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About CATAL1.5°T

Our mission is to accelerate the transition to a net-zero future by supporting climate ventures and climate innovation ecosystems

The CATAL1.5°T Initiative is a global endeavour to promote investments in developing and emerging climate tech markets from the Global South. To ensure long-lasting impact, we support start-ups at every stage and strengthen regional ecosystems.

At CATAL1.5°T [ˈkætəlɪst], we believe that climate tech innovations are essential to keep global warming close to 1.5 °C.

While the Global South is particularly vulnerable to the extensive impacts of climate change, it also has fast-growing climate start-up ecosystems that are addressing these challenges with technology. Therefore, we focus on catalysing start-ups and young companies in developing and emerging markets, particularly in Latin America and West Africa. Our approach involves providing funding, knowledge resources and access to networks of domain experts, mentors and investors.

We are committed to promoting diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) throughout our programmes and trainings, and we prioritise the assessment of environmental, social and governance (ESG) impacts of the climate tech solutions we support.

Our work

Through our Climathons, pre-accelerator and accelerator programmes, we empower ideators, entrepreneurs and start-ups to develop innovative ideas and climate tech solutions and scale their ventures. We provide them with the financial, technical and mentoring support they need. We also collaborate with incubators, accelerators, venture capitalists, policymakers and other stakeholders to boost investments, drive dialogue and foster resilient climate innovation ecosystems.

The CATAL1.5°T Initiative in a nutshell: watch the video to get a detailed insight into our work and goals.

Our global team

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Severin Peters

Global Coordinator, GIZ | severin.peters@giz.de

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Pia Guyot

Administrative Officer, GIZ

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Julia Rueda Alvarez

Global Communications, GIZ

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Milena Stolz

Global Advisor and ESMF Manager, GIZ

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Ann-Christin Weldner

Finance Manager, GIZ

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Usama Tariq

Monitoring and Evaluation, GIZ

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Leon Pelt

Young Professional, GIZ

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Perwin Gosam

Office Manager, GIZ

Our team in Latin America

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Felix Steinberg

Director of CATAL1.5°T – LATAM Platform, GIZ | felix.steinberg@giz.de

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Erika Sanchez Herrera

Climatech Ecosystem Promotion Technical Advisor - LATAM, GIZ

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Verena Pluckhan

Finance Manager LATAM, GIZ

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Juana Martínez Macedo

E&S Specialist, GIZ

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Josué García Pérez

Junior Technical Advisor - LATAM, GIZ

Our team in West Africa

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Matthias Rehfeld

Coordinator Africa | matthias.rehfeld@giz.de

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Benjamin Meier

Coordinator West Africa

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Fatou Doumbia

Advisor West Africa, GIZ

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Alex Gbetie

Advisor West Africa, GIZ

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Abdallah Souissi

Finance Manager West Africa, GIZ

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Rosina Naab

Junior Advisor West Africa, GIZ

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Anastassija Guseva

Finance Manager West Africa, GIZ

Our partners

CATAL1.5°T is implemented by Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH in cooperation with top-tier global and regional partners. It is funded by the international Green Climate Fund (GCF) and the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ). Regional platforms are operated by partner networks consisting of leading start-up incubators and accelerators, as well as local teams of GIZ and EIT Climate-KIC.

About the CATAL1.5°T Initiative

The Initiative is is funded by the international Green Climate Fund (GCF) and the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ). It is implemented by Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH in cooperation with top-tier global and regional partners.

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Get insights and inspiration

Dive into insights from our ongoing and completed programmes, best practices and lessons learned as we work together to build climate ventures for a net-zero world.
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Frequently asked questions

You’ve got questions? Here you can find answers. If you have further questions, contact us via the contact form below.