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Friday, October 4, 2024

JS bank powers WWF Green Innovation Challenge

News Desk |

Mindful of the growing need to address environmental challenges, JS Bank, one of Pakistan’s leading and fastest growing financial institutions sponsored the ‘Green Innovation Challenge (GIC) organized by WWF-Pakistan.

This competition was undertaken in collaboration with the UN Environment Programme’s Clean Seas campaign and aimed to empower social entrepreneurs by providing a platform for initiatives to reduce or eliminate plastic waste in Pakistan. A three-staged start-up competition the focus was on technology-oriented solutions for mitigation of plastic pollution.

JS Bank is one of Pakistan’s fastest growing financial institutions, has continually undertaken efforts to drive public welfare and the common good for the people of Pakistan.

Teams or individuals could register in the competition by submitting an entry in one of the following categories:

  • Engineering and design
  • Communication
  • Economics
  • Prediction and recovery
  • Communities

After shortlisting of these applications, teams in Karachi who managed to go through to this round were asked to pitch their ideas at National Incubation Center. Teams in Lahore & Islamabad who managed to go through to this round were asked to submit a video interview about their business ideas including value proposition, financing plans, and revenue streams.

Read more: JS bank to continue investing in climate centric initiatives after COP24

On further evaluation, the best ten teams entered the Final Pitch event in Karachi. These teams got a chance to convince the jury about the value of their project by presenting their startup idea in 6 minutes, in front of a live audience and win the valuable awards of Green Innovation Challenge. Teams qualifying from Lahore and Islamabad were even provided travel and accommodation.

The judging panel included Yawar Herekar, Head of Sustainable Finance- JS Bank; Naqi Khan, Director General-WWF Pakistan; Sara Taher Khan, CEO- FM91; Najeeb Nayyer, Advisor-NIC Karachi; and Humayun Farooq, Marketing Director- Reckitt Benckiser Pakistan.

Speaking at the occasion, YawarHerekar said, “A number of wild animals are dying due to plastic pollution in our environment. This is especially true of marine animals such as turtles and whales. Only by working together through public-private partnerships can we make an impact to reduce waste and improve the environment.”

Read more: JS Bank aids Karigar Training Institute in enhancing students’ skills

JS Bank is one of Pakistan’s fastest growing financial institutions, has continually undertaken efforts to drive public welfare and the common good for the people of Pakistan. In 2018, along with the Global Innovation Challenge, they partnered with World Wildlife Fund (WWF) Pakistan on the 14th of August to plant 20,000 trees across the nation to help counter adverse climate change and sponsored two delegates to the Conference of the Parties (COP24), a meeting of the governing body on the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). We wish our private and national organizations the very best in their efforts to take such responsible initiatives, especially involving the youth of Pakistan!