AI is Working for Women Entrepreneurs — But Only at the Edges. For Real Benefits, We Need Targeted Action.
Imagine a woman entrepreneur running a small restaurant. She may be running more than one small business, or balancing the business alongside another job. Like most women entrepreneurs in low- and middle-income countries, she is also carrying a substantial share of caregiving responsibilities – for children, older relatives, or both. She began using AI around […]
The Missing Link in Water Stewardship: Why Gender Equity is Not an Add-On
As pressure on freshwater resources increases, it is time for business to ask not only ‘How much water are we using?’ but also ‘Who bears the cost when we use it and what is our responsibility to them?’ Water is more than a resource. It is a strategic asset that underpins the health of communities, […]
Good Intentions Don’t Transform Supply Chains. Better Design Could.
UN Women’s 2025 Unfinished Business report puts it plainly: the defining challenge for the private sector on gender equality is closing the gap between commitment and actual outcomes. After years of working inside global supply chains and development programmes, we think that gap exists for a very specific reason. It is not a motivation challenge. […]
Together for 2026: Navigating a Shifting Social Impact Landscape
At the start of the year, the Business Fights Poverty community came together for Together for 2026, an online forum designed to take stock of the year ahead and explore how businesses, civil society and practitioners can navigate an increasingly complex and contested social impact landscape. Held on 28 January, the forum created a timely […]
Making Environmental Action Second Nature
For years, we’ve told people that addressing climate change requires sweeping lifestyle changes. Drive less. Fly less. Buy less. Do more. It’s well-intentioned. But it focuses on effort instead of outcomes. The truth is, most people don’t fail at climate action because they don’t care. They fail because they’re acting in the wrong places. We’ve […]
Reimagining Old IT Equipment Before It Becomes Waste: How Business Can Turn Obsolete IT & Laptops into Opportunity
Businesses can turn a looming wave of old tech into a powerful driver of impact and climate action by rethinking what happens to their Windows 10 devices. As support for the operating system ends, companies face a choice between scrapping millions of usable machines or putting them back to work for people and communities who […]
Trailblazers and Transformers: How UK Business Can Deliver Greater Social Impact
With less than five years to achieve the SDGs, UK businesses face a defining moment. A new report, released by the UN Global Compact Network UK in collaboration with University College London, SDSN UK, Newcastle University, and Euromonitor International, provides the clearest picture yet of how six high-impact sectors are performing against the SDGs, and […]
The AI Divide Is Growing: Why the Future of Youth Entrepreneurship Rests on a Knife Edge
Artificial intelligence (AI) is reshaping the global economy at unprecedented speed. For young entrepreneurs, especially those in underserved or low-resource environments, this moment represents both a breakthrough opportunity and an urgent risk. With deliberate action, AI can become a powerful enabler of inclusive growth. Without it, the existing inequalities in entrepreneurship risk becoming further entrenched. […]
Beauty with Purpose: How Avon is Empowering Women and Driving Sustainability
Economic Empowerment: Skills, Support and Space to Succeed. With around two million Avon Representatives, many living in underserved or remote communities, our model provides a pathway to income, confidence and agency through flexible work. Training is the engine that helps power this progress. Through our Avon Academy platform, which has recently created over 300 new […]
Climate Resilience for Micro-Retailers: Why this is Your Next Strategic Priority
Across Southeast Asia, millions of micro-retailers keep communities supplied with food, medicine and everyday essentials. They are the last link in value chains, the face of brands in low-income neighbourhoods, and a vital source of jobs particularly for women and young people. Yet many of these entrepreneurs run on razor-thin margins and face repeated disruption […]
Heat Resilience: An Opportunity for Cross-Sector Action in the United States
Extreme heat is the deadliest—and most underestimated—climate threat in the United States (US). Each year, extreme heat kills more than 1,300 people in the US, making it the leading climate-related cause of death—surpassing hurricanes, floods, and tornadoes. 2025 was hottest year on record in the US, with the coldest state in the nation, Alaska being […]
Build Climate Resilience from the Ground Up By Investing in Agricultural Enterprises
World leaders gathered in Belém, Brazil, last week with an unusually clear message: climate action must be people-centered. Before COP30 even officially opened, 43 countries and the European Union signed the Belém Declaration on Hunger, Poverty, and People-Centered Climate Action — committing to, among other things, strengthening support for smallholder farmers. It’s an encouraging sign […]
Embedding a Commitment to Responsible Purchasing Practices
Industry purchasing practices The purchasing practices of brands and retailers can have a significant impact on workers in the supply chain. The way in which a company engages with supply chain partners to plan products, negotiate costs and pay for orders has a bearing on the supplier’s ability to invest in good working conditions, manage […]
Women Entrepreneurs: The Untapped Engine of Global Economic Growth
On Women’s Entrepreneurship Day, we should recognise an often-overlooked truth: women entrepreneurs are not just good for advancing equality – they are essential to the world’s economic future. The International Monetary Fund (IMF) estimates that if women participated in economies equally to men, some countries could boost GDP by up to 40 per cent. Yet, […]
Linking Social and Environmental Impact for a Fairer, More Resilient Future
Our recent 5 Bridges to 2045 report provides a framework for how companies can build a fairer, more resilient future. Bridge 2 emphasises the importance of social and environmental teams working together to deliver better business outcomes for people and planet. How can this work in practice? We take a deep dive into how Brazilian […]
Bonsucro and Better Cotton Partner to Help Farmers Tackle Climate Challenges
Climate Resilience in Action: How Bonsucro and Partners Are Pioneering Change The urgency for business-led climate action has never been more pressing, particularly in global agricultural supply chains. As COP30 unfolds, Bonsucro, the international leader in sustainable sugarcane has announced its involvement in a significant expansion of the Climate Resilience Platform (CRP), partnering with the […]
Why Landscape Initiatives Are Becoming More Relevant as Agri-Food Business Supply Risks Increase
Working collaboratively with farmers, companies, and governments in a defined geographical region is not only an effective way to accelerate sustainable land management and increase famer livelihoods, but they are also a very effective route to share risk, reduce costs, and create lasting change. IDH’s goal is to protect and restore five million hectares of […]
Lasting Conservation in the Amazon Starts with Better Livelihoods
The COP30 conference, taking place in Belém, Brazil, is bringing added attention to the topic of Amazon conservation. That’s important: after all, the region’s rainforest is responsible for generating about 10% of the world’s oxygen, and its soils and trees contain about 123 billion tons of carbon Simply put, we can’t stabilize our climate without […]
From the Highway to the Blue Zone: Real-World Signals for Resilient Business
I’m Paulo Guerra, Program Director for Public Institutions at Fundação Dom Cabral (FDC), and I just traveled to Belém for COP30 by motorhome with colleagues from Instituto Bem Ambiental (IBAM). We set out from Belo Horizonte on 1 November with a simple intention that shaped every stop we made across four biomes and nearly three […]
From the River to the C-Suite: What the Amazon Teaches Business About Climate Strategies
I am writing from the deck of the “Banzeiro da Esperança,” a three-deck boat carrying people from many walks of life along the river route from Manaus to Belém for COP30. By 10 p.m., the corridors go quiet and the river’s own rhythm sets the pace for our work and conversations. Two stops break the […]