Through the UAE-led 20by2020 global
humanitarian initiative, BNP Paribas has entered into a partnership with the
Zayed Sustainability Prize to accelerate sustainable development in vulnerable
communities. The 20by2020 initiative
seeks to address the most pressing issues related to health, food, energy and
water.
Established in 2008, the Zayed
Sustainability Prize is a global sustainability award that recognises
impactful, innovative and inspirational sustainability solutions. To date, over 352 million people have benefited
from the projects recognised by the Prize.
The 20by2020 initiative mobilises the
local deployment of technological solutions by previous Prize winners and
finalists to vulnerable communities around the world and is an extension to
the Prize.
As part of the agreement for 20by2020, BNP
Paribas is supporting water and energy related projects to provide solar energy lighting to remote Indonesian
villages, a Rohingya refugee camp in Bangladesh and water management systems in
isolated Costa Rican communities.
Addressing energy access to support
sustainable development is an important part of the program. For example, the
20by2020 project in Pulau Laut Selatan in South Kalimantan, Indonesia
distributed 3,600 solar lanterns and 1,000 mobile-charging solar lanterns to local
fishermen. This will provide a community of over 20,000 people with household
lighting, replacing the current power sources of kerosene lamps, candles and
diesel generators which will improve the overall health, safety, and
environmental conditions within the community.
