Sustainable Development

Advancing the Sustainable Development Goals

Is Davos Signalling the End of Business as Usual?

As world leaders in politics and business gather in Davos, IIED director Andrew Norton considers progress on the event’s ‘business with purpose’ agenda and asks how a progressive sustainability manifesto can omit climate change.
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It’s Time We Understand All of a Business’ Impacts on People and the Planet

As society is becoming more aware of its responsibility to the world we live in, businesses are under increasing pressure to be transparent about all their impacts – but do they know how to measure them?
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Sustainability and Profitability Can Co-Exist. Here’s How

The effects of climate change and global warming have created serious doubts over the continued existence of mankind. Why are we still debating the merits of marrying sustainability with business profitability?​
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Top Stories of 2019

While the social impact and business agenda is shaping up for 2020, we first wanted to share the most popular stories we published in 2019 with you. A huge thank you to the authors featured in this list and to all of you who made contributions. We hope these stories inspire you and welcome your submissions this year*.
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10 Trends That Should Be on Your Board’s Radar

I have vivid memories, from the years I spent working on social impact in-house for big business, of scrambling for Board or Exec report around this time. ‘Please summarise the key social impact trends and the effects on business’, was the exam question. This year, I thought I would do the same for you. Feel free to borrow, comment and add your own.
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Nestlé’s System to Tackle Child Labor Works – Now We’re Scaling It Up

I’ve headed up the Nestlé Cocoa Plan for almost 12 years, so I’ve seen at firsthand how our Child Labor Monitoring and Remediation System, (CLMRS), works and how it has benefitted kids and families in Côte d’Ivoire and Ghana. As demonstrated in our 2019 report ‘Tackling Child Labor’, it is making a real difference to the lives of thousands of kids and families.
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Better Coffee, Better Prices: Improving Farmer Livelihoods through Quality Improvements

​What does the taste of your morning coffee have to do with the livelihoods of millions of farmers? In this article, TechnoServe’s Paul Stewart explains how boosting coffee quality is one of the keys to ensuring that smallholder farmers earn higher incomes and shows how this change can transform entire communities. ​
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How a Sustainable Coconut Oil Project Improved Livelihoods for Smallholder Farmers in the Philippines and Indonesia

The global demand for coconut-based products is growing. Coconut oil, for instance, is used for cooking and in products like chocolate or cakes, as well as cosmetics. However, the coconut supply is not growing as fast as the demand.
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Natalia Pshenichnaya

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How a Sanitation Waste Partnership is Transforming Cities in Bangladesh

After four years of testing how entrepreneurs can deliver sanitation services to the poorest urban citizens in Bangladesh, a business model developed by Water & Sanitation for the Urban Poor is starting to create significant change. To mark World Toilet Day, we are reflecting on how this business model is achieving what very few other approaches have achieved: financially viable sanitation services which benefit low-income residents.
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The Partnership Re-Imagining the Rice Value Chain in Nigeria

In conversation with Reji George, VP Rice Nigeria, Olam International and Dr Ben Odoemena, Country Programme Officer, UN International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD)  –finalists of the 2019 P3 Impact Award in recognition of one of the first public-private partnerships to have transformative impact in Nigeria’s agricultural sector. 
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Self Devouring Growth

“We live in a world where it is easier to imagine the end of humanity than it is to imagine the end of capitalism,” said Fredric Jameson about 40 years ago when Climate Change wasn’t even on the agenda (Capitalist realism, 2010). What is worrying is that this claim holds true to this day. When did we move from politics of collective well-being to politics of consumption?
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Five Questions on Partnership with the Pollinate Group

SDG 17 calls for a revitalisation of global partnerships. In India and Nepal, a social enterprise, Pollinate Group, is working in partnership to empower women to distribute solar energy products in informal settlements. Pollinate Group is partnering with Greenlight Planet and the Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT) through the Business Partnerships Platform.
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How Tech Investments Can Help Smallholders in India

Inequality in income and availability of work between rural and urban areas are large contributors to a country’s overall economic inequality. In India, agriculture still employs more than half of the workforce, but wages are low and with rising education levels many young people no longer aspire to take over the family smallholder farm
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Buy Leadership, Sell Poverty – How Finance Can Boost Value in Agricultural Supply Chains 

Financial access and inclusion continue to be sold to farming communities in the world’s leading supply chains at the very price of poverty. How do we reduce this toxic trade-off, why is it taking so long and how does it impact the planet’s future? Tasneem Mayet, BFP Ambassador, shares insights from conversations had at #BFPOXFORD, closing with some examples of what has worked well in the industry and yet why it is not enough.​
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The Coffee Price Crisis: How to Support More Sustainable Livelihoods for Farmers

The global coffee price crisis has drawn headlines around the world. But rather than view it as an isolated phenomenon, we must view at as part of a larger set of challenges affecting coffee farmers. To truly change the outlook for the world’s 12 million coffee-farming families, we must address these longstanding issues.
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In Memoriam: Tribute to Paul Polak – Market-Based Development Pioneer 1933 – 2019

On the International Day for the Eradication of Poverty, we remember the life and impact of Paul Polak, Market-Based Development Pioneer, who sadly passed away on 12 October.
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Prathyusha Parakala

This podcast marks the 150th birthday of Mahatma Gandhi. On this day, 2nd October 2019, India will begin a nationwide ban of single use plastic. Prathyusha Parakala, Hydrabad millennial, radio DJ and climate ambassador, joins us to share her first-hand experiences – about the wave of social and environmental actions sweeping across India.
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Bringing the Lessons of Clean Sanitation Home

Having access to clean toilets is not just a basic human right – it’s also a health necessity. But in India, nearly 50 million people[1] lack access to adequate sanitation, increasing the risk of water contamination and diseases for these individuals.​
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From Suicidal Depression to Social Entrepreneur: Creating a New $bn Industry for Rural Africa 

15 years ago I was working in the London advertising industry, promoting products I didn’t believe in for clients who didn’t appreciate it. I ended up asking myself ‘What am I doing with my life?’
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What do we mean by "Sustainable Development"?

Join us in advancing the Sustainable Development Goals to combat poverty through innovative and scalable solutions that drive global progress.

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