Business and the SDGs – Building Blocks for Success
The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) map out a global vision for a better world. They set out ambitious goals and targets for people, prosperity, planet and peace. Getting there will require us to work together—no matter where we live or work, this is a universal call to action. Leaders in government, business and civil society—all […]
A Global Plan for People, Planet, Prosperity and Peace
Over the past 15 years, the United Nations Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) have provided a vital framework and focal point for driving progress against poverty and other development challenges faced by the world’s most vulnerable. World leaders are now coming together again to formally adopt the 2030 Agenda, including a new set of Sustainable Development […]
Business is Ready to Play its Part to Achieve the SDGs
As world leaders come together at the United Nations for the SDG Summit, they will announce their commitment to the new Global Goals for Sustainable Development and set out their ambition for a more peaceful and prosperous world. This is a defining moment for the world community, as we transition from the Millennium Development Goals […]
Who Will Pay for the SDGs?
This July, governments and business leaders met in Ethiopia to work out how to finance a significantly more ambitious development agenda, launching the Addis Ababa Action Agenda, a document that articulates a common position on how the draft Sustainable Development Goals should be funded. Hundreds of billions of dollars in direct and indirect funding was […]
The Next Step for Sustainable Supply Chains
Supply chains are complicated and none more so than those of a retailer like M&S with our thousands of food, home, clothing and beauty products. Beyond our product suppliers are many processors, traders, ingredient manufacturers, wholesalers and farmers who we need to support our sustainability ambitions. Certification has been the traditional approach to managing these […]
Could THIS be the Solution to Global Poverty?
Recently an organization named FXB published a full-page ad in The New York Timesunder the headline “We know how to end global poverty.” The piece reported that “the journal Science just published a study proving what works to raise people permanently out of global poverty.” Because Science is unquestionably a credible source of information, this […]
Making Collective Governance Work
Collective governance In a world characterised by globalisation, governments increasingly find themselves unable to govern. Corruption is everywhere, natural resources are being exploited, the environment damaged, markets distorted, and the fight against poverty is often ineffective. Certain challenges cannot be addressed by governments alone. Increasingly, collective governance “beyond governments” is seen as part of the […]
India’s Companies Act – The 2% Solution
Money should begin flowing to Indian sustainability projects following new legislation. Are the givers and the receivers ready? NGO work is often hard and thankless, an unending attempt to do a lot with a little. However, a groundbreaking Indian law that requires large corporations to invest 2% of their profits in sustainability initiatives may make […]
A Sustainable Garment Industry in Cambodia?
Cambodia is proving to be the next tough test case for multinationals’ supply chain weaknesses Without a doubt, the garment industry is the peg on which Cambodia’s economy hangs: 350,000 young workers are employed in making the shirts and shoes, hoodies and underwear, skirts and jeans found in stores such as Marks & Spencer, Primark, […]
Are You Paying A Living Wage? 4 Ways To Check
There is no single, universal way to calculate a living wage. It is contextual with a wide range of influencing factors leading to significant variation on national and regional levels. Here, Paulien Osse explains how companies can find the details they need to provide a living wage. A living wage is a moral imperative; it […]
A Remarkable Story of Global Progress
A few years ago, I was struck by the fervour with which a student activist acquaintance of mine, Stefan Baskerville, talked about the Living Wage. Every holiday he Livingwagewould leave his life of student activism (and occasional study) in Oxford and head for the East End of London, where he worked for Citizens UK, a […]
Joanna Lumley Highlights the Value of Lending
A charity supporter who recognised the power of animation, social media and digital story telling was so inspired by crowdfunding microloans site lendwithcare.org that he decided to fund a short film himself to help spread the word about the site. As an entrepreneur himself, Julian Bashford fell in love with the simplicity of the revolutionary […]
Fighting Climate Change With Indigenous Livelihoods
edia Manager, Ashoka Changemakers In Indonesia, where forests are being destroyed at the highest rates in the world, an untapped solution exists for balancing conservation with economic expansion. Indonesia is the world’s fastest deforester—a dubious distinction that once belonged to Brazil. A recent reportrevealed that more than 2 million acres of primary forest are cleared […]
Flying the Flag – Protect, Respect, Remedy
I couldn’t help but marvel at it – the rows of colourful country flags lining the approach to the UN’s Palais de Nations in Geneva. Such an iconic image, symbolising global unity over principles of peace, security, cooperation and respect for human rights. I was in Geneva for the 3rd Annual Forum on Business and […]
Emerge 2014 – Living with Purpose, and Other Highlights
Great minds from all reaches of the social entrepreneurship realm came together at Said Business School this weekend for an intensive, 2-day conference to discuss some of the arena’s most pressing insights, developments and issues. Lead by Oxford’s Skoll Centre for Social Entrepreneurship, in conjunction with Student Hubs, this year’s Emerge Conference saw several major […]
Dangerous Ideas Wanted: 20 years of Fairtrade in the UK
The ever-quotable Oscar Wilde said: ‘An idea that is not dangerous is unworthy of being called an idea at all’. Twenty years ago, Fairtrade burst onto Britain’s shop shelves with just such a dangerous idea: that farmers and workers in developing countries should be paid a fair price, that they needed a better deal – […]
Remembering Graham Mackay
Graham Mackay, the visionary leader who drove the growth of SABMiller into the world’s second biggest brewer and the only African-originated multinational corporation, died yesterday aged 64. After joining South African Breweries 35 years ago, Graham moved quickly up through the business, ultimately to the position of Executive Chairman of SABMiller plc in July 2012, […]
Business Perspectives on Mandela's Legacy
Millions of us around the world embraced him as our own, and many millions more will be inspired by him for generations to come. Yet perhaps Nelson Mandela’s most endearing trait was his humility. His humanity brought people together across traditional divides to build a better world. This week, as we collectively mourn the passing […]
Business Perspectives on Mandela’s Legacy
Millions of us around the world embraced him as our own, and many millions more will be inspired by him for generations to come. Yet perhaps Nelson Mandela’s most endearing trait was his humility. His humanity brought people together across traditional divides to build a better world. This week, as we collectively mourn the passing […]
Wandile’s Story – Changing Lives in Soweto
Watch our film to hear Wandile Solombela‘s story, meet some of the Shwe Shwe Poppis employees, and see what difference entrepreneurship is making in Soweto. Vilakazi Street is a bustling thoroughfare in the enormous township of Soweto in Johannesburg. Two Nobel Peace Prize winners have lived here – Nelson Mandela and Archbishop Desmond Tutu. The […]