Making a Difference on World Toilet Day 2018: Solving the Sanitation Challenge Through Partnerships
Tokyo, Japan based LIXIL, maker of pioneering water and housing products, believes that creating solutions for the 2.3 billion people that still don’t have access to basic sanitation is an opportunity to solve one of the world’s greatest social challenges, and to do so sustainably by helping to develop a future market Having to defecate […]
It’s Time to Move: 5 Ways We Can Upgrade Our SDG Navigation Systems
We invite you to visit the streets of New York during the UN General Assembly (UNGA), the annual meeting where leaders from across the world, from all sectors and all impact domains, come together to expedite their progress towards the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). These leaders and their entourages converge on the same stretches of […]
Winners of Stop Slavery Award at International Human Rights Forum announced
Apple has been named winner of the Stop Slavery Award, which recognises businesses that have set a gold standard in efforts to eradicate forced labour from their supply chains. The Judging Board agreed that Apple’s supplier responsibility programme ‘is leading in every category’, highlighting the company’s supplier engagement, monitoring and ‘extremely robust’ audit programme, which includes annual audits and […]
Toilets and Trigger Points: How Can We Unlock the Financial Viability of Sanitation Businesses?
As the global push towards the SDGs continues to gather pace, some areas continue to lag behind. Sanitation is one of the most striking examples. Over half the world’s population continue to lack access to a safely managed sanitation service. That is a staggering figure, which demands reflection. Why is sanitation still so far off […]
The 6 Market Gaps the Finance Sector Must Address to Help Meet the SDGs
On 30 September 2015, the global community, represented by all 193 member states of the UN, adopted the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Three months later, world leaders charted a new course in our battle against climate change with the Paris Agreement which – for the first time – brought all nations into a common cause […]
Toilets, Not Poverty Traps
Cambodia has made remarkable progress in developing its sanitation. The proportion of households having access to toilets leaped from 23% to 68% in the last 10 years. Since 2011, iDE has been involved, training hundreds of entrepreneurs to manufacture and deliver attractive low-cost toilets for their community. Combined with our sanitation marketing demand-creation efforts, these […]
Personal Actions that Everyone Can Take to Support the SDGs
Animated emojis aren’t normally the way that WBCSD presents its work to its members. Publications, tools, case studies – these are how we normally get our message across to business leaders around the world. And yet, in recent weeks we’ve found ourselves regularly pressing play to start an animation of 17 of the most adorable […]
5 Ways to Make Your Organisation a Great Sustainability Partner
The vision is clear and compelling: a world in which business prospers, societies thrive and the environment flourishes. Leaders from across all sectors understand the interconnectedness of their interests, drop zero-sum-game mentality and work tirelessly together to create ever-increasing value for all. No longer the preserve of a few “progressive” companies, business writ large is […]
For Women in India Small Loans Have a Big Impact
In Harhua, India, a sleepy village on the outskirts of the ancient city of Varanasi, Irawati Devi stands proudly under the bael tree that shades her home. Goats scour the ground around her mint-green food carts, searching for traces of the fried noodles and samosas she sells. “When we first moved to Harhua,” Irawati, 58, […]
The Role of Business in Education for Sustainable Development
Education is at the heart of human progress and the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). It enables people to build better lives and equips business and society to address our world’s interconnected issues and opportunities. A new report launched today demonstrates how business can help people gain the skills and knowledge to advance sustainable development, […]
Equity of Learning in Lagos
The UK Department for International Development (DFID) has published a report in Nigeria which shows full equality of learning in Bridge International Academies classrooms, regardless of a child’s socioeconomic background. It is a strong endorsement of DFID’s commitment to innovative private sector roles in improving service and opportunity for these families. Even though the report […]
What More Should Supermarkets do to Respect Workers’ Rights in their Supply Chain?
Oxfam’s Ripe for Change report highlights hunger and suffering amongst the people who grow and process our food. Across a basket of 12 common food products, we present evidence of in-work poverty and a deep disempowerment, especially among women workers. As well as this, we show the decline in the share of the consumer price going to […]
How Businesses Can Do Better for Girls
If you’re like me, and have spent the last decade working in international development, then you have heard it all before; repeatedly, consistently, with exclamation marks: “When you empower girls, you empower the whole nation!” “Investing in girls is not just the right thing to do, it’s the smart thing to do!” “Investing in girls […]
Building Transformational Partnerships the Case of Cargill and CARE
The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)—the internationally-agreed goals for people and planet—encapsulate a vision for the world we want to see. It is widely recognised that if we are to deliver on this vision, and defend progress already made, we must all—business, civil society and government—partner more effectively and more deeply than ever. The corporate-NGO business […]
The Intrapreneurship Ecosystem: Creating the Conditions for Social Intrapreneurs to Thrive
As more and more companies commit to using their core business to help meet the Global Goals, the spotlight is falling on social intrapreneurs – those talented individuals working inside organisations to generate and develop innovative ideas for projects with social impact. Much has been written about what makes an intrapreneur: the characteristics and attributes, […]
17 Business Models to Build Refugee Resilience
Turning a crisis into an opportunity is a bold idea. But, difficult to do in practice. This week world leaders have gathered in New York where they are expected to agree on a landmark commitment to strengthen the international refugee response under the Global Compact on Refugees. A commitment that hinges on the ability to […]
Businesses and Sustainability Standards Empowering Women in Supply Chains
Achieving gender equality and empowering women and girls is the focus of UN Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 5, but it is also integral to achieving all of the SDGs. Without doubt, companies and sustainability standards have an important role to play in achieving the goals and driving systemic improvement for women working in factories and […]
Building Scalable and Self-Sustaining Safe Water Enterprises
Imagine a life without safe drinking water. It isn’t easy. Most of us take for granted that we can just turn on a tap and fill a glass. But that’s not an option for roughly one in four of the world’s population — the 2.1 billion people who still lack access to safe drinking water […]
Why Going All in for Sustainability Makes It More Likely a Business Will Encourage Its Intrapreneurs
In our new book “All In – The Future of Business Leadership,” Chris Coulter from GlobeScan, Mark Lee from SustainAbility and I, argue that businesses can no longer afford to be hesitant or half-hearted about sustainability. They have to be “All In!” Going All In means having a clear Purpose, which is authentic and inspiring, […]
From Global to Local: Applying The Lessons of Global Health Here At Home
What do Indiana and India have in common? To outward appearances, not much – but look beneath the surface and you’ll find some surprising commonalities, including steep income disparities and surging rates of non-communicable diseases (NCDs) among lower-income populations, including killers like diabetes and heart disease. NCDs present a global challenge calling for global sharing […]