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Efforts will surface and scale innovative solutions that
strengthen sustainable forestry and improve health and
well-being.
TORONTO, Jan. 19,
2023 /PRNewswire/ - Manulife and the World Economic
Forum ("the Forum"), announced the launch of two Innovation
Challenges in 2023 through UpLink, the Forum's open innovation
platform. The partnership was announced at the Forum's Annual
Meeting in Davos and aims to
engage ecopreneurs and partners to help them scale new and
innovative ideas and ventures.
The two UpLink Innovation Challenges will unlock solutions that
stem from, and are aimed at, forests, to galvanize an ecopreneur
revolution that will help to safeguard nature, climate,
livelihoods, and the well-being of people. Full project details,
including eligibility criteria and timelines, can be found on the
challenge page here.
The Sustainable Forest Economy Challenge will aim to
source innovative solutions across the value chain from
the sustainable management of forests to the production and
utilization of wood. A climate smart forest economy approach is
critical to protect, maintain, manage, restore, and regrow forests.
Applicants can begin applying today through March 1st, 2023.
The Forests and Trees Improving Human Health and Well-being
Challenge will aim to surface innovations fostering
improved interlinkages between planetary and human health. Details
for this challenge will be made public later this year.
Biodiversity is degrading faster than at any time in
history1, driving poor environmental, economic, and
human health outcomes. This includes the loss of forests, which is
destabilizing natural systems. Sustainably managed forests and
farms are a critical part of reversing harmful environmental
impacts; they sequester carbon, regulate global temperatures and
freshwater flows, recharge groundwater, anchor fertile soil, act as
flood barriers, and have been shown to enhance mental and physical
health. Through this project, Manulife furthers its ongoing
commitment to continue scaling nature-based climate solutions and
investments in sustainable forestry and farmland to help combat
nature loss, because collective action is needed to sustain our
societies and economies.
"Our environment is key to human health and wellbeing, and as a
global life insurer and asset manager, we see firsthand how damaged
ecosystems put livelihoods and economies at risk," said
Roy Gori, President and CEO,
Manulife. "Given our position as one of the world's largest
sustainable timberland and farmland investment
managers2, we can support and scale innovative
solutions, which are urgently needed in response to the rapid
degradation of nature and biodiversity. We are very excited to
launch this project with the World Economic Forum and UpLink and
want to hear from passionate, big thinkers who can help us address
and reverse nature loss."
__________________________________
|
1
|
Based on the "The
Global Assessment Report on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services"
released by the Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on
Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IBPES) in 2019.
|
2
|
RISI, Inc. 2021 data
based on top 15 global Timber Investment Management Organizations
(TIMO) by assets under management. Manulife pays a subscription fee
for access to the database.
|
"Innovation is not a nice-to-have, but an essential ingredient
in achieving the United Nations' 2030 Sustainable Development
Goals," said John Dutton, Head of
UpLink and Member of the Executive Committee for the World Economic
Forum. "We're proud to join forces with Manulife to source and
scale the innovative solutions that will strengthen sustainable
forestry, improve wellbeing, and promote nature-based solutions to
climate change. This commitment will help to shine a light on the
often-overlooked purpose-driven entrepreneurs whose solutions are
so urgently needed, giving them the visibility, resources, and
expertise they need to tackle the world's biggest challenges head
on."
This project builds upon Manulife and the World Economic Forum's
continued partnership. Late last year, Manulife announced a pledge
to 1t.org which is the Forum's Trillion Trees initiative. As
part of the pledge, Manulife is aiming to scale Manulife
Investment Management's carbon-focused forestry investments and
sequestration of CO2 from the atmosphere through the forests it
manages over a period of 5 years.
Like the 1t.org pledge, this partnership with Uplink aligns to
Manulife's recently announced Impact Agenda, which aims to build
business to better the world by making decisions about the future
of the firm's business, rooted in the belief that collective
actions drive meaningful change. To learn more about Manulife's
Impact Agenda, and to track progress against its goals, visit
manulife.com/impact.
About Manulife
Manulife Financial Corporation is a leading international financial
services provider, helping people make their decisions easier and
lives better. With our global headquarters in Toronto, Canada, we provide financial advice
and insurance, operating as Manulife across Canada, Asia,
and Europe, and primarily as
John Hancock in the United States. Through Manulife Investment
Management, the global brand for our Global Wealth and Asset
Management segment, we serve individuals, institutions, and
retirement plan members worldwide. At the end of 2021, we had more
than 38,000 employees, over 119,000 agents, and thousands of
distribution partners, serving over 33 million customers. We trade
as 'MFC' on the Toronto,
New York, and the Philippine stock
exchanges and under '945' in Hong
Kong. Not all offerings are available in all jurisdictions.
For additional information, please visit manulife.com.
About UpLink
UpLink is the open innovation platform of
the World Economic Forum, designed to unlock an 'entrepreneur
revolution' for people and planet by supporting start-ups with
innovative solutions for the world's most pressing issues, as
outlined by the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals
(SDGs).
Launched at the World Economic Forum's 2020 Annual Meeting
in Davos in partnership with
Deloitte and Salesforce, UpLink builds bridges between
entrepreneurs and the investors, experts and partners who can help
scale their ventures. UpLink crowdsources new innovations through a
competition framework known as innovation challenges. UpLink has
now run more than 43 challenges and identified over 350
entrepreneurs with innovative solutions across critical SDG areas
including health, food, freshwater, ocean, plastics, education,
climate and more. For more information, visit
https://uplink.weforum.org
About 1t.org
1t.org is a World Economic Forum
initiative that serves a global movement to conserve, grow and
restore 1 trillion trees by 2030. 1t.org is set up to support the
UN Decade on Ecosystem Restoration. 1t.org mobilizes private sector
engagement and ambition in forest conservation and restoration,
facilitates multistakeholder dialogues in key geographies, and
supports innovation, ecopreneurship and youth to incentivize and
accelerate restoration. For additional information, please visit
www.1t.org.
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SOURCE Manulife Financial Corporation