Kicking our addiction to plastics
The demand for personal protective equipment (PPE) in response to this year’s COVID-19 pandemic has seen single-use plastic waste soar across the globe. The use of face masks in China alone is 12 times higher than pre-pandemic levels, with people getting through 116 million a day in February. If the whole world were to use […]
Clearing the Air in Darfur
Feeding your family and keeping warm are basic human needs. But in North Darfur, indoor pollution created by smoke from the firewood and charcoal used on household stoves is a major cause of death for women and children. 90% of households rely on wood and charcoal for their fuel. It’s expensive to buy and produces […]
Impact enterprises collaborate with the public sector to provide sanitation services
Access to safely managed sanitation is considered a basic human right, yet 4.2 billion people, over half of the world’s population, are living without access to safe sanitation services. The devastating effects of the global sanitation crisis have deepened as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic – and at a time when the need for […]
What we need to transition to a circular economy
Circularity has become a trending topic in the business world in recent years. The climate crisis has woken us up to the urgency of moving away from a linear economy towards one that designs out waste and keeps products and materials in use. Earlier this year, 50 CEOS signed a letter to the Financial Times […]
Renewable energy investments can boost the Caribbean’s sustainable recovery: Innovative financing approaches
Unlocking an economic boost by investing in renewable energy can be a pillar of the COVID-19 recovery, but will require significant work to align actors across the sector. From a technical point of view, financial mechanisms and instruments can be designed to de-risk projects and the region can expand its ability to attract investment dollars […]
Renewable energy investments can boost the Caribbean’s sustainable recovery: A green economic stimulus
The Caribbean is all too familiar with the public health and economic threats of climate-driven hurricanes and natural disasters. It is now faced with the unprecedented shock and economic impact of COVID-19. At present, 90% of hotels and tourism-related businesses have closed or are operating at reduced levels, hospitals are grappling with limited capacity as […]
How solar-powered tablets are educating rural communities about COVID-19
“We use solar-powered tablets to conduct community education campaigns on financial education, contraception and HIV, health, vaccinations, civic education, and now to inform communities about measures to prevent the spread of COVID-19,” says Dayn Amade, founder of the Tablet Comunitário/Community Tablet. In the wake of the outbreak of the novel corona virus and realizing the need to […]
Informal women workers organize and learn to safely recycle e-waste in Manila
As the world continues to produce, buy, and discard newer and more advanced electronic devices and appliances, countries are also facing the growing problem of what do with the waste generated when these products are discarded. If not properly processed, this e-waste (also known as waste electrical and electronic equipment or WEEE), poses a serious […]
Investing in inclusion delivers green and fair outcomes
Far from the COVID-19 global headlines, a movement is underway in Peru. An alliance of local green enterprises is leading the charge to Buy Local – and it is proving key for supporting small businesses through and beyond the pandemic. With close to 90% of employment in the country in small businesses, the role that […]
VIDEO: How can companies ensure they have a positive relationship with the world around them?
Cristianne Close is Global Practice Leader, Markets, at WWF, where she works with business to benefit nature and people. Previously, she was Founder and Director at Fundacion Choco Empreende, and held manager roles at Arcos Dorados and Syngenta. WHAT THIS SESSION COVERS The aim of this session is to help business professionals understand what is […]
Upcoming Online Event: Nature and Its Value to International Supply Chains
As part of Business Fights Poverty NYC Online 2020, Business Fights Poverty and Standard Chartered are convening a webinar and online peer discussion to explore how we can account for, invest in and enhance the value of nature present in supply chains. This article delves into nature’s benefits to international supply chains, and examines one initiative that is […]
Don’t simply restart the engine; building back better means re-tooling
Covid-19 vs climate change The parallels between the Coronavirus response and how we should collaboratively tackle the climate crisis should not be overlooked. Tackling either problem will change our lifestyle in a number of ways, and we will all have to make short term adaptations for a much longer-term gain. I believe that the pandemic […]
Air Quality: A breath of fresh air
Air pollution is the world’s fourth biggest killer Man-made air pollution is a global phenomenon – and a global killer. The WHO estimates poor air quality is responsible for 4.2 million premature deaths a year, as well as contributing to a wide range of health concerns. The World Bank ranked air pollution as the fourth-highest […]
Youth Perspectives on Our Future Economy
Demand for a new and sustainable economic model is reaching a new peak. As 2020 dawned, even committed advocates of globalised capitalism (like the IMF and World Economic Forum) have called for a rethink, in recognition of the looming threat of climate change and unconscionable levels of global inequality. In recent months, the world has […]
New Ways of Thinking, Convening, Leading
It feels like a lifetime ago that WWF and many other organizations identified 2020 as a potential ‘Super Year’ for nature and people. Big United Nations decisions under international conventions on climate change and biological diversity were to take place, complemented by negotiation of a Global Oceans treaty; and in its 75th anniversary year, the […]
Covid-19: ‘We Won’t Get Back to Normal Because Normal was the Problem’
The crisis is set to generate a loss of at least 1.5% or $1 trillion worldwide, which would technically mean a global recession with all major regions affected and a devastating impact on the poorest countries. Plans for recovery are already being discussed, with a focus on the financial stimulus needed to help economies recover. But […]
Cohabiting with a Virus: We Must Learn to Live Life on Land More Sustainably
On Saturday 21 March, the world celebrated the UN’s International Day of Forests. But instead of stepping out into nature or joining one of the many activities planned to recognise this day, many of us are – voluntarily or not – staying put in our homes, amid the bleak global fallout from the coronavirus outbreak. […]
Why Off-Grid Energy Matters…And How it Can Matter Even More
That’s why we commissioned 60 Decibels to aggregate and share, for the first time, data collected on 49 off-grid solar companies in a new report – “Why off-grid energy matters” – launching this week at the Global Off-Grid Solar Forum & Expo in Nairobi. This was no small undertaking – it includes data from across 17 […]
Why ESG is Core to Long-Term Success in Venture Capital
Successful VC-backed companies have the potential to create large numbers of jobs and deliver impactful services. This is particularly true in emerging markets where the technology-enabled firms targeted by VC investors can leapfrog market constraints to enable large-scale access to essential products and services, including to under-served groups, and create a path into the formal […]
Is Davos Signalling the End of Business as Usual?
From the vast bushfires of Australia to the not-so-snowy mountains of Davos, the impacts of climate change are impossible to ignore. This week, the world is watching the annual World Economic Forum (WEF) meeting to gauge how global leaders will react. Government and business leaders are already responding to the need for concrete action – including UK leadership and commercial giant Microsoft – by […]