Why the “Blood Diamond” Label Keeps Returning
By the time the movie Blood Diamond appeared in 2006, the diamond wars in Sierra Leone, Congo and Angola were over, and after herculean efforts on the part of governments, industry and civil society, the Kimberley Process was up and running. To dredge up old history and to use that term–“blood”–seemed like an unfair and […]
Reflections on the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals
Health Programs at Eli Lilly At the UN General Assembly in New York this month, countries will adopt the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) to guide efforts to end poverty and improve lives over the next 15 years. There’s a lot of excitement and buzz around the proposed SDGs—and not just among those involved with global […]
Sport as Economic Opportunity
New campaign aims to change stereotypes, shatter barriers and encourage more girls to play sports The 2015 FIFA Women’s World Cup lived up to the high expectations. We witnessed nail biting penalty shootouts, new entrants such as Cameroon reaching the quarter finals, and impressive physical feats by female athletes. We also saw something a little […]
New Tools & Rules for Businesses in Global Development
Addis Ababa hosted the Third UN Financing for Development conference from 13 to 16 July to improve the quantity and quality of financial flows for development. The resulting Addis Ababa Action Agenda (AAAA) addressed the right problems, but it provided little tangible and time-bound answers. The follow-up process of the UN FfD Forum will therefore […]
New Tools & Rules for Businesses in Global Development
Addis Ababa hosted the Third UN Financing for Development conference from 13 to 16 July to improve the quantity and quality of financial flows for development. The resulting Addis Ababa Action Agenda (AAAA) addressed the right problems, but it provided little tangible and time-bound answers. The follow-up process of the UN FfD Forum will therefore […]
Navigating Large Companies: Tips for Practitioners
For the theme on working with large companies on The Practitioner Hub I have assembled some tips from my hard-won experience for anyone working with a company on an inclusive business initiative. I have the perspective of an external practitioner engaging with counterparts from inside the business, but I suspect that company employees may face […]
Low-Income Millennials Present Big Market Opportunities
Hardly a day passes without a new article on how businesses are analyzing the needs, wants and spending trends of millennials. In the US alone, millennials (or Generation Y), those born between 1980 and 2000, represent 30 percent of the population. By 2025 they will be 75 percent of the workforce. The impact that millennials […]
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 […]
Making Hunger History
Hunger has plagued humanity since the dawn of recorded history. It has featured in every era and every civilization. It has brought empires to ruin, and societies to their knees. In this second decade of the 21st century, we have the expertise, the technology, and the resources to feed every person, in every country. Yet […]
The Need to Reduce the Barriers to Global Trade
Over the last 50 years we have seen global trade prosper in line with the success of globalisation. Global trade has generated jobs and growth, created opportunities for businesses both big and small, spurred investment in public infrastructure and connected emerging markets around the world to the global economy. But today trade is not as […]
Chicago Council Global Food Security Symposium
Too often, the challenges surrounding food security are tackled by different groups of experts in siloes. As a result, they can seem insurmountable, but in practice, real world solutions are possible. Forums like the Chicago Council Global Food Security Symposium are important catalysts – helping to integrate debate, break down these siloes and canvas holistic […]
Growing Food in a Resource Scarce World
The world is changing. And those changes bring with them new structural challenges. Rapid population growth, increasingly scarce resources, food lost or wasted and climate change are putting enormous pressure on agricultural productivity which is vital for food security and livelihoods. No one will be immune from the effects of climate change. But it will […]
If You Want to Make Money be a Farmer, Not a Financier
As an investor, I’ll cut to the chase – I’m long agriculture. That’s to say I’m very optimistic about its potential despite the fact that the sector has been a disaster for the past 30 years – my own Commodities Index tells me that agriculture prices are just 75% of what they were in 1998. […]
Managing Boundaries in an Unbalanced World
The global food system is a strange and twisted thing. One in eight people go hungry while one in five is overweight. A farmer in Iowa can grow ten tonnes of grain on each hectare, while most farmers in Africa struggle to harvest a single tonne. The rich countries of the world are among the […]
The 21st Century Commodity Trader
Change in the 21st century is proceeding at a pace and a scale that are unprecedented. Last century’s strategies are no longer viable options for institutions that want to survive in this one. That said, those institutions that can transcend yesterday’s thinking and today’s boundaries can actually thrive in the 21st century. Nowhere is this […]
Efforts to Measure Progress in Job Creation
In 2012, CDC announced its intention to target its capital more precisely on building businesses to create jobs in African and South Asian countries where the private sector is weak and starved of investment. Getting a good job makes a lasting difference to people’s lives. Not just for the workers, but for their families. But […]
Business & the SDGs: How Can We Deepen Scale & Impact?
The role of the private sector in realizing the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) is widely recognized. What remains unclear is how exactly business should contribute most effectively and responsibly to the broad development objectives that government leaders will adopt this September. The SDGs will affirm the importance of the private sector in achieving economic […]
Business & the SDGs: How Can We Deepen Scale & Impact?
The role of the private sector in realizing the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) is widely recognized. What remains unclear is how exactly business should contribute most effectively and responsibly to the broad development objectives that government leaders will adopt this September. The SDGs will affirm the importance of the private sector in achieving economic […]
What will the Modern Slavery Act Achieve?
This March saw the passing of the Modern Slavery Act in UK parliament. It includes a transparency in supply chains clause requiring large companies to publish an annual public statement on modern slavery. This should detail evidence of what actions they have taken to eliminate the risk and presence of in their business or supply […]
Harnessing Value Chains: Bring the Rights Back In
How can we harness supply chains for the SDGs? Bring the rights back in. With the September Summit on the Sustainable Development Goals fast approaching, the years of wrangling over goals, targets and indicators has now reached fever pitch. Throughout, a consensus has endured that business has a crucial role. In order to deliver a […]