To celebrate Earth Day on 22 April, the Commonwealth Secretariat and Satellite Applications Catapult are launching the first-ever Hack the Planet competition, in search of innovative, impactful and scalable ideas that will tackle the threats facing communities around the world, linked to ocean degradation and the climate crisis.

Virtual ideas competition

The virtual ideas competition will advance outstanding home-grown solutions from across 54 Commonwealth countries, targeting some of the world’s most pressing ocean-related challenges, such as eliminating plastic pollution, accelerating sustainable energy uptake, climate change, developing sustainable ‘blue’ approaches for the ocean economy and protecting nature in marine areas.

The total prize money is £10,000. In addition to that, the competition will encourage entrants to utilize and explore the information and connectivity available from satellites as part of their ideas.

Benefits

Participants in Hack the Planet Competition 2021 can look forward to

• The chance to win a cash prize of £10,000 to help you turn your idea into a real life concept.
• The opportunity for virtual coaching from experts that can help support you throughout the competition.
• The chance to pitch your idea to a panel of satellite and ocean experts.
• Worldwide recognition for your idea.

Eligibility

• Open to people from Commonwealth nations.
• They are looking for your ideas on how to solve the challenges of our ocean with concepts that include the power of imagery, connectivity or other applications from satellites.
• Your ideas should relate to one of the 10 challenges set out in the Commonwealth Blue Charter.

The deadline for online submissions is 31st May 2021. The theme of the competition is closely aligned with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals 14 (ocean), 13 (climate) and 7 (energy).

For details on how to enter, visit HackThePlanetCompetition.com (live from 22 April) or or download the media toolkit.