has been encouraging innovations and best practices particularly through Swachh Survekshan, the annual cleanliness survey conducted by MoHUA. This trend has been rising over the years with over 4,000 innovations and best practices having been identified since 2018.Moreover, innovative technological solutions have played a critical role in achieving the outcomes under SBM-U’s journey with several key initiatives such as Swachhata App, SBM Toilets on Google Maps, etc in collaboration with partners such as Janaagraha and Google.
The Swachhata Start-Up Challenge is another step towards smart and sustainable urban development by incentivizing the innovations’ ecosystem through strategic collaborations thus helping realize the Prime Minister’s vision of ‘Garbage Free Cities’ under SBM-U 2.0. fiinews.com
