Indian outfit wins UN award for combating climate change

United Nations (PTI) An Indian organisation that leverages tourism and technology to help remote communities access solar energy has won a prestigious UN award for its efforts to combat climate change amid the Covid-19 pandemic.

The Global Himalayan Expedition (GHE) is among the winners of the 2020 UN Global Climate Action Award. GHE is one of the world's first organisations using tourism and technology to bring solar energy to remote communities.

The recipients of the 2020 United Nations Global Climate Action Awards, announced Tuesday, bring focus to the best examples of what people across the globe are doing "to combat climate change in a year that has cast darkness upon so many."

According to a statement on the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) website, GHE is the one of the world's first outfit using tourism and technology to bring solar energy to remote communities as recognised by the World Travel and Tourism Council (WTTC) and the United Nations World Tourism Organisation (UNWTO).

In the Hindu Kush Region, there are more than 16 million people without access to basic energy mainly due to their geographic remoteness. GHE conducts "Impact Expeditions" to remote Himalayan villages and uses a portion of the expedition fee to fund the capital cost of the hardware, transportation, installation and training of village-scale solar micro-grids. The micro-grid infrastructure set up by GHE is owned and operated by the community.

To date, the GHE has solar electrified more than 131 villages in three regions of India, directly impacting the lives of more than 60,000 villagers. More than 1,300 travellers from 60 different countries have been a part of these expeditions. Enabling livelihood through homestay tourism has generated over USD 114,000 in income for the villages, which represents a 45 per cent increase in the annual household income, the statement said.

UNFCCC said this year's award-winning projects demonstrate leadership on climate change by nations, businesses, investors, cities, regions and civil societies as a whole. They range from the Caribbean's only carbon-neutral hotel to the world's first platform fully dedicated to green bonds to the first all-women solar team in Lebanon. PTI