Where are children and young people in business’ action to tackle climate change?
Children are powerful. In recent years, we have witnessed their strength courage and resilience, as they have spoken up time and time again about how climate change is affecting their lives. How it is affecting their futures. From leading protests calling on world leaders to act on climate change to writing to companies to adopt […]
Examples from the Corporate Human Rights Benchmark COVID-19 study: How some companies are responding to the crisis in a meaningful way
The COVID-19 pandemic has hit businesses hard, wiping out the equivalent of 255 million jobs in 2020 alone – four times more than the 2009 financial crisis. Unskilled labourers, minorities and women have been particularly hard hit. In February 2021 the World Benchmarking Alliance released a COVID-19 and human rights study of the same 229 […]
Digital Dividends in Plastic Recycling
Plastic is an integral and valuable part of the global economy, and is used in thousands of products that add comfort, convenience and safety to our everyday lives. It supports innovation in medicine, lightens cars and airplanes (saving fuel and, therefore, emissions), extends the life of fresh food and delivers clean drinking water to billions […]
Sea freight strengthens Kenya-to-Europe flower supply chain
When the COVID-19 pandemic struck, global supply chains were hit hard, affecting millions of workers across the globe. In the Kenyan floriculture sector, the subsequent 25-40% air freight reduction has meant lower export rates, a supply slowdown, and loss of jobs for thousands. At FlowerWatch, we’re involved in a project of the United Kingdom’s Foreign, […]
Why 2021 presents an opportunity to build back better and take action on big societal issues like climate change
2020 was a year full of uncertainly. Not only did the pandemic affect our health and personal lives, it also fundamentally challenged our political, social, and economic norms too. Most notably though, the impact it had on how many of us think about tackling the big issues like climate change was huge. So, despite the […]
India and COVID Response
I’m sure, like me, you have been shocked to see the scenes in India of people being turned away from hospitals in Delhi due to a lack of oxygen. On 24 April, India reported nearly 350,000 new cases of COVID-19, a world record for the number of new infections during the pandemic. By early May, […]
Texas, Climate and Equity
As a retired nurse, I am passionate about the health of my local community in Pleasantville, a neighborhood in Houston, Texas. I have seen first-hand how deep inequities impact on people’s lives, most recently in the face of a devastating winter storm that led to rolling blackouts that left about 4 million people across the […]
Growing Haiti’s food systems with determination and partners
Even before the novel coronavirus became a global threat, the United Nations had dire predictions for Haiti in 2020. A UN humanitarian agency report in December 2019 forecast that within months 40 percent of Haitians would “require urgent humanitarian assistance.” Causes included political upheaval, insecurity and rising food prices. Adding a pandemic to the mix […]
How new business skills are helping communities in Nepal
To create lasting change in Nepal, the solution needs to look to the future and provide communities with the skills they want. Farming communities tend to be aware of what they need to flourish, but are unable to access them. By joining the dots and helping communities improve their business skills, access tools and training […]
How can companies contribute to growth that generates benefits for society as a whole?
One of the objectives that we pursue in our IV report is to create greater awareness of inequality and make poverty in our country more visible by making its different faces known: child poverty, energy poverty, or the so-called “poor with work,” people who, even with a permanent job, do not make ends meet. During […]
The Time Is Now: Accelerating the Business for Impact Movement
As the shock of the pandemic subsides, we are beginning to understand how companies were impacted and how they responded to this unprecedented, definitional crisis. What is emerging is a world of polarization. A study we conducted in late April with 28 Ashoka corporate partners showed that 70% of companies, and their respective industries, fall […]
Social metrics – or how to move towards a sustainable future that works for everyone
When we talk about businesses it is easy to forget that we are really talking about people. Companies are collections of humans, whose decisions and actions impact other humans: employees and their families, surrounding communities, workers in their value chains, and consumers. It all starts and ends with people, for people, by people – it […]
Young leaders offer wisdom for the road ahead
The COVID-19 pandemic is leaving a deep socio-economic impact on young people. Nevertheless, young people are among the most active responders: not only as frontline health workers, but as researchers, activists, communicators and innovators lifting up their communities. Despite their contributions, young people are often neglected in the decision-making process. Youth deserve to actively participate in solutions […]
Business and Climate Justice: Putting People at the Centre of Climate Action
Climate change is affecting us all, but the most severe impacts are being felt by the most vulnerable people, who contribute least to the causes of the problem. Existing inequities – due to factors such as gender, race and income – exacerbate the risks to people’s lives and livelihoods. Inequity also affects people’s capacity and […]
Business and COVID-19 One Year On
COVID-19 has impacted us all, but the most severe impacts are being felt by the most vulnerable people. On March 12 2020, Business Fights Poverty launched a programme to accelerate global learning and local action to support the most vulnerable people and enterprises in companies’ value chains, communities and beyond. We started by developing a Response Framework with […]
Business Fights Poverty Fortnightly Round-Up
This month marked the anniversary of the WHO declaring the COVID-19 pandemic. This milestone presents an opportune moment to reflect on the devastating loss of life and opportunity that has been suffered – particularly by the world’s most vulnerable people. Alongside this, the anniversary has been a time for us to remember the countless acts […]
Innovation in the Face of Crisis: How to Support Entrepreneurs during the Continuing COVID-19 Pandemic
When the COVID-19 pandemic reached El Salvador, it delivered a blow to Fátima Meléndez, owner of Lafá Cake Boutique in San Salvador. Most of the company’s business came from providing cakes and dessert tables at weddings, which were cancelled indefinitely when El Salvador entered a strict, months-long lockdown. Lafá saw its sales plummet and even […]
Why living wages will help flower workers to ‘bloom back better’ after Covid-19
The flower and plant sector is an incredibly important source of hundreds of thousands of jobs in low-income countries, and is particularly vital for women who make up around half of the workforce. Globally, the export of cut flowers was worth over £6.75bn in 2018. However, with prices paid to flower farms for their products […]
Over 300 practical tools to make your youth employment initiative a success
Youth unemployment in developing countries is a pressing problem – youth face multiple constraints that affect both their decision to enter the labor force and their access to employment. And the Covid-19 has further exacerbated these issues. According to the World Bank youth and women are particularly negaitively impacted by the effects of the pandemic. […]
Building the next generation of responsible businesses and leaders
Everyone has the right to decent work. Meaning, a job which delivers a fair income in a safe environment with prospects for the future and social integration. A job which offers social protections if you are sick, have family commitments or are injured. A place where you have the freedom to express your concerns, organise […]