united nations an indian organisation that leverages tourism and technology to help remote communities access solar energy has won a prestigious un award for its efforts to combat climate change amid the covid19 pandemicthe global himalayan expedition ghe is among the winners of the 2020 un global climate action awardghe is one of the worlds first organisations using tourism and technology to bring solar energy to remote communitiesthe recipients of the 2020 united nations global climate action awards announced tuesday bring focus to the best examples of what people across the globe are doing to combat climate change in a year that has cast darkness upon so manyaccording to a statement on the united nations framework convention on climate change unfccc website ghe is the one of the worlds first outfit using tourism and technology to bring solar energy to remote communities as recognised by the world travel and tourism council wttc and the united nations world tourism organisation unwtoin the hindu kush region there are more than 16 million people without access to basic energy mainly due to their geographic remotenessghe conducts impact expeditions to remote himalayan villages and uses a portion of the expedition fee to fund the capital cost of the hardware transportation installation and training of villagescale solar microgridsthe microgrid infrastructure set up by ghe is owned and operated by the communityto date the ghe has solar electrified more than 131 villages in three regions of india directly impacting the lives of more than 60000 villagers more than 1300 travellers from 60 different countries have been a part of these expeditions enabling livelihood through homestay tourism has generated over usd 114000 in income for the villages which represents a 45 per cent increase in the annual household income the statement saidunfccc said this years awardwinning projects demonstrate leadership on climate change by nations businesses investors cities regions and civil societies as a whole they range from the caribbeans only carbonneutral hotel to the worlds first platform fully dedicated to green bonds to the first allwomen solar team in lebanoncongratulating the winners of the 2020 un global climate action awards un secretarygeneral antnio guterres said the winners provide tangible proof that climate action is underway around the worldit is exciting to see these climate solutions which reinforce my call for decisive leadership on climate change by governments businesses and cities and for a green recovery from the covid19 pandemic let us keep pressing ahead to build a more sustainable and equitable future for all he saidun climate change executive secretary patricia espinosa said the last eight months have been a nightmare for many throughout the worldcovid19 has altered lives economies and the nature of business on every continent from the largest cities to the smallest villages it is the most urgent threat facing humanity today but we cannot forget that climate change is the biggest threat facing humanity over the long term said espinosaespinosa said the convergence of these two crises has opened a window of