We can’t win the race to zero without financing a just rural transition
During COP26 banks and asset managers representing USD $130 trillion – 40% of the world’s financial assets – pledged to align with net zero carbon emissions by mid-century, and to provide 2030 interim goals, by joining the Glasgow Financial Alliance for Net Zero (GFANZ). That is, as the Washington Post put it, “eye-popping”. But as […]
Enlightened climate policy for Africa
As the world convenes in Glasgow for the 26th United Nations Climate Change Conference of Parties (COP26), it is time to recognize the role Africa has in averting a climate disaster without compromising the continent’s growth and poverty reduction. The world needs to transition away from fossil fuels. But access to electricity is a human […]
How to tackle the impacts of climate change on equity
Benedicte Faivre-Tavignot is Associate Professor of Strategy and the Executive Director of the Society and Organisation Institute at HEC Paris. In her research she focuses on reverse innovation and on the processes through which Social Businesses and Base of the Pyramid business models can be a lever for innovation and a lever for strategic renewal […]
The Make Travel Matter Campaign
Sustainability in Tourism has undertaken massive development during the previous three decades. Today, all holidaymakers are posed with the question – how will my holiday choice affect people and the environment? The evolution of consumer behaviour and decision making will be dependent upon how we adapt our understanding of economic, social and environmental impacts. For […]
How to ensure communities gain the full benefit of a sustainable economy
Georgina Njeru is a Millennium Fellow at the Millennium Campus Network. She leads a project that teaches people on the impact they can have, as individuals, on the environment and climate change. Also, her project aims to customise the ways that communities can care for their environment, accommodating their culture and beliefs to make their […]
Carbon accounting madness makes a mockery of the UK’s net zero plans
The race to go ‘net zero’ is top of the agenda at this month’s COP26 in Glasgow. The latest United Nations’ Climate Change Conference is widely thought to be our last chance to get countries to commit to necessary cuts in greenhouse gases (GHG) and avert unstoppable climate collapse. But government targets to make the […]
How to build more resilient business models
James Payne is Associate Director for Transformational Strategies at Forum for the Future, a leading international sustainability non-profit. For more than 25 years Forum for the Future has been working in partnership with business, governments and civil society to accelerate the transformation towards a sustainable future. In this video, James explains what it means for […]
Beware the greenwasher: 5 steps towards genuine corporate climate action
This year’s COP 26 is an opportunity for companies to brandish their green credentials. Expect net-zero pledges, plastic free product lines and roadmaps galore. We certainly need it, action by the private sector is essential to avert the worst impacts of climate change. If you’re still not convinced about the urgency of the crisis, just […]
The Green Stoplight, a practical way to involve people in climate action
Debates over how to approach climate change are often of a binary nature. While some argue that actions that fall into the individual realm – like reducing the use of plastics or saving energy and water – will help tackle climate change, others have argued that these actions are futile, as governments and corporations have […]
This COP26 it’s time to listen to farmers and workers
This COP26 it’s time to listen to farmers and workers, value their expertise and work with them to rebuild better. Co-op and Fairtrade Africa are reimagining the future of programmes. The eyes of the business world are trained on Glasgow for COP26 this week. The environment is increasingly topping the agenda for boardrooms at the biggest companies. At […]
At COP26, the Future of our Farmers and our Food is at Stake
Global leaders, committed activists, and countless civil servants representing NGOs from all over the world, are currently descending on Glasgow, Scotland, for this year’s UN Climate Conference (COP26) with a clear goal of climate action. Fairtrade and Fairtrade campaigners alike will also be on the ground in Glasgow to ensure that fairness and equity remain […]
Putting People at the Heart of Climate Action: 3 Reasons Business Must Care
We’re just over two weeks away from a critical milestone in the fight against climate change. The UK will host the COP26 climate conference, bringing together countries to enhance their commitments for the first time since they made them under the Paris Agreement in 2015. The focus of attention has, rightly, been on those highlighting the […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 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 […]
Transitioning to net zero whilst economically empowering women in supply chains
The climate crisis is accelerating faster and is more severe than previously anticipated – to avoid the destructive consequences of a world warmed by more than 1.5°C, we must decarbonise the global economy to reach net zero by 2050. At the same time COVID -19 and measures to prevent its spread are driving a disproportionate […]