Why does so little funding go to women entrepreneurs, and what can we do about it?
Chetna Gala Sinha never thought she would start a bank. “But women came to me and said they wanted to open a savings account”, she recalls, “one woman blacksmith was insistent that she wanted to save to buy a tarpaulin cover for the rain. The banks were not ready to let her open an account […]
Equality, justice, and investment in nature must be at the heart of the corporate climate response
With the release of the latest report from the IPCC on climate science, the planetary emergency sirens are sounding louder than ever. And as the world awaits the outcome of crucial international climate talks in Glasgow, momentum is building for ambitious global action that delivers net-zero greenhouse gas emissions no later than 2050. Through initiatives such as […]
Creating Economic Opportunity in the Northern Triangle: Breaking Down Barriers to Growth to Stimulate Recovery
The Northern Triangle countries of Guatemala, Honduras and El Salvador are the poorest countries in the Western Hemisphere. Fragility caused by poverty, violence, and corruption are drivers of migration. The COVID-19 pandemic and two back-to-back hurricanes that struck the region in November 2020 decimated weak local economies and increased suffering. A new Center for Strategic […]
Walk with Push, talk with Push, in the push for climate justice
Walking with a purpose has a profound meaning across time and culture. Walking has been used as a social, spiritual and political action, from pilgrimages to hunger marches. We can walk almost anywhere, we don’t need to be told how to do it, you can be unfit or energetic, and it’s free. We can walk […]
Let’s learn from local communities and step up more to create climate and social impact
Next month, the international community will gather at COP26, the 2021 United Nations Climate Change Conference, to further accelerate global action towards climate change. The aim is to “to build back better, and greener”, states Alok Sharma, COP President. According to him, this is necessary because, like the Covid-19 pandemic, climate change is disrupting the global […]
Failing to Win: Lessons from an entrepreneur who went ‘all in’
After backpacking across Africa in search of changemakers building scalable, high-impact businesses, Canadian entrepreneur Mike Quinn convinced his retired parents to mortgage their house and lend him $100,000 to co-found Zoona, one of the continent’s earliest fintechs. That risk paid off big time, as Zoona went on to process $2.5 billion of transactions and generate […]
Going beyond sustainable: Is regenerative agriculture the future for raw material supply chains?
As an agronomist, working in the field for the past 30 years, I’ve witnessed significant changes to our environment. In Pakistan, a lack of training has meant farmers have spent many years using too much water, and applying too many agro-chemicals, including both fertiliser and pesticides to their land. As a result, the soils have […]
The pandemic, supply chains and gendered impacts
The Covid pandemic has had a profound impact on women across all dimensions of economic and social activity, finds briefing paper. From shifting gender roles in the household to the consequences on women’s roles within the economy to the health and well-being effects of the pandemic, the impact on women has been overwhelming. ISEAL, with […]
Sustainability systems in the next decade of action on business and human rights
We marked the ten-year anniversary of the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights in June. Adoption of the Principles was a landmark moment for the global human rights movement providing a clear framework that emphasised the complementary responsibilities of States and businesses in respecting and promoting human rights. In its recently released report taking stock […]
Addressing inequality is essential to building a sustainable food system
Transformation of the global food system is urgently needed if we’re to prevent climate and environmental breakdown, end hunger and food insecurity, and create a better future for the hundreds of millions of people whose livelihoods depend on food production. Making the UN Food Systems Summit in September a milestone event. To build a sustainable […]
Active Adaptation – making progress in an uncertain world
One year on from the launch of our report for sustainability leaders on ‘Bold Thinking, Brave Action’ and the world has fundamentally changed. The impact of the pandemic means businesses are dealing with a growing list of environmental and social challenges that are informed by public opinion and underpinned by economic and political volatilities. While […]
How to use the World Benchmarking Alliances’ social and just transition indicators
Charlotte Hugman is Leading Research on Climate & Energy at the World Benchmarking Alliance (WBA), and Sofía del Valle is Engagement Manager, Social Transformation, Gender and Human Rights at the same organisation. WBA develops transformative benchmarks that allow comparisons of companies’ performances on the Sustainable Development Goals. In this session, Charlotte and Sofía shared the […]
How to harness partnerships to drive system-level change
Laís Higashi is President of Litre of Light Brazil and One Young World Ambassador. Litre of Light Brazil is a social organisation that provides solar solutions to low income communities without adequate access to electricity. In this session, Laís explained why partnerships are critical for the initiative she leads and shared the practical challenges of developing system-level change. RESOURCES Litre […]
COVID-19 recovery: Why childcare must be part of the plan
Dinnah, a mother of two living in one of Nairobi’s informal settlements, is among the millions of informal workers hit hardest by COVID-19. Before the pandemic, Dinnah earned a few dollars a day selling fruits and vegetables in the streets – barely enough to meet her family’s needs. After dropping her seven-year-old daughter off at […]
How to implement effective grievance mechanisms
Monica Romis is Private Sector Human Rights Advisor at Oxfam Business Advisory Service. Oxfam is an international organisation that works to end global poverty and to help build a world less divided by money, race, borders or gender. In this session, Monica speaks about grievance mechanisms, and references good practices that can help companies move […]
How businesses can – and must – step up to create just and regenerative food systems
The United Nations Food Systems Summit heralds a season of landmark global decision-making, from the Committee on World Food security and climate COP 26 to the Nutrition for Growth Summit and next year’s delayed UN Biodiversity summit. What we all commit to in the coming months will set the change agenda for decades, and determine […]
Regenerative Agriculture: Growing Pains
Agriculture is not working for people or the planet. The statistics are startling. 78% of the world’s poorest people remain reliant on agriculture, 33% of the world’s soils are degraded (a figure that could rise to 90% by 2050) and agriculture contributes to about a quarter of global climate emissions (stats from the World Bank, […]
Interview with Sitsofe Sah, Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG)
Miss Sitsofe Sah works for the Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG) as a Senior Accounts Assistant at the Accra East Regional Office. She is also the National Executive Treasurer of the Power Queen’s Club, a women’s employee association of ECG. As part of a series of interviews with participants of the Ghana Women in Energy conference, Dr. […]
New Learning and Insights Paper: Enhancing the Livelihoods of ‘Hidden Women’ in Global Smallholder Value Chains
Over a quarter of the world’s population make a living farming and working on small areas of land. Nearly half are women, who make crucial contributions to food security, livelihoods and global value chains. As a group, smallholder farmers remain among the world’s most vulnerable populations, facing precarious livelihoods and a disproportionate level of risk […]
Six Actions Businesses Can Take To Reduce Negative Impacts of Purchasing Practices on Human Rights
Companies’ purchasing practices can have a profound impact on human rights. Businesses are under mounting pressure to take responsibility for the wellbeing of the women and men working in their supply chains, with mandatory human rights due diligence legislation approved or underway in several countries. While Corporate Social Responsibility and sustainability teams are working hard […]