A growing number of companies are developing sustainable and inclusive business models that can offer positive developmental impacts—often partnering with the public sector, non-profit organisations, and foundations to leverage complementary capabilities and share up-front cost and risk.
A new research report: “Growth for Good or Good for Growth?” by The Fletcher School at Tufts University and the Monitor Institute, supported by Citi Foundation explores what motivates companies to engage in sustainable and inclusive business, the challenges they face and potential solutions to driving scale.
At the same time, the UNDP-hosted Business Call to Action and the UK’s Department for International Development have developed a long track record in identifying and exploring ways to accelerate commercial business models that achieve a positive social and/or environmental impact at scale.
On 4 February, Citi and Business Fights Poverty hosted an event to learn more about the latest thinking on how to accelerate sustainable and inclusive business, overcome barriers to scale and the role of partnership. Informed by the report findings and the experiences of panellists, the event addressed the following questions:
- What are the key barriers to scaling sustainable and inclusive business?
- What are the most promising strategies – within business, government and civil society – for driving scale? And how can these strategies be built into framing the new Sustainable Development Goals and their implementation?
- How can partnerships between development agencies and business help scale sustainable and inclusive business?
Speakers included:
- Marcos Neto, Team Leader, Private Sector and Foundations, UNDP
- Philip Martin Brown, Managing Director, Citi Inclusive Finance
- Laura Crow, Principal Product Manager, Vodafone
- Sean de Cleene, SVP, Global Initiatives, Strategy and Business Development, Yara International
The session was Chaired by Dr Bhaskar Chakravorti, Senior Associate Dean for International Business and Finance and Executive Director of Institute for Business in the Global Context, The Fletcher School at Tufts University.
For the event details and list of registered participants, click here.
