XPRIZE Identifies 10 Future Breakthroughs Required to Protect Our Forests
Today, on the United Nations International Day of Forests, XPRIZE is releasing the Future of Forests Impact Roadmap, created in partnership with Kimberly-Clark Corporation.
Today, on the United Nations’ International Day of Forests, XPRIZE is
releasing the Future of Forests Impact Roadmap, created in partnership
with Kimberly-Clark Corporation. The digital report and its interactive
website, based on future foresight techniques, illustrate the
breakthroughs required for a healthier forest ecosystem, which might be
the basis of future XPRIZE competitions.
This press release features multimedia. View the full release here:
https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20190321005409/en/
Across the world, forests provide food security and shelter, protect
biodiversity and house indigenous populations. While forests cover more
than 30 percent of the Earth’s surface, more than 32
million acres of forests are lost due to human activity every year,
with research showing that continued mass deforestation and degradation
is accelerating climate change.
XPRIZE designs and operates global competitions to incentivize the
development of technological breakthroughs that accelerate humanity
toward a better future. Part of its prize design efforts include Impact
Roadmaps – detailed reports that analyze complex and overlapping social,
technological, economic, environmental, and policy issues, to identify
the most effective solutions within a given domain. XPRIZE Impact
Roadmaps are created through extensive secondary research, expert
interviews, collaborative workshops with leading organizations and
partners, along with crowdsourced feedback and activities through online
communities.
“At XPRIZE, we believe both competition and collaboration are key to
unlocking solutions to some of the greatest challenges of our time,”
said Zenia Tata, chief impact officer of XPRIZE. “The threats to our
forests are catastrophic, but the innovative breakthroughs and
passionate community behind the Future of Forests Impact Roadmap make us
hopeful that together we can spark something truly revolutionary to help
restore and revive our environment.”
For the Future of Forests Impact Roadmap, XPRIZE conducted a literature
review on existing forest research, interviewed dozens of experts in the
field, and engaged stakeholders from more than 90 organizations,
including universities, non-profits, government agencies and private
companies to gather input and assess its findings.
“Raising awareness of the current state of our forests is just the first
step in bringing about radical change,” said Francois Dufresne,
president of the Forests Stewardship Council. “We are passionate about
helping empower people, particularly Indigenous people, make everyday
choices to help support our forests, and participating in the Future of
Forests Impact Roadmap gave us a great, new way to catalyze a community
of innovators to help protect our environment.”
“Innovative, sustainable management of the world's forest resources has
unparalleled economic, environmental and social benefits,” said
Alexander Buck, executive director of International Union of Forest
Research Organizations. “It was an honor being a part of the Future of
Forests Impact Roadmap, and we’re confident that through communication,
collaboration, visibility and outreach, these breakthroughs can unlock
new science-based innovations for forest management.”
The Future of Forests Impact Roadmap identifies the following
breakthroughs for achieving a better future for forests and humankind:
-
Super-Wood – A sustainably-produced alternative for wood that
shifts the reliance on virgin wood from natural forests and
plantations to another material that is sustainably produced and
possesses the same strengths and qualities of natural wood. -
Global Transparency – A system that will provide traceability
and transparency of forest-related activities, leading to better
accountability. -
Super-Farming – Alternative, and highly-efficient farming
methods, that take land-use pressure off forests by providing
substantially larger crop yields, with lower energy expenditure and
fewer waste byproducts. -
X-Meat – Alternative, highly-efficient methods for meat
production, that eliminate most of the waste and pollution provided by
cattle ranching and minimize energy and feed expenditures. -
Forest Regeneration – Cost-effective methods that could be
widely utilized to restore existing forests and establish new ones. -
Value of Forests – Techniques, methods and platforms that help
assess the ecological value (ecosystem service) of forests at high
resolution. -
Stopping Wildfires – Highly-efficient wildfire prevention and
mitigation techniques that would provide better wildfire prevention,
mitigation and management. -
Invasive Species – A decentralized system that detects and aids
in the elimination of harmful and invasive species. -
Super-Charcoal – Scalable and highly-efficient methods and
technologies for converting wood into charcoal. -
Carbon Sequestration – Strengthening the role of forests in
carbon sequestration and storage, thereby slowing down climate change
and mitigating its effects.
“As an organization, we have an ambitious set of sustainability goals
that will have a lasting impact on the people and communities we serve
around the world,” said Lisa Morden, Vice President, Safety and
Sustainability, Kimberly-Clark Corporation. “Partnering with XPRIZE to
create the Future of Forests Impact Roadmap embodies these ambitions by
giving us another avenue to helping people understand the importance of
our environment and revealing breakthroughs that will help us transform
our planet.”
The Future of Forests Impact Roadmap follows XPRIZE’s first Impact
Roadmap, the
Future of Housing Impact Roadmap, created in partnership with
Lowe’s. To learn more or get involved with the Future of Forests Impact
Roadmap, visit impactmaps.xprize.org.
About XPRIZE
XPRIZE, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit, is the global leader in designing and
implementing innovative competition models to solve the world’s grandest
challenges. Active competitions include the Lunar XPRIZE, the $20M NRG
COSIA Carbon XPRIZE, the $15M Global Learning XPRIZE, the $10M ANA
Avatar XPRIZE, the $7M Shell Ocean Discovery XPRIZE, and the $5M IBM
Watson AI XPRIZE. For more information, visit xprize.org.
About Kimberly-Clark
Kimberly-Clark (NYSE: KMB) and its trusted brands are an indispensable
part of life for people in more than 175 countries. Fueled by ingenuity,
creativity, and an understanding of people's most essential needs, we
create products that help individuals experience more of what's
important to them. Our portfolio of brands, including Huggies, Kleenex,
Scott, Kotex, Cottonelle, Poise, Depend, Andrex, Pull-Ups, GoodNites,
Intimus, Neve, Plenitud, Viva and WypAll, hold the No. 1 or No. 2 share
position in 80 countries. We use sustainable practices that support a
healthy planet, build stronger communities, and ensure our business
thrives for decades to come. To keep up with the latest news and to
learn more about the company's 147-year history of innovation, visit kimberly-clark.com
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