In Praise of Low Bono
I work for EY, running Enterprise Growth Services (EGS) – a programme which sends our consultants, both local and international, to help promising social impact enterprises grow. We help solar companies understand their customers better, WASH businesses build scalable franchises, and ag enterprises improve their cashflow. Our projects are full time, hands-on, mostly in sub-Saharan […]
Addressing the Sanitation Crisis One Toilet at a Time
It’s hard to imagine what life would be like without a clean and safe toilet, but this is the reality for 1 in 3 people globally. World Toilet Day, celebrated annually on 19th November, has been a UN recognised day since 2013. It was set up to raise awareness of the health, emotional and psychological […]
The UN, Business and the Sustainable Development Goals
On 25 September 2015, the United Nations General Assembly adopted the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development which includes a set of 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) to end poverty, fight inequality and injustice, and tackle climate change by 2030. This provides an unprecedented opportunity to shift the world onto a path of inclusive, sustainable and […]
Making Solar Power Affordable
Author: John Converse Townsend, Ashoka Mexico’s solar energy market is booming. And that means more and more people, even those living on less than $7 per day, can afford clean electricity. The second-most populated country in the Americas is home to the fastest-growing regional solar market in the world. About 97 percent of Mexico’s population […]
Investing in Smart Technology
Luxury car manufacturer Jaguar Land Rover invests in smart technologies and innovations which are key to its long term success and this focus extends far beyond building better-performing vehicles. The company recently won a Queen’s Award for Sustainable Development for reducing the environmental impact of its vehicles and operations and has set an ambitious target […]
Partnerships for 21st Century Development in Africa
This year, the United Nations (UN) officially adopted the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Rory More O’Ferrall FRSA describes how governments, civil society and industry are working together to address a complex social and development challenge. The UN’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs come into effect on January 1, 2016 and run through to the end of […]
Radical Partnerships to Give Newborns a Healthier Start
The first month of life can be dangerous. In 2013, almost three million babies worldwide lost their lives during those initial four weeks – a quarter due to infection. Many of these deaths could be prevented if the appropriate healthcare was within reach at the right time, in the right place. Newborn babies, wherever they […]
Setting the Stage for Green & Inclusive Growth
Where many conventional start-up enterprises fail after only two years, more than three out of four SEED Winners have not, that is the major outcome of this flagship report“, states the foreword by Ibrahim Thiaw, UNEP Deputy Executive Director and UN Assistant-Secretary-General. This success is even more astounding when one considers that these are not […]
Setting the Stage for Green & Inclusive Growth
Where many conventional start-up enterprises fail after only two years, more than three out of four SEED Winners have not, that is the major outcome of this flagship report“, states the foreword by Ibrahim Thiaw, UNEP Deputy Executive Director and UN Assistant-Secretary-General. This success is even more astounding when one considers that these are not […]
Do Companies Have Obligation to Help Syrian Refugees?
“When we can’t afford both medicine and food, I tie scarves around my boys’ bellies at night so they don’t wake up crying from stomach aches because they are hungry.” —Fatmeh, a Syrian refugee in Lebanon The Syrian refugee crisis in the Middle East is a daily heartbreak that eludes simple solutions. Thousands are dying […]
Turbo Charging Development: Making the SDGs a Reality
By Paul Polman, CEO, Unilever and Mark Gunton, CEO, Clinton Giustra Enterprise Partnership In New York last week global leaders adopted a set of ambitious goals and targets to set the world on a new course. The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) have committed us to eradicating extreme poverty, fighting injustice and inequality, and taking urgent […]
Hygiene as a Frontier for Good Health
It seems we are often on the brink of something historic or being given the opportunity of a lifetime but in the case of the adoption of the Sustainable Development Goals in New York this weekend it may actually be true. If the seventeen Sustainable Development Goals are fully implemented by their deadline of 2030 […]
Collaborative Action to Accelerate Growth with Impact
Yasmina Zaidman, Director, Strategic Partnerships, Acumen On a cold January afternoon in 2012, at Dow’s headquarters in Midland, Michigan, I sat at a large conference table with representatives from across Dow’s venture fund, foundation, sustainability team, and human resources department. This was the first meeting of its kind that I had attended with one of […]
B2B Collaboration that Drives Growth and Impact
A significant shift is happening in the way global corporations and mission-driven organizations see poverty, food security, water scarcity, climate change, and other sustainable development challenges—a convergence around the view, expressed so well by management guru Peter Drucker, that “every single social and global issue of our day is a business opportunity in disguise.” At […]
Financing to Support New UN Global Development Agenda
As global leaders gathered in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia in July for the Third Financing for Development Conference (FfD3) to discuss a new financing framework for sustainable development, it was natural for Citi to have a seat at the table. As a leading global financial institution, Citi has provided capital to governments, corporations and development organizations […]
Education to Children in Crisis and Conflict Zones
When catastrophe strikes, our first response is to send water, shelter, food and health workers. However, most catastrophes — be they conflicts, health crises or natural disasters — have devastating effects that last much longer than the initial onset. According to the UN, it takes an average of 17 years for families to return home […]
Welcome to GoodCo
Author, “Welcome to GoodCo” and Chair of Trustees, Fair For You 60 of the world’s biggest 100 economic entities are companies, only 40 are countries. This and related facts are often cited in order to attack globalisation, tirade against capitalism generally or illustrate just how hopeless everything is. Despite coming from the left of politics […]
Improving Market Access for the Poor
What is the development issue? More than 80% of Malawi’s 17 million people live in rural areas, and agricultural labourers make up 90% of the total labour force1. Despite the fact that Malawi’s economy is based on agriculture, the country depends primarily on one major export crop – tobacco – which accounts for more than […]
What Does it Mean to be a BCORP?
Last month, ClimateCare became a Certified B Corporation. The B Corp movement might not be something you’ve heard about yet, but it is helping to highlight the opportunity businesses have to deliver positive impacts – for communities, health, environment, economic empowerment etc., as well as profits. B Corp has most of its fast growing member […]
The Holy Grail of Inclusive Market Development
There is something satisfying knowing that when you buy your ethically sourced tea or coffee you are making a contribution to a movement that is helping to improve the lives and businesses of millions of poor producers. I can’t say I’ve ever got the same fuzzy feeling whilst serving my kids Malawian pigeon peas for […]