Follow the growing amount of collaborative work — cross-functional, cross-sector, pre-competitive and more — bringing about massive, disruptive, needed shifts to business as usual.
In a Tuesday afternoon breakout that brought together a unique and diverse group, Steve Jennings from Better Ventures created a high-energy atmosphere where participants had frank discussions about their experiences and challenges in supporting entrepreneurial communities.Recognising the power of linking entrepreneurs and startups to large corporate companies and the benefits derived from supporting entrepreneurial communities, Jennings guided the panel to speak about their own journeys with this.What are some really good examples of startups or groups that we can learn from?
It was the job of Zöe Arden, director of think-tank SustainAbility, to kick-start the workshop sessions on Monday morning at SB ’15 London with a focus on how to drive business model transformation from inside a company. This workshop was a developed as a hotly requested follow-up to SustainAbility’s workshop last year at SB’14 London, focused on Business Model Innovations for Sustainability.
A majority of business leaders say that a long term agreement at the UN climate summit (COP21) in Paris is critical to supporting private sector investment in low carbon solutions, according to a global study by the United Nations Global Compact and Accenture.The UN Global Compact-Accenture CEO Study report, Special Edition: A Call to Climate Action, also reveals that executives see action on climate change as an opportunity for growth and innovation that will be essential to securing competitive advantage in their industries.
EVgo, an electric vehicle (EV) DC fast charging solutions firm, has entered into a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with the University of California, San Diego to help support developments in sustainable energy technology, according to a recent announcement. The agreement formalizes an already strong collaboration focusing on the intersection of electric vehicles and energy storage, and EVgo says it is leading two projects at the university. In the first project, EVgo has constructed a site for assessing how owners of EV DC charging sites can leverage solar, battery storage and control systems to mitigate site host demand charges and provide services to the grid.
Canada’s most populous province has become a leader in the social enterprise sector in North America, with over 10,000 social enterprises in operation employing an estimated 160,000 people. Ontario’s government has leant considerable support to the sector, directly and indirectly, to make this happen.To learn more about how and why, I spoke with Minister Brad Duguid of the Ontario Ministry of Economic Development, Employment and Infrastructure.
Mars has signed a new partnership agreement with the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) to help make food safer across the globe, with a specific focus on the developing regions of the global South.The partners will do this by promoting international standards for food safety and quality, improving food safety management to reduce illness caused by unsafe food and improving global access to information. The plan is to share our expertise and data, helping the FAO to identify food safety issues early, as well as to develop tools that will help support food safety programs in developing countries.
Representatives of 193 countries met at the United Nations’ annual summit last month to agree on a global agenda for continued growth made up of 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The SDGs tackle environmental, social and economic issues and will stimulate action from all sectors and stakeholders to build a more sustainable world. The goals reflect the fundamental changes the world needs now and in the future to tackle poverty and climate change, and grow sustainably and equitably. Over the next 15 years, countries are expected to use these goals to frame policies, allocate financing and drive changes that will help build a fair and sustainable world for all.
This week, the first draft of the new climate change agreement set for COP21, the United Nations (UN) international conference on climate change, was presented to governments. The document will act as a concise basis for negotiations for the next negotiating session, which is happening from October 19-23 in Bonn, Germany.
The Hershey Company has announced it is joining Partners in Food Solutions (PFS), an international public-private partnership that connects volunteer experts from the world’s leading food companies with their counterparts in Africa to help them improve and expand their businesses.These high-potential African companies can feed more people better, safer, more nutritious and more affordable food, while at the same time providing more stable markets for the crops of smallholder farmers in their region, PFS claims. The volunteer experts connect through a new model of remote consulting launched by PFS.
This post is part of a series produced by The Huffington Post, "What's Working: Sustainable Development Goals," in conjunction with the United Nations' Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The proposed set of goals was the subject of discussion at the UN General Assembly meeting on Sept. 25-27, 2015 in New York; they cover 17 key areas of development — including poverty, hunger, health, education, and gender equality, among many others.
The CEOs of 10 global food companies pledged to accelerate business action on climate change and urged U.S. and world leaders to form a robust international agreement at COP21 in December in a joint letter coordinated by Ceres and released yesterday.
Carlsberg Group is inviting companies and members of the public to submit their ideas on how to make Carlsberg beer more sustainable. The competition, “Cheers to Green Ideas,” was launched in partnership with Scandinavian think tank Sustainia on Monday.
Award-winning British designer Christopher Raeburn showcased his new Spring/Summer 2016 SARAWAK collection on Tuesday at London Fashion Week. Raeburn worked closely with apparel branding, labeling, packaging and embellishments company Avery Dennison RBIS (Retail Branding and Information Solutions) to explore sustainability throughout the design process, from mood board to the runway.
The leaders of state and regional governments, spanning North and South America, Europe and Australia, on Tuesday announced collective climate targets that would save 7.9 gigatons of equivalent carbon dioxide (GtCO2e) by 2030 — greater than the U.S.’s carbon emissions in 2012.Announced at Climate Week NYC, the pledges come from the Compact of States and Regions, a UN supported initiative that aims to drive major emissions reductions after the COP climate summit in December, where the expected deal will come into force in 2020.Altogether, the sub-national governments making up the Compact represent 10 percent of global GDP and 220 million people.
Facebook, Google and Twitter are among the more than a dozen companies that have come together today, the International Day of Peace, to draw attention to the vital role of food assistance in creating a more peaceful world.Many firms are donating television and digital media channels to drive support for the United Nations World Food Programme (WFP), the world's largest humanitarian agency fighting hunger worldwide. It delivers food assistance in emergencies and works with communities to improve nutrition and build resilience, assisting some 80 million people in around 80 countries each year.
Three of the world’s largest brewers, Anheuser-Busch InBev, Heineken and Carlsberg, as well as local brewers and beer associations, have come together to lead Global Beer Responsibility Day, a new worldwide effort to promote the responsible consumption of beer, according to a recent announcement.In its first year as a global, collaborative effort, brewers, along with many other local partners, will focus on reducing the harmful use of alcohol and promoting responsible enjoyment of beer in communities around the world.
Today, C&A Foundation and Ashoka Changemakers launch Fabric of Change: Innovating for a Sustainable Apparel Industry, an online challenge that seeks innovations for building a fair and sustainable apparel industry. Winners will receive prizes totaling more than €100,000 to support their solutions.
Nearly 24 million Americans live in food deserts and don't have access to affordable, quality, fresh fruits and vegetables. For the third year, fresh juice brand Naked Juice, a division of PepsiCo, is partnering with Wholesome Wave — an organization that helps create affordable access to fresh, local and regional food to those in need — to provide fresh produce where there is none.
The threats climate change poses to the private sector are significant and the need for international agreements on climate change to keep global warming below 2°C is ever more pressing. The challenge that we all face now is in finding consensus and a common vision that is applicable not only to all countries but to all corporate sectors too. So, as we reach #100daysToParis, how can the ambitions of COP21 be met and what is the role of collaboration in achieving this?
A remote village in Kenya could have access to 15 million gallons of clean water by the end of the year — funded by Unilever shampoo, deodorant and body wash sales at Walgreens.