 Hi everyone and welcome to the 2023 edition of the International Conference for Sustainable Development. We are thrilled to be back in person today and to have you joining us in New York. And welcome also all of our international audience that are tuning in online. We have a fantastic lineup for today and I'm going to start by thanking our sponsors who make this conference possible. So this would be the Sustainable Development Solutions Network, SDSN, the Center for Sustainable Development at Columbia University, the Global Association of Masters of Development Practice Programs, the Kapucinski Development Lectures, Giti and Siemens Gamesa. We're really grateful for your support. Now it's my pleasure to be moderating today our first session, the Universities for SBG 13 Award Ceremony. Let me very briefly tell you about this award. So for the nine months prior, we've been working with students from five different countries in developing solutions for SBG 13. Partnering with Siemens Gamesa, we hand our networks from SDSN South Africa, SDSN Brazil, SDSN Germany, SDSN US and SDSN China Hub. We've worked with university students in developing solutions for SBG 13 that were interdisciplinary. These solutions have gone through a number of selections processes and for the last five months only five teams remain. Now these solutions have been evaluated through a number of criteria such as, for example, how aligned they were with the SBGs, how innovative they were, how practical and implementable they were. And for the last few months, the students have been working with mentors from Siemens Gamesa. This is a phenomenal experience because they've been, they've had access to world class professionals of the renewable energy sector to discuss things such as the technical aspects of their projects or what sectors should they be linking their project with, how to make them more applicable or even how to communicate about their project. So we have five teams left and today we will be announcing the final winner. Now before I do that, I do need to thank some of our colleagues that have been working tirelessly for the last few months. First of all, our partner Siemens Gamesa and I want to make a special shout out to Maximilian Schneebering who is here with us today. He's the head of sustainability at Siemens Gamesa as well as Rocío Millán who has been the project lead of this program and then tireless work with Marta Garcíaaro from our network team. I also want to thank the engineers and the staff at Siemens Gamesa who have spent their time working with these students and apparently have loved the experience themselves. And finally, I want to thank our networks and the universities that have participated in this program and have been working with their students, putting up a number of competitions, selecting the best projects and also participating in the evaluation committees. Now let me welcome to the stage, as I said, Maximilian Schneebering, the head of sustainability at Siemens Gamesa as well as Professor Sacks, president of SVSN, who are going to help me announce the award winning. Please join me. Good morning. I'm going to come out first. Just to say a few words. OK, you can. Excellent. So good morning, everybody, and also good morning to people online all over the world. We really live in a virtual world now, so it's very special that we are face to face with the people in the room for the first time in a number of years, but we know that people are also participating all over the world. And I wanted to just say a word about where we are in this great week of sustainable development. Yesterday there were the political leaders issuing a declaration recommitting to the sustainable development goals at midpoint. As you know, this week is the week of the UN General Assembly, so the opening high-level debate started yesterday, and in that context there was also a two-day meeting of leaders on the SDGs, a stock taking. The conclusion was on the one side, grim. We've lost a lot of time, obviously. The pandemic and the war and the fallout of the geopolitical tensions are very bad for the world. On the other hand, there is at least an attempt by world leaders to find a way back to some kind of cooperation. And we could see that even among the major powers yesterday, it wasn't a breakdown of the international system. It was a grudging acknowledgment that not an enthusiastic one, but a grudging one that we had better work together if we're going to solve the problem. So at the end of yesterday, a political declaration was issued recommitting to the sustainable development goals and recommitting to accelerating actions, specific actions, notably finance and engagement of the private sector. So this is very timely for us today because throughout today we'll be listening to world leaders in business, in politics, national leaders, multilateral organizations, and from all parts of society, we'll be seeing that there is a commitment and a readiness to lead. And now we have to get the work done. After seven years of insufficient progress, we need to speed up. One very good point that came out of yesterday's session is that the first speaker in the high-level debate after the Secretary General was President Lula of Brazil. And President Lula is not only a beloved and distinctive figure in the world who brought smiles across the chamber of the General Assembly and huge and warm applause, but also he is the president of the G20 in the 2024 cycle. And he committed in his remarks yesterday to carry through the breakthroughs for the SDGs, and that led to a rousing applause of world leaders around the world. So it was a very heartening moment. We have another heartening moment now because we have a great company, as you have heard from Maria, Siemens-Gamesa, which is one of the most important renewable energy companies in the world that has been partnering with SDSN for a couple of years. And we have a leader of Siemens-Gamesa coming out now, Maximilian. Thank you so much for being our partner. We're really grateful. And you have a mic also. That's great. Before we announce the winners, I wanted to ask you how you as perhaps the world's leading wind turbine producing company see the landscape right now. How are the winds blowing, both in your turbines and in the marketplace for renewable energy? Perfect. Thanks, Jeff, and thanks for having me today. Yeah, I mean, if we take a look back in the past and like 50 years ago, there were like around 70 catastrophic climate-related events recorded on a yearly basis. Things like severe flooding, seed waves, or like we take a look nowadays, then we can find that more than 300 of these events are recorded on a yearly basis. So basically our world is slowly dying if we continue with business as usual and we need a miracle to save it. So I got a little bit overwhelmed by my German nature then, and I was thinking, how could we plan for this miracle? And for us at Siemens-Gameta, it's pretty simple. It's driving a sustainable energy transition. And if you think about it, then you can see that investing into renewables, it's not a nice-to-have hobby. No, it's really a means to drive economic competitiveness going forward. And we've gone through massive developments in our industry when it comes to our environmental, social, and economic footprints. So costs have been reduced by more than 60% in the past decade. And once installed, wind turbines produce energy at marginal costs nowadays. And if you take a look at our carbon footprints, then it's comparable to the footprint of a truck. And if you take a look at the US, then there are like 30 million trucks registered here and we need like 50,000, 60,000 wind turbines to fuel the energy transition in the US. So the plan is sketched out, so we know what we need to do. But what we need to do to achieve it is a lot of talent. And that's why it's so important for us also to partner with the UNSDSN and create the challenge universities for Goal 13 because we need to jointly work together across the whole value chain and think end to end how can we drive forward greener technologies in the current setup. That's not only our industry, but also beyond the related industries when it comes to green steel, green hydrogen, all like. These will be the professionals later on working in the machine room to fuel the energy transition and make our today's promises the realities of tomorrow. And that's why partnering and inspiring the next generation via this challenge is really, really important to us. It's incredible. For us in SDSN, we're a network now of nearly 2,000. I don't know, your latest? 2,000 probably. 2,000 universities, think tanks, research laboratories around the world. So the chance to partner with you is really phenomenal because this is what graduate students need. This is students need the hands-on experience, the motivation, the connection with the world-leading companies, also the mentoring that your engineers are giving to these teams. So it's a great partnership. And I love it. And I think it's a role model also for other companies. So we're trying to encourage others to follow your lead. Well, thank you so much, both of you. I think we have a slide showing the five finalists. So here it is. These are the five projects that have reached this stage. So reducing carbon with carbon with students. Oh, we're moving on to a video. But yes, let's take a look at these by students from Shanghai Yangtong University, Hotbox developed by students from the Nelson Mandela University in South Africa, Gruniversity developed by students from the University of Göttingen in Germany, Amaze, Amazon Biomass Estimator by students from PUC Rio in Brazil, and EGORA, the energy marketplace created by students at Case Western Reserve University in the US. So we do have a video, I believe. I want to help fight the climate crisis. In the transition to renewable energy, the average consumer can and often is willing to be part of the solution. Nonetheless, entering the market is confusing, and there's a lack of easily accessible information about how to participate. Persons that start researching may find that their geographic location, budget, and even local policies will constrain their viable options. We have a problem with access to sustainable energy solutions. In the United States, many of us know about sustainable energy generation, but don't possess the knowledge on how to get started. We would like to introduce Jake. Jake wants to get into solar, but with so much information out there, Jake can get overwhelmed with all the options available for him. All he knows is that he wants to jump into the sustainable energy space and lower his utility bill while doing it. After doing some unclear research, Jake realizes that installing solar panels may not be as easy as he anticipated. Installing solar panels on his own roof is out of his budget. And in looking for a lower cost solution, he stumbles upon a long-term contract method called power purchasing agreements, or PPAs, which only serve very big customers, like corporations or cities. Jake is not alone in this. Like him, many people are interested in entering the sustainable energy space. For Jake, community solar as a renewable energy source might be the best option. In community solar, a large array of solar panels produces energy that is directed back to the grid and people can subscribe to the energy that is produced. Community solar has precedence in several states in the US and has been growing year over year for the last decade. But where can Jake find more information about community solar projects near him? How can he connect with like-minded individuals and those that know where to start? We present EGORA, a platform that bridges the gap between producers of renewable energy and new investors. On EGORA, Jake can choose who he works with. He finds a community solar project close to him that fits the budget and his community benefits from the green energy. He also shares a portion of this investment. Jake's project was also built in EGORA. EGORA allowed developers, landowners, solar installation companies, and financiers to connect and form partnerships that resulted in the project he chose. In this way, EGORA allows businesses and investors to collaborate on projects of several scales, from crowdfunding with your neighbors to making a large investment from your company. In current community solar models, the solar array and the electricity it produces often does not reach you. They can be states away, not impacting the energy profile of your local area. With EGORA, the community solar project is close to home. An EGORA user entering our website will be provided with the option to categorize themselves as someone just browsing projects, someone who wishes to contribute to a current or developing project, a new project owner, or a service provider. Each user will then be asked for input information specific to their role and provided with output information appropriate to their role. In the US, the Inflation Reduction Act, or IRA, was recently signed into law. New tax rules under the IRA allow for individual investors in a community solar array to receive tax benefits that have traditionally only been extended to developers. Using untapped sources of capital, such as crowdfunding, can extend the financial benefits of renewable energy to broader populations. And our state, Ohio, is primed to do just that. Just a few months ago, Ohio State representatives introduced House Bill 197, which will kickstart the community solar market in Ohio if it passes. We plan to take advantage of the burgeoning market by decreasing the downtime between each project's benchmarks, and EGORRA will take a portion of each full transaction that is facilitated by the platform. At the forefront of our project is a focus on SDG number seven, aiming to promote affordable and clean energy. In addition to this sustainable development goal, we recognize that EGORRA will have positive impacts on SDGs eight and nine, with improvements to the other goals seen here. Diversifying energy generation profiles across the globe has an additional purpose. Moving to clean energy allows regional and global economies to move away from fossil fuels, reduce their carbon footprint, and contribute to their own decarbonization goals. This is a direct positive contribution to the Climate Action Sustainable Development Goal, number 13. EGORRA wishes to contribute to the fight against climate change, while supporting the improvement in quality of life that an electrified world offers. An envelope to discover the winning solution, but I think we've learned it already. However, we do have a certificate, and I think we have a few of the students joining online, but let's just take a picture that we will share with them so that they can have their certificate. And so once again, Maximilian, please do the honors for us. Very good, yeah. You could see that this is really an innovative solution that also was very amazing for us to review and work together with the students to further develop, because energy transitions, it's something that we also need to drive decentrally in the communities, and getting access to the knowledge how to do it, it's not easy. So therefore, we proudly welcome now on the stage, representatives from the Case Western Reserve University to hand over the certificates. Oh, yes, please, come join us. Think you need to. Really delighted to see you give everything for the energy transition, also to get here, thank you. So, these are the certificates, congratulation, so. Sorry, let me give you the mic if you want to say a few words. Maybe we can go a little bit here. Okay, hi, everyone. So, first of all, I'd like to thank my mentors within the SDSN, Grant Goodrich, for helping me be here in person, which was, whew, kind of a run, but along with Grant Goodrich, I'd like to thank everyone at the Great Lakes Energy Institute who introduced us to the competition in the first place through something in our university called the Think Energy Fellowship, and they were instrumental in helping us get this project started. I'd also like to thank my fellow students who helped me with this project, and I think there were a couple more names under the acknowledgments who helped with kind of the proving grounds of this project in its early stages. So, yeah, that's everyone. Thank you, and congratulations. Oh, yes. All right, congratulations. Thank you. All right, Deb, we'll leave you here. Thank you very much, Maximilian. Thank you again, and thank you, Siemens Gamesa, for their support. And maybe last comment from my side. It was really brilliant to see the passion from the students. That's really the passion that we need also going forward to drive the change that is needed and to maybe make the miracle happen. And that's why I'm also so happy to announce that there will be another third edition of our universities for Gold 13. So looking really forward also for the next year. Thank you. Thank you very much. Oh.