The Two-Eyed View of Climate Justice: Combine Net Zero and Poverty Zero Goals
The climate challenge is encouraging us to work together in meaningful ways, yet the path to climate justice globally requires us to go one step further, combining net zero and poverty zero goals. Net zero, at the heart of efforts to slow climate change, is the target to balance any CO2 emissions created by human […]
Climate-Smart Supply Chains: Lessons for COP27 from Fairtrade
One year since COP26, and we have seen minimal action from world leaders to support farmers and workers with a just transition or to deliver on the headline $100 billion promise of climate adaptation finance. In contrast, one year since the launch of Fairtrade’s ‘Alliance for Climate-Smart Supply Chains in Africa’ (FACSCA), and we have […]
Innovative Solutions to Tackle Deforestation
Halting deforestation and restoring degraded forests is critical to overcoming the climate emergency and reversing biodiversity loss. Many in the ISEAL community are embracing innovative solutions to contribute towards the sustainable management of forests. This year’s International Day of Forests centred on sustainable production and consumption. This is a critical focus, since forests play a crucial role […]
Honouring Climate Promises: An Open Letter from Fairtrade
In an Open Letter, Fairtrade calls on Member States at COP27 to ‘honor their climate promises’ and ‘act now’ for our planet’s farmers. Dear Government Leaders, Global Dignitaries, and United Nations delegates: We demand action. As representatives of over 1.9 million Fairtrade farmers and the thousands of global businesses sourcing from them, we see first-hand […]
CEOs as Stewards of Future Generations
Across the world, leaders are increasingly taking responsibility for intergenerational fairness. This is true in the public, private and non-profit sectors. The difficult questions of how to make decisions that are fair for our futures have moved up the agenda. The 2022 CEO Purpose Report, a recent study published by Brandpie, surveyed 1000 CEOs across […]
Climate Change Disproportionately Affects Poor People
Global Public Agrees Climate Change Disproportionately Affects Poor People, Rich Countries Must Support Them to Deal with Effects of Climate Change There is overwhelming global agreement that the effects of climate change disproportionately affect the poor and three-quarters of people around the world say that rich countries must support them to deal with the effects […]
Africa’s Farmers Need Climate Finance. The Private Sector Must Step Up.
In 2009, the global community gathered at the COP conference in Copenhagen and pledged to mobilize $100 billion of annual climate financing for low- and middle-income countries by 2020. It was a historic commitment, and we failed to deliver on it. While the $100 billion target has been pushed out to 2025, the needs of […]
The Paradox of ESG
Can for-profit businesses really aid in preserving the environment? The practice of environmental, social, and governance (ESG) investment has long been plagued by the question. You could have assumed the answer was Yes based on the euphoric increase in everything ESG. According to estimates, a sustainability lens is now being used to oversee more than […]
The Climate Clock is Ticking
Ahead of another UN climate conference, Fairtrade once again urges governments for concrete action… but time is running out. In the 1993 comedy film Groundhog Day, Bill Murray plays Phil Connors, a misanthropic and cynical Pennsylvania weatherman condemned to reliving February 2nd repeatedly until his ethical compass is fully corrected. The film is a comedy driven by […]
Rethinking Shelter: Bangladesh’s New Approach to Protecting Lives and Livelihoods
BRAC and the Global Center on Adaptation (GCA) are working together to model and scale up efforts to build climate migrant-friendly cities in a country described as an “internal migration pressure cooker,” where catastrophic weather events have pushed migrants into overcrowded urban centers. GCA’s Global Hub on Locally Led Adaptation is located in the GCA South […]
Three Actions for Business in the Face of the Global Polycrisis
If you’re struggling to wrap your head around the multiple crises facing the world right now, the phrase “global polycrisis” may help you get a sense of just how truly awful things are. The term reared its head at the just-completed World Bank Annual Meetings, and is forebodingly described by the Cascade Institute as happening […]
Why is Sustainability a Concept Closer to JUSTICE than to the ENVIRONMENT?
Environmental protection such as packing, renewable energy, climate action, water, and waste management have dominated the sustainability mindset. Today, many people, including experts, thought leaders, and even some sustainability gurus, use the terms “sustainability” and “environmental protection” as synonyms. And they aren’t. Sustainability is a broader concept, and the level of success in achieving it […]
Access to Menstrual Health & Hygiene Products in Rural Ethiopia
Menstrual health and hygiene (MHH) is a term used to encapsulate the broader systemic factors that link menstruation with health, well-being, equity, empowerment, and individual rights. Around the world, MHH is challenged by the stigma and shame associated with menstruation, which affects the ability of menstruators to access a myriad of resources such as accurate and […]
How the Climate Justice Framework Helps put People at the Heart of Net Zero Ambitions
Climate change and inequality are two of the biggest challenges of our time. Tackling one without the other is increasingly seen as not an option, including for business. The Business and Climate Justice Framework helps businesses identify both the opportunities of putting people at the centre of their climate ambitions and the risks of inaction. […]
Making the Care Economy Everyone’s Business
Take our survey to help us better understand business motivations for addressing the care economy and how entrepreneurs innovating in this space could support your business. Are you an FMCG company, concerned about the double day women in your supply chain are working – at the factory and then at home. What does this do […]
Sustainable Supply Chains: Future Proofing by Farmer-Focusing
Prices are the sharp end of a long stick. Gas prices. Food prices. Inflationary prices. Downward price pressure. Upward price pressure. Global supply chains. On and on it goes, with each new headline revealing a business environment stripped of its old rhythm. The environment feels particularly chaotic for any business dependent on functioning supply chains […]
On How Rules Become Bridges Rather than Road Blocks Or Dams
Rules can get a bad name. We often don’t like rules, but rules can actually create bridges for people in a couple of ways. First, without some rules, one cannot even have an activity. Unless one has rules, soccer or baseball or any other sport can’t exist. One has to know how to play the […]
Companies Need to Wake up to the Urgency of Ending Deforestation in Supply Chains. Here’s How
The announcement in June this year that parties to the COP15 biodiversity convention, billed the ‘Paris agreement’ for biodiversity, will meet in Montreal in December, ends uncertainty about the meeting taking place at all this year, after two years of delays. The urgent need to address the ongoing biodiversity crisis was highlighted at Davos earlier […]
The ‘Big How’ for Business: Putting Strategy into Practice in the Face of Urgency and Disruption
With the case for driving deep and urgent social and environmental change long since made, businesses are now focusing on how to actually deliver ambitious strategies for impact. But as expectations on them to step up build, it’s worth noting that it’s never been harder to deliver this in practice for wide-ranging reasons, from cascading […]
What Is Regenerative Agriculture?
If you feel like you’re suddenly hearing the word “regenerative agriculture” all the time, you’re not wrong. The concept has gained considerable traction in the last year, although it’s not new to the Rainforest Alliance. For more than 30 years, we’ve worked to make agriculture more sustainable by partnering with farmers all over the world […]