The campaign to clean up East Asia’s Mekong River – one of the world’s ten-most polluted tributaries – with zero emission, solar-powered boats wins gold in the Environment Effort category. The Q CELLS-supported campaign secures six awards in total.
[Seoul, South Korea, May 19, 2020] The positive environmental impact of an innovative campaign to use solar-powered boats to sweep the debris and waste from one of the world’s most polluted rivers has been recognized at the New York Festivals Advertising Awards. The Clean Up Mekong campaign, which uses a fleet of specially designed boats, powered and propelled by Q CELLS’ Q.PEAK DUO-G5 solar panels, won six awards – one in gold in the category of Environmental Effort, and five in bronze – at the prestigious awards in New York.
The Clean Up Mekong campaign is conducted by Hanwha in collaboration with Q CELLS, the Vietnam Environment Administration and the Global Green Growth Institute (GGGI). It is one of Hanwha’s ongoing efforts to combat the effects of climate change and tackle energy poverty, while also encouraging responsible consumption in accordance with the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals (UN SDGs). The campaign was born to solve a pressing ecological problem using the core tenet of its business – solar power.
The Mekong is a trans-national river that runs through China, Myanmar, Laos, Thailand, Cambodia, and finally Vietnam before discharging into the sea. It shifts 475 km3 of water annually and supports more than 70 million people who rely on the river as their main water source.
However, indiscriminately disposed waste and sewage discharge along the river’s length has turned the Mekong into one of the world’s ten most polluted rivers. The pollutants ultimately float into the sea and threaten marine life. As Vietnam is the last country the river runs through, the Clean Up Mekong campaign aims to remove the waste build up before it enters open water, with two Q CELLS-powered boats active at the riverside city of Vinh Long.
