At Manulife, we make investing in nature possible, and a healthier planet means healthier people. We're committed to continuing to scale our nature-based climate solutions and investments in sustainable forestry and farmland to help combat nature loss.
To support this goal, in 2023, Manulife and the World Economic Forum (WEF) announced two innovation challenges through UpLink, the WEF's open innovation platform.
The first, titled the Sustainable Forest Economy Challenge, called for solutions ranging from the sustainable management of forests to the production and utilization of wood. The second challenge, Forests and Trees Improving Human Health and Well-being Challenge, sought innovators whose forest-based solutions are addressing some of our most pressing health problems. Led by Brian Kernohan, Chief Sustainability Officer, Private Markets, members of our private markets team developed the challenge parameters and oversaw judging of submissions.
Together, Manulife and UpLink identified 21 winners across both challenges and Manulife has awarded prize money to three winners from this cohort, identified through an internal colleague voting campaign that we ran in the fall.
We're proud to announce that these winners are Green Health Initiative, Divine Bamboo and Easy Housing. Each organization will receive $50,000CHF to support their cause and further their goals.
Green Health Initiative works closely with Maya communities to help enshrine the Maya health knowledge system as a viable alternative to current health treatments. Divine Bamboo is an innovative forestry enterprise in Uganda whose mission is to stop deforestation through the production of a clean cooking fuel in the form of bamboo briquettes produced from locally available bamboo species to replace traditional charcoal. Easy Housing is a circular and biobased building technology based on sustainably sourced timber.
Throughout Earth Month we will be shining a spotlight on our winners so you can get to know their mission, the challenges they are currently facing, and what they hope to utilize the prize money for in the year ahead.
Stay tuned to learn more about how we're helping to drive forest innovation through our network of ecopreneurs!
Hear from our ecopreneurs
Easy Housing is a circular and biobased building technology based on sustainably sourced timber. The company focuses on emerging economies to provide building blueprints and sustainable timber to building partners. Their timber construction can withstand floods and hurricanes, while also reducing carbon-dioxide emissions up to 250% when compared to concrete homes. Through its innovative technology and inclusive partnership model, Easy Housing can also achieve fast and efficient building cycles while supporting local economies.
Hear from Wolf Bierens, Founder and CEO, on how Easy Housing is using sustainable timber products to build easy, accessible housing for those who need it most, and how the Manulife UpLink challenge experience is helping them scale their work to make an even greater impact.
Divine Bamboo is a forestry and energy company deploying commercial models along the bamboo value chain to promote afforestation, restoration, and reduce deforestation through providing sustainable clean cooking solutions in the form of high-quality bamboo briquettes.
Hear from James Kyewalabye, Managing Director, on how Divine Bamboo can help provide a good replacement for the challenges of wood in Africa.