Announcing Cohort #1 of the Green Accountability Technology Accelerator
Today is the day we we can finally share the entrepreneurs selected for the first cohort of the Green Accountability Technology Accelerator!
Four teams will join us on this six-month journey to develop tech-enabled tools that enhance citizen oversight and decision making in climate finance and climate action. These teams stood out for their close collaboration with Indigenous Peoples and Local Communities, commitment to developing open source tools, and their innovative use of data and technology to build trust, transparency, and accountability between citizens, civil society organizations, and government partners.
Follow along with the cohort as they progress through the Green Accountability Technology Accelerator and join us at Demo Day in October for the launches of their tech-enabled tools.
Savimbo (Villagarzón, Colombia)
Led by Drea Burbank, Jhony Lopez, Fernando Lezama, and Roberto Duif
What problem is Savimbo addressing?
Carbon markets struggle to demonstrate that a ‘fair share’ of credit proceeds are reaching local communities. Similarly, conservation organizations and government agencies lack the necessary tools to transact and document direct payments to Indigenous Peoples for environmental services they are providing, as many Indigenous communities remain unserved by financial institutions. As a result, climate finance held by national and regional authorities often fails to reach Indigenous land stewards who are working to preserve critical ecosystems.
What solution is Savimbo developing?
The Indigenous-led team at Savimbo is designing Kapital, a mobile application for managing direct payments to Indigenous communities based on the unique needs of these often unbanked communities. The app facilitates and transparently tracks the revenue share these communities receive from the direct sale of fair-trade carbon and biodiversity credits in the Colombian and Ecuadorian Amazon. Kapital also allows for innovative governance solutions when Indigenous communities are involved in land stewardship or restoration as a collective.
How does it work?
Savimbo works closely with Indigenous communities to open a bank account and will use Kapital to deliver ACH payments in local currency via Bill.com. Web3 infrastructure enables a transparent voting mechanism for Indigenous communities to track how they collectively decide to allocate funds (e.g. to individual land stewards, community education, and/or a development fund).
“Savimbo is building solutions for HOW to save a planet. We’re very excited about building tools that make it easy to pay Indigenous Peoples and local communities fast, transparently, and on their terms!” — Drea Burbank, Savimbo CEO & Co-Founder
Learn more at https://www.savimbo.com/.
Space4Innovation (Samburu, Kenya & Prague, Czech Republic)
Led by Diana Mastracci, Titus Letaapo, and Lilian Nguracha
What problem is Space4Innovation addressing?
Indigenous agro-pastoralists are struggling to adapt to climate change. Among the many issues they face are droughts and shrinking grasslands, conflicts over increasingly limited resources, and barriers to access and share climate data for coordination with local authorities and conservation organizations. Currently, their needs are not sufficiently served by government resources, they have limited avenues to voice feedback or grievances, and their Indigenous knowledge and lived experiences are not integrated into local adaptation strategies.
What solution is Space4Innovation developing?
Space4Innovation is co-creating a mobile mapping tool called Namunyak, which enables Indigenous Peoples to map their territories using symbols and audio inputs, so individuals of all literacy levels can participate. On top of this spatial application, Space4Innovation will develop a citizen monitoring and reporting mechanism. This solution is developed in partnership with the Samburu tribe of Northern Kenya and the winners of its Indigenous hackathons: the Symbols team (Yoanna Dimitrova, William Booth, and Lucandrea Mancini) and the Nappu Ntomok team (Benard Odhiambo and Miroslawa Alunowska Figueroa).
How does it work?
Namunyak will enable community feedback loops for Indigenous Peoples to strengthen their agency around land rights for natural resource management, prevent jurisdictional conflicts, and enhance coordination with local authorities and conservation groups for climate and nature projects. For example, the Samburu tribe will use the app to indicate the movements of elephants in coordination with park rangers from a local animal conservancy and regional officials.
“Joining this Accelerator will allow us to amplify the voices of the Samburu tribe and showcase the power of Indigenous-led innovation. The resources, mentorship, and global platform provided by the program will help us refine our solutions and scale our impact, ensuring the Samburu community can navigate climate challenges with greater agency. We are excited about the opportunity to connect with like-minded innovators and share our journey. This partnership is not just about technology — it’s about honoring and elevating Indigenous knowledge and leadership in the fight for climate justice.” — Diana Mastraaci, Space4Innovation CEO & Founder
Learn more at https://www.space4innovation.com/.
Integrity Action (London, UK & Nigeria)
Led by Brittany Stevens, Arran Leonard, and Jasmina Haynes
What problem is Integrity Action addressing?
The voluntary carbon market is underdelivering on its promises to local communities despite its potential to be a transformative solution. Citizens living in and around carbon projects often do not receive meaningful or fair benefits, and have limited channels to provide feedback, decide how benefits are invested in the community, or verify the delivery of benefits promised by project developers.
What solution is Integrity Action developing?
Integrity Action is developing a mobile app and web platform to bring citizen-centered accountability to carbon projects. The technology will support citizen monitoring that builds community oversight, increases accountability and transparency, and supports decision making in carbon projects. The tool will help strengthen claims around high integrity carbon projects by making project claims openly verified in real-time at the grassroots level and ensure that benefit-sharing mechanisms both align with community needs and fulfill the promises made.
How does it work?
Integrity Action works with local CSOs in Nigeria to enable trained citizens to monitor and engage with the delivery of carbon projects local to them. Using mobile technology, citizens can monitor environmental and social impacts, verify benefit-sharing mechanisms, and ensure compliance with carbon project commitments.
“Integrity Action is very excited to bring our citizen-centered accountability expertise to the climate space, incorporating what we’ve learned over 20 years so we can bring citizen voices and greater transparency to the voluntary carbon market.” — Brittany Stevens, Integrity Action Head of Programme Development
Learn more at https://www.integrityaction.org/.
Altruistech (Kigali, Rwanda)
Led by Abdul Karim Sesay, Mercy Nyamusi, and Daniel Falama
What problem is Altruistech addressing?
Industrial companies face legal action if they are unable to demonstrate compliance with environmental safety policies. In Rwanda, hiring an ecological consultant to prove compliance is very expensive, and few practical tools and systems are available for industries to monitor and manage their environmental footprints in line with regulations. In addition, citizens and civil society organizations lack access to the data on industrial environmental impacts and have limited means to hold companies and local governments accountable for maintaining a safe environment.
What solution is Altruistech developing?
Altruistech is building tools to ensure accountability between local government authorities, citizens, and industrial manufacturers regarding the enforcement of environmental policies. Starting with air quality, their Environmental Compliance Gauge gives stakeholders the tools and support to hold companies and government authorities responsible for air pollution by measuring industrial emissions and making this data publicly accessible.
How does it work?
Altruistech builds digital MRV tools that leverage remote sensors, mobile technology, robotics, and AI to bring transparency and accountability to environmental regulation. Their remote sensing hardware monitors greenhouse gas emissions and other air pollutants at manufacturing sites, collecting data on the company’s environmental performance. This data is then made publicly available via a mobile application, so local communities can take action and advocate for their environmental safety.
“We are building this specific innovation because we believe that climate data transparency empowers countries to make informed decisions, set meaningful targets and develop relevant policy responses. It also helps unlock results-based climate finance, attracting the support that will enable more ambitious climate action over the longer term.” — Abdul Karim Sesay, Altruistech Founder
Learn more at https://www.altru-is.tech/environmental-compliance-innovation.
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About Climate Collective: Climate Collective is an innovation network made up of start ups, investors, scientists, and non-profits putting digital technologies to work for climate and nature at scale. Since 2021, Climate Collective has granted over $4 million towards early-stage tech development, research, and community building for nature and climate action. Learn more at www.climatecollective.org.
About GPSA: The Global Partnership for Social Accountability (GPSA) was established by the World Bank’s Board of Directors in 2012 to expand opportunities for civil society and governments to work together to solve pressing governance problems and improve development outcomes. Its “collaborative social accountability” model facilitates engagement of citizens and civil society organizations (CSOs) with public sectors to promote transparency and accountability of government policies and services and improve their performance and responsiveness. The Green Accountability Technology Accelerator is part of the Green Accountability Platform, which the GPSA launched at COP28 to develop an ecosystem of CSOs creating green accountability and supporting citizen action across the climate finance agenda. This includes a global knowledge platform on green accountability managed by WRI, Huairou Commission and SouthSouthNorth. Learn more at https://greenaccountability.org/.
