As record-breaking heatwaves sweep the U.S. and Europe, overwhelming infrastructure and pushing health systems to the brink, an open-source, community-built technology from Southeast Asia is being recognized as a global model for climate resilience.

<a href="http://info.petabencana.id">Disaster Map Foundation (Yayasan Peta Bencana)</a>, an Indonesian nonprofit, has just won First Place at the <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iynq4EZl1FY">2025 SAFE STEPS D-Tech Awards</a> for its work building a real-time disaster response platform powered not by satellites or AI alone—but by the local wisdom and cooperation of frontline communities.

At a time when the Bonn Climate Talks concluded without meaningful progress, and global negotiations stall in the face of compounding crises, this award signals a growing international recognition: solutions aren’t waiting in Geneva or Washington—they’re working in Jakarta.

“We’ve proven that large-scale, community-led climate action is not only possible, it is already happening,” said Nashin Mahtani, Director of Yayasan Peta Bencana.

Since launching in 2017, PetaBencana.id ("Disaster Map Indonesia") has grown into Southeast Asia’s largest people-powered disaster information platform, used by over 200 million people across the region. More than 900 humanitarian organizations now rely on its open data streams to coordinate rapid response. 

The platform’s integration into Indonesia’s national disaster management systems demonstrates how local knowledge and formal institutions can work in synergy. Government agencies publicly recognize it as the fastest and most reliable source of real-time information.&nbsp;It is a model of how community insight, when structurally embedded, can strengthen national capacity for climate adaptation.

This infrastructure is now replicated across the region through the Disaster Map Foundation, which has developed a method for localizing the <a href="https://sitioss.info/">software</a>. In the Philippines, the platform operates as MapaKalamidad.ph, in use since 2020 and adopted by the national government’s emergency response system.&nbsp;

But the real innovation lies in how the technology is governed: through gotong royong, the Indonesian practice of mutual aid and collective responsibility. Citizens, not just authorities, drive decision-making and response coordination—making the platform radically democratic, inclusive, and fast.

June 2025 has already been one of the hottest months in recorded history, with lethal heatwaves across southern Europe and the southern U.S. At the same time, the UN climate negotiations in Bonn (SB62) stalled on key issues like adaptation finance and loss-and-damage implementation, drawing sharp criticism from frontline nations and civil society.

Yayasan Peta Bencana’s win is not just an accolade, it is a signal flare: we don’t have to wait for slow-moving global deals to act on climate. Communities have already built models that work—models that the rest of the world, including cities in the U.S. and Europe, can learn from.

The SAFE STEPS D-Tech Awards—organized by Prudence Foundation in partnership with the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC), UNDRR, AWS, and Echelon—recognize innovations that reduce disaster risk and build resilience. Yayasan Peta Bencana took First Place in the Smart Resilience track, emerging from over 100 applications across 31 countries.

As deadly heatwaves sweep the U.S. and Europe and global climate talks stall, a new vision for climate tech is emerging from Southeast Asia. Indonesia’s Yayasan Peta Bencana (Disaster Map Foundation) has won First Place at the 2025 SAFE STEPS D-Tech Awards for its community-led, open-source, AI-supported disaster platform, PetaBencana.id. More than an accolade, the win is a signal flare: communities aren’t waiting for global agreements—they’re already building scalable, inclusive models for climate adaptation that the world can learn from. As record-breaking heatwaves sweep the U.S. and Europe, overwhelming infrastructure and pushing health systems to the brink, an open-source, community-built technology from Southeast Asia is being recognized as a global model for climate resilience.<a href="http://info.petabencana.id">Disaster Map Foundation (Yayasan Peta Bencana)</a>, an Indonesian nonprofit, has just won First Place at the <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iynq4EZl1FY">2025 SAFE STEPS D-Tech Awards</a> for its work building a real-time disaster response platform powered not by satellites or AI alone—but by the local wisdom and cooperation of frontline communities.At a time when the Bonn Climate Talks concluded without meaningful progress, and global negotiations stall in the face of compounding crises, this award signals a growing international recognition: solutions aren’t waiting in Geneva or Washington—they’re working in Jakarta.“We’ve proven that large-scale, community-led climate action is not only possible, it is already happening,” said Nashin Mahtani, Director of Yayasan Peta Bencana.Since launching in 2017, PetaBencana.id ("Disaster Map Indonesia") has grown into Southeast Asia’s largest people-powered disaster information platform, used by over 200 million people across the region. More than 900 humanitarian organizations now rely on its open data streams to coordinate rapid response. <img style="width: 100%;" src="https://imagedelivery.net/H6_s_Eb_ylTWnSEV3HlmYQ/6ba10452-d101-41c5-fd41-23d706539000/public" alt="A resident navigates real-time flood reports on PetaBencana.id—an open-source platform powered by community input, showing how collective intelligence is reshaping the future of climate response." />The platform’s integration into Indonesia’s national disaster management systems demonstrates how local knowledge and formal institutions can work in synergy. Government agencies publicly recognize it as the fastest and most reliable source of real-time information.&nbsp;It is a model of how community insight, when structurally embedded, can strengthen national capacity for climate adaptation.This infrastructure is now replicated across the region through the Disaster Map Foundation, which has developed a method for localizing the <a href="https://sitioss.info/">software</a>. In the Philippines, the platform operates as MapaKalamidad.ph, in use since 2020 and adopted by the national government’s emergency response system.&nbsp;But the real innovation lies in how the technology is governed: through gotong royong, the Indonesian practice of mutual aid and collective responsibility. Citizens, not just authorities, drive decision-making and response coordination—making the platform radically democratic, inclusive, and fast.June 2025 has already been one of the hottest months in recorded history, with lethal heatwaves across southern Europe and the southern U.S. At the same time, the UN climate negotiations in Bonn (SB62) stalled on key issues like adaptation finance and loss-and-damage implementation, drawing sharp criticism from frontline nations and civil society.Yayasan Peta Bencana’s win is not just an accolade, it is a signal flare: we don’t have to wait for slow-moving global deals to act on climate. Communities have already built models that work—models that the rest of the world, including cities in the U.S. and Europe, can learn from.The SAFE STEPS D-Tech Awards—organized by Prudence Foundation in partnership with the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC), UNDRR, AWS, and Echelon—recognize innovations that reduce disaster risk and build resilience. Yayasan Peta Bencana took First Place in the Smart Resilience track, emerging from over 100 applications across 31 countries.

System / Website / Application development

Think tank

Environment / SGDs / Recycling

Politics / Government / Local government

Green technology

As deadly heatwaves sweep the U.S. and Europe and global climate talks stall, a new vision for climate tech is emerging from Southeast Asia. Indonesia’s Yayasan Peta Bencana (Disaster Map Foundation) has won First Place at the 2025 SAFE STEPS D-Tech Awards for its community-led, open-source, AI-supported disaster platform, PetaBencana.id. More than an accolade, the win is a signal flare: communities aren’t waiting for global agreements—they’re already building scalable, inclusive models for climate adaptation that the world can learn from.

As Heatwaves Paralyze Global North, PetaBencana.id, a Lifesaving Innovation from Indonesia Shows the Way Forward

In 2018, a German brand producing vegan condoms, Einhorn, contacted a young ocean impact organisation, Seven Clean Seas, with a curious request. “We want to be as good-for-the-world as possible, but we can’t avoid plastic in our packaging. Can we pay you to remove the same amount of plastic from the environment?” The resulting collaboration may have been the world’s first informal plastic credit transaction, years before the concept gained widespread attention.

Now, almost seven years later, the world has changed. And so has the market. Plastic credits have evolved from a fringe concept to a much-needed part of the solution. Seven Clean Seas, having built one of the leading consultancy teams in the waste reduction sector, has worked with global brands, governments, and events - including The Economist Group and FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 (The Supreme Committee for Delivery and Legacy) - to develop rigorous plastic footprinting, reduction strategies, and recovery solutions.

Amid this momentum, plasticcredits.org launches as a new hub designed to keep the fast-growing market grounded in facts and integrity. Developed by the team behind Seven Clean Seas, the platform explains the fundamentals of plastic credits: what they are, how they’re generated and verified, which standards exist, and why high-integrity plastic crediting projects matter.

The launch follows a growing global interest, amplified by a <a href="https://www.worldbank.org/en/programs/problue/publication/unlocking-financing-to-combat-the-plastics-crisis">2024 World Bank report</a> that endorsed plastic credits as a legitimate financing mechanism, if deployed responsibly. The publication served as a clear validation of the concept, but also a warning: without standards and transparency, the plastic credit market could repeat the missteps of the voluntary carbon market.

“People are waking up to the power of plastic credits—but also the risks,” said Seven Clean Seas CEO and Founder, Tom Peacock-Nazil. “We built plasticcredits.org to fill the knowledge gap and ensure that the right information is accessible before the market moves too fast.”

Plasticcredits.org is a knowledge-first resource. Its mission is to help sustainability professionals, corporate leaders, NGOs, and individuals alike make informed decisions by cutting through jargon, demystifying key processes, and highlighting what quality and impact really mean in this space.

The platform represents a strategic step in market maturity, offering a clear and unbiased view at a time when clarity is urgently needed.

“As the world scrambles for solutions to the plastic crisis, this is our invitation to the industry. Let’s get this right from the start.”

A new global resource aims to bring transparency and credibility to the global plastic crisis’ rapidly growing solution: plastic credits. In 2018, a German brand producing vegan condoms, Einhorn, contacted a young ocean impact organisation, Seven Clean Seas, with a curious request. “We want to be as good-for-the-world as possible, but we can’t avoid plastic in our packaging. Can we pay you to remove the same amount of plastic from the environment?” The resulting collaboration may have been the world’s first informal plastic credit transaction, years before the concept gained widespread attention.Now, almost seven years later, the world has changed. And so has the market. Plastic credits have evolved from a fringe concept to a much-needed part of the solution. Seven Clean Seas, having built one of the leading consultancy teams in the waste reduction sector, has worked with global brands, governments, and events - including The Economist Group and FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 (The Supreme Committee for Delivery and Legacy) - to develop rigorous plastic footprinting, reduction strategies, and recovery solutions.<img style="width: 100%;" src="https://imagedelivery.net/H6_s_Eb_ylTWnSEV3HlmYQ/4c3e5e7b-a19e-4c6f-c130-035e96636400/public" alt="Seven Clean Seas' CTO, Oliver Kade, leading a client webinar. Photo courtesy of Seven Clean Seas." />Amid this momentum, plasticcredits.org launches as a new hub designed to keep the fast-growing market grounded in facts and integrity. Developed by the team behind Seven Clean Seas, the platform explains the fundamentals of plastic credits: what they are, how they’re generated and verified, which standards exist, and why high-integrity plastic crediting projects matter.The launch follows a growing global interest, amplified by a <a href="https://www.worldbank.org/en/programs/problue/publication/unlocking-financing-to-combat-the-plastics-crisis">2024 World Bank report</a> that endorsed plastic credits as a legitimate financing mechanism, if deployed responsibly. The publication served as a clear validation of the concept, but also a warning: without standards and transparency, the plastic credit market could repeat the missteps of the voluntary carbon market.“People are waking up to the power of plastic credits—but also the risks,” said Seven Clean Seas CEO and Founder, Tom Peacock-Nazil. “We built plasticcredits.org to fill the knowledge gap and ensure that the right information is accessible before the market moves too fast.”Plasticcredits.org is a knowledge-first resource. Its mission is to help sustainability professionals, corporate leaders, NGOs, and individuals alike make informed decisions by cutting through jargon, demystifying key processes, and highlighting what quality and impact really mean in this space.The platform represents a strategic step in market maturity, offering a clear and unbiased view at a time when clarity is urgently needed.“As the world scrambles for solutions to the plastic crisis, this is our invitation to the industry. Let’s get this right from the start.”

Marketing / Research

Electricity / Gas / Resources / Energy

International activity

A new global resource aims to bring transparency and credibility to the global plastic crisis’ rapidly growing solution: plastic credits.