What is the name of your organization?
Martyrs Clean Solutions limited
What is the name of your solution?
CLIMATEX HUBS
Provide a one-line summary or tagline for your solution.
ClimateX Hubs transform urban waste into climate-smart products and services, building resilience and green jobs in underserved communities.
In what city, town, or region is your solution team headquartered?
Kampala, Uganda
In what country is your solution team headquartered?
UGA
What type of organization is your solution team?
Hybrid of for-profit and nonprofit
Film your elevator pitch.
What specific problem are you solving?
Martyrs Clean Solutions is addressing the escalating impact of climate vulnerability in informal urban settlements, where rising temperatures, uncollected waste, and poor infrastructure intersect to intensify public health and environmental risks. In Kampala and similar rapidly urbanizing cities across the Global South, over 60% of the urban population lives in informal settlements with limited access to climate-resilient infrastructure. These communities are disproportionately affected by urban heat islands, flooding, and pollution—yet they remain excluded from traditional climate adaptation planning.
Each year, Kampala generates over 1,500 tons of waste daily, but less than 50% is formally collected, leading to widespread dumping and open burning—major contributors to greenhouse gas emissions and health hazards. Additionally, urban heat is projected to reduce labor productivity by up to 20% in East African cities by 2050, worsening poverty in already marginalized areas.
Globally, over 1 billion people live in informal settlements, many facing similar compounding vulnerabilities. Factors contributing to this problem include poor waste management systems, lack of localized climate data, and limited green infrastructure.
Our CLIMATEX HUBS tackle this gap by converting waste into green infrastructure solutions and data-driven services, empowering underserved communities to become climate adaptation leaders in their own right.
What is your solution?
CLIMATEX HUBS are decentralized, community-run innovation centers that transform urban waste into climate adaptation solutions and green livelihoods. Designed for underserved neighborhoods, each hub combines low-cost technology, local labor, and circular economy principles to deliver products and services that reduce climate risks while generating income.
At the core, CLIMATEX HUBS use waste-to-product technologies to manufacture eco-charcoal, compost, and heat-reflective roofing panels from locally sourced organic and plastic waste. These products reduce heat stress, improve sanitation, and offer cleaner cooking alternatives. The hubs also function as data nodes—using mobile-based tools to collect localized climate, waste, and carbon data. This data is used to offer subscription-based insights to municipalities, NGOs, and climate-focused organizations.
Additionally, the hubs serve as climate learning spaces, offering workshops on green jobs, environmental stewardship, and urban resilience. We license this model to community cooperatives and youth-led groups, enabling them to run hubs as micro-franchises while scaling our impact.
By combining practical innovation with social enterprise, CLIMATEX HUBS empower vulnerable communities to become active agents in climate adaptation, turning environmental burdens into economic and ecological opportunity.
Who does your solution serve, and in what ways will the solution impact their lives?
CLIMATEX HUBS primarily serve residents of informal urban settlements—especially women, youth, and waste workers—who are most vulnerable to the compounding effects of climate change, poverty, and exclusion. In Kampala, these communities often lack reliable waste services, clean energy options, and access to green jobs or climate education. Many survive on informal labor and face extreme heat, poor air quality, and frequent flooding, yet have little voice in climate adaptation efforts.
Our solution transforms these challenges into opportunities by equipping communities with tools to turn waste into value. By creating local hubs for waste-to-product manufacturing, green skills training, and environmental data collection, we directly increase access to income-generating opportunities, affordable climate-adaptive products, and knowledge.
For example, youth trained in hub operations can earn through product sales or data contracts, while households benefit from cooler, cleaner homes using heat-reflective panels and eco-charcoal. Women often lead waste collection or composting groups, gaining income and leadership roles in the process.
By decentralizing innovation and embedding it in vulnerable neighborhoods, CLIMATEX HUBS shift communities from passive victims of climate change to active designers of their own resilient futures—improving health, income, and dignity at the grassroots level.
