The Google.org Impact Challenge on Climate commits €10M to fund bold ideas that aim to use technology to accelerate Europe’s progress toward a greener, more resilient future. Selected organisations may receive up to €2M in funding and possible customised post-grant support from the Google for Startups Accelerator and the Google.org Fellowship to help bring their ideas to life.
Planet Progress podcast
The future — it's closer than you think. But what does it look like? And how do we get there? In this series Dr Hannah Fry meets the organisations who are building a greener, more resilient planet, today.
E01 — Snowchange
The Arctic north stores as much carbon as Amazonia. Keeping it there is essential. So Snowchange’s work rewilding these habitats impacts the whole planet.
E02 — Materiom
For billions of years natural habitats have thrived by producing vast quantities of materials, all without landfill or waste. Materiom have been taking notes.
E03 — Saildrone
Events in the Atlantic directly affect global weather. Saildrone deploy uncrewed vehicles in Earth’s harshest ocean environment to report this data in real time.
E04 — Climate Farmers
We’ve shaped our agriculture for high yields and food security. Climate Farmers think it’s time to reward a different and very important goal: soil health.
E05 — Normative
Normative want to help measure what matters in a sustainable world. Their automated carbon reporting identifies how businesses can reduce environmental impact.
E06 & E07 — Open Food Facts
Food production creates a quarter of global carbon emissions. Open Food Facts want to help us make smarter food choices by putting an Eco-Score on all food packaging.
Meet the organisations
We are delighted to announce the selected projects from the Google.org Impact Challenge on Climate. Each of these organisations receives funding between €500,000 and €2,000,000 and support from Google.
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Switzerland
Energy Web Foundation
Bringing energy stored in Distributed Energy Resources onto the grid.
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UK
Open Climate Fix
Short-term solar electricity forecasting using machine learning and satellite data.
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Portugal
CEiiA
AYR, a blockchain-based sustainability platform to reward green mobility behavior.
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France
Open Food Facts
Eco-Score: empowering consumers and producers to measure and change at large scale the impact of food on the planet.
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UK
Materiom
Accelerating biomaterial R&D through the use of AI and distributed testing.
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Sweden
Normative
Helping companies reduce their carbon footprint through financial reporting.
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UK
Saildrone & ECMWF
Quantifying the Gulf-Stream, autonomous real-time oceanography at scale.
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Netherlands
Deltares
Global Water Watch: democratising Earth’s information on water resources.
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Germany
Climate Farmers
Tackling climate change through regenerative agriculture.
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EU / UK
Dark Matter Laboratories
Trees As Infrastructure is an open source platform, enabling city actors to collectively value and invest in urban nature, at scale.
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Finland
Snowchange Cooperative
Rewilding landscapes in the European North.
About the challenge
At Google, we believe that when it comes to solving a problem as big and urgent as climate change, we get more done when we move together.
We want to support the work of nonprofits, experts, and organisations that will mitigate the impacts of climate change in Europe and beyond, and increase communities’ resilience to its effects. We are looking for ideas that address topics like increased access to or use of renewable energy, decarbonisation of transportation, improvements to air quality, natural resource planning and protection, and circular economy and design.
Google’s commitment to sustainability
At Google, we build technology that helps people do more for the planet. We aim to unify our practices, partnerships, and products to foster sustainability at scale. By organising information about our planet, and making it actionable through technology, we help people make more positive impact together.
More about Google’s sustainability programme.
Meet the experts
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Kate Brandt
Google Sustainability Officer
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Nico Rosberg
Sustainability Entrepreneur and Formula 1 World Champion
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Dr. Maggie Aderin-Pocock MBE
Space Scientist, Broadcaster, and Author
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Ivo Mechels
Executive Director, Euroconsumers
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Angela Churie Kallhauge
Head of Carbon Pricing Leadership Coalition Secretariat
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Lea Kauppi
Director General, Finnish Environment Institute (SYKE)
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Francisco Ferreira
President of the Board of ZERO - Association for the Sustainability of the Earth System
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Leonor Sottomayor
Head of Public Affairs, Sonae and Vice-President, Sociedade Ponto Verde
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Rita Schwarzelühr Sutter
Parliamentary State Secretary, Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety
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John Gormley
Former Irish Minister for the Environment and Chair of Screen Producers Ireland
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Brune Poirson
MP, Vaucluse; Former French Secretary of State for Ecological Transition and VP, UN Environment Assembly
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Katharina Fegebank
Deputy Mayor of the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg
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Francisco Román
Chairman of the SERES Foundation
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Dr Yumiko Yasuda
Senior Network & Transboundary Water Cooperation Specialist, Global Water Partnership
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Dr. Kirsten Dunlop
Chief Executive Officer, EIT Climate-KIC
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Phillipp Schindler
SVP, Chief Business Officer, Google
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Kiara Nirghin
GreenTech Youngster Award Winner
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Leonie Prillwitz
GreenTech Youngster Award Finalist
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Anna Luísa Beserra
GreenTech Youngster Award Finalist
