UpLink Impact Report 2020-2021

The UpLink Impact Report 2020-2021 details the growth and outcomes of the World Economic Forum's digital ecosystem designed to accelerate the UN Sustainable Development Goals. Since its 2020 launch, the platform has hosted 27 innovation challenges, identifying over 150 'Top Innovators' from 38 countries. The report quantifies the collective impact of these innovations across environmental, social, and economic dimensions, while highlighting the platform's role in providing visibility and facilitating approximately USD 75 million in additional funding for its members.

• UpLink has grown into a digital ecosystem with over 30,000 registered users, including entrepreneurs, investors, and experts. In the past year, it hosted 27 innovation challenges that surfaced more than 2,500 innovations from 38 different countries, with over 150 recognized as 'Top UpLink Innovators'.
• The collective environmental impact of Top Innovations includes the capture of over 39 million tonnes of greenhouse gases, the removal of more than 608,000 tonnes of waste from aquatic and terrestrial habitats, and the placement of over 2.35 million square kilometres of habitats under active protection or management.
• Top Innovations have achieved significant social outcomes, including improving the health of more than 121 million people, providing safe drinking water to 2.7 million people, and offering sustainable food access to over 2 million people.
• Economic impacts attributed to Top Innovations include the creation of 133,000 jobs—of which 52,000 were for women and over 2,400 were within minority communities—and wage increases for more than 481,000 people.
• The platform has significantly unlocked finance for its members, with Top and Featured Innovators raising nearly USD 75 million in additional funding. 34% of Top Innovators secured additional funds, and 100% of this funding was at least partially attributed to the visibility gained through UpLink.
• UpLink facilitates the scaling of solutions by creating connections; it has enabled 700 lasting connections between innovators, investors, and experts.

APA

World Economic Forum (2021). UpLink Impact Report 2020-2021. http://www3.weforum.org/docs/WEF_UpLink_2021_Impact_Report.pdf

Chicago

World Economic Forum. UpLink Impact Report 2020-2021. 2021. http://www3.weforum.org/docs/WEF_UpLink_2021_Impact_Report.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=World Economic Forum |title=UpLink Impact Report 2020-2021 |date=September 2021 |url=http://www3.weforum.org/docs/WEF_UpLink_2021_Impact_Report.pdf |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{worldeconomicforum2021uplink, author = {{World Economic Forum}}, title = {{UpLink Impact Report 2020-2021}}, institution = {World Economic Forum}, year = {2021}, month = sep, url = {http://www3.weforum.org/docs/WEF_UpLink_2021_Impact_Report.pdf}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }