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IDB: Digital Tokens for Biodiversity Innovation Challenge

Deadline: 12-Aug-22

IDB Lab, the innovation laboratory of the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB), is launching a call to identify innovative solutions that make use of digital tokens to promote biodiversity conservation and facilitate climate action.

The Inter-American Development Bank (IDB), through its innovation laboratory, IDB Lab, in collaboration with the Natural Capital Lab and the support of LACChain, seeks to assist innovative solutions in Latin America and the Caribbean that harness the power of digital tokens as tools to advance biodiversity conservation and climate action.

Apart from helping solve environmental challenges, these applications must have a positive impact on poor and vulnerable populations. Moreover, it must be implemented in one or more of IDB’s 26 beneficiary countries.

Objectives
  • The IDB aims to become a key partner to enable the leap frogging of breakthrough innovations in LAC carried out by entrepreneurs, local institutions and other players from all sectors promoting ‘nature positive’ solutions. To be true to the mission of IDB Lab, and following global principles and priorities, the Challenge will pay special attention to the inclusive participation and leadership of local communities in the conservation and management of natural resources, prioritizing bottom-up approaches.
  • To reach this goal, IDB Lab will lead a broad initiative focused on leveraging biodiversity assets and empowering communities using inclusive technologies. The first building block will be the launching of a challenge that will help raise awareness and identify ongoing initiatives and opportunities in the region.
  • Its objective is to source and support innovative ideas, business models, and multisector partnerships as well as informing IDB Lab and other actors in the region about the LAC market’s readiness, needs, and nascent opportunities.
  • The challenge will support solutions that harness digital tokens, when appropriate, for biodiversity value creation and climate action. This includes but is not limited to the establishment of market mechanisms to value nature, the transfer of financial value to community-led climate and sustainability actions, or simply to improve the efficiency, traceability, and transparency of its own and others’ operations.
  • The lessons learned from this effort will help create a replicable and scalable model for IDB Lab and other interested partners on how to support the advancement of the adoption of digital tokens in other social and environmental priorities in the region through bottom-up approaches that have strong community-strengthening and inclusive perspectives.
Proposed Solutions Must:
  • Promote biodiversity conservation and/or regeneration, considering the meaningful participation of local communities.
  • Explore and harness the potential of digital tokens and be innovative in nature by:
    • Topic track 1: presenting a new solution or add an innovation component to an existing model; or
    • Topic track 2: presenting a strategy/ action plan to promote awareness, ecosystem building and developing inclusive and accountable governance frameworks.
  • Promote the social and economic inclusion of poor and vulnerable communities with key indicators to measure results.
  • Contemplate a path for scalability or replication, as well as financial sustainability.
Types of Funding 
  • Funding for Track 1
    • Prototype
      • IDB Financing: Up to US$ 150,000
      • Counterpart funds to be provided by the Applicant: 50% of the total budget, half in cash and half in kind.
    • Non-reimbursable Technical cooperation
      • IDB Financing: Up to US$ 600,000
      • Counterpart funds to be provided by the Applicant: 50% of the total budget, half in cash and half in kind.
    • Contingency Recovery Investment Grant (reimbursable)
      • IDB Financing: Up to US$ 700,000
      • Counterpart funds: desirable, but not required 50% of the total budget, half in cash and half in kind. (Counterpart will be positively considered for selection)
  • Funding for Track 2
    • Non-reimbursable Technical cooperation
      • IDB Financing: Up to US$600,000
      • Counterpart funds to be provided by the Applicant: 30-50% of the total budget, half in cash and half in kind.
Awards
  • Financing: IDB Lab may consider the Applicants whose proposals are selected to receive financing to implement the proposed business model or action plan in one of the 26 target countries.
  • IDB Lab Innovators Network: Selected applicants will be included among IDB Lab’s network of global innovators and may have opportunities to participate in networking events to showcase their solutions.
Eligible Countries
  • The projects will be implemented in one or more of IDB’s 26 borrowing member countries: Argentina, Bahamas, Barbados, Belize, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, the Dominican Republic, Ecuador, El Salvador, Guatemala, Guyana, Haiti, Honduras, Jamaica, Mexico, Nicaragua, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Suriname, Trinidad and Tobago, Uruguay, and Venezuela.
  • Applicants developing projects to be implemented in Nicaragua and Venezuela can only apply for Non-reimbursable Technical Cooperation.
  • The 22 non-borrowing countries are: Austria, Belgium, Canada, China, Croatia, Denmark, Finland, France, Korea, Germany, Israel, Italy, Japan, The Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, United Kingdom, and the United States.
Eligibility Criteria
  • If your organization is not legally registered in any of IDB’s 48 member countries, you cannot apply to this challenge.
  • Applicants can apply for one or more than one type of funding, but please note that this decision depends on the characteristics of the business model (i.e., income generating, limited earning potential, financial sustainability, etc.) being proposed.
  • An organization can apply to more than one track.
  • Applicants not legally registered in one of IDB’s 26 borrowing countries but registered in any of the following 22 non-borrowing countries may apply only in partnership with an organization registered and located in one of the 26 borrowing countries where the project will be implemented.

For more information, visit https://www.iadb.org/en/news/idb-labs-call-use-digital-tokens-biodiversity-and-climate-action