BHP launches international call for companies, institutions and/or startups focused on solutions on adaptation to climate change

● The initiative, supported by ChileGlobal Ventures, Fundación Chile’s venture capital area, seeks to identify collaborative, scalable and high-impact solutions that will allow the regions of Tarapacá and Antofagasta in Chile to prepare for the challenges of global warming.

● The call will be open until April, 12th at www.convocatoriasumatebhp.com.

Chile and the world are facing major challenges as a result of climate change that require concrete, collaborative and active action by all stakeholders to mitigate its impact.

In this context, BHP, with the support of ChileGlobal Ventures, Fundación Chile’s venture capital area, launched “Get involved”, a call that seeks collaborative, scalable and high-impact solutions. The goal is to empower communities in the northern regions of Chile and enable them to face the challenges caused by climate change, helping them to become self-sustaining, technologically advanced and energy efficient.

Cecilia Azar, Social Value Manager of BHP Minerals Americas, says: “we are very motivated to work together with those leaders who want to find innovative and high impact solutions and face the global challenges of climate change, with a specific focus on the Antofagasta and/or Tarapacá Regions”.

Jamie Riggs, Managing Director of ChileGlobal Ventures, added that “today climate change is a global challenge that Chile is not oblivious to. However, large companies and entrepreneurs can play a key role in mitigating and reversing this situation, through radical collaboration, and by promoting knowledge, skills and technologies that can permeate in all sectors of society, including the country’s most remote communities”.

Get involved in the challenge

Those interested on applying, should have solutions focusing on one or more of the following challenges:

1. Decentralization: Innovations that allow communities in the north to generate self-management and new models for the use of water, energy, and agricultural resources, among others; solving challenges in areas such as circular economy, urban planning, transportation and/or efficient logistics. Initiatives sought are those which preferably consider the use of applied technology and include the transfer of skills and knowledge in the locality.
2. Self-sustainability: Innovations or projects that can give back to communities the capacity to sustainably use local biodiversity resources to generate value, enhancing the wealth and identity of the locality, providing tools, new management models or technologies that allow the containment of climate change.
3. Infrastructure and services: Innovations or initiatives that contribute at the construction and generation of goods and services, focused on promoting resilience to the effects of climate change, such as abundant or scarce water, increased waves, among others, and that allow the self-management of the growth of communities, both in human terms as well as technological and economic.

Each of these guidelines can be applied to the main industries in the area, although they are not exclusive, such as agriculture, small-scale mining, artisanal fishing, energy, aquaculture, ethno-tourism, cultural, scientific, gastronomic and astronomical tourism, among others.

Who can apply?

Applications will be received from legal entities, companies, academic centers and national and international organizations that have solutions focused on developing community resilience and adaptation to climate change, and that have the technical capacities to implement their projects in the regions of Antofagasta and Tarapacá.

Finalists will be eligible for funding from BHP to carry out their project over a period of up to 5 years.

Application will be received until March 29th. For questions or more information, visit www.convocatoriasumatebhp.com or write to convocatoriasumatebhp@fch.cl.