Sustainable BusinessRecent posts
Facing the Storm: How IDB Invest Supports Caribbean Private Sector Resilience
IDB Invest is partnering with the Green Climate Fund to help Caribbean businesses better withstand future climate shocks through blended finance and technical assistance.
Digital Innovation Expands Financing for Women-Led SMEs in Latin America and the Caribbean
Loans and disbursements approved in less than 24 hours, enabled by artificial intelligence, and early invoice payments powered by fintech solutions are transforming access to credit for MSMEs, especially those led by women.
IDB Invest Cultivates Caribbean Fund Managers to Mobilize Private Capital
By training local fund managers and anchoring blended‑finance vehicles, IDB Invest mobilizes private capital for sustainable growth across the Caribbean.
Defining Expectations: An interview with Jamaica’s Maureen Hayden-Cater on women and leadership
A Caribbean bank leader highlights her experience promoting gender equality both inside and out Maureen Hayden-Cater, President of Jamaica’s First Global Bank, visited the IDB Group to participate in our speaker series “Promoting Women Leaders in the Private Sector.” The initiative is part of the IDB Group Private Sector’s goal to showcase women leaders in the region and strengthen diversity and gender equality. Before her keynote speech, which will be followed by a question and answer session with IDB Group staff, I reached out to First Global’s President to learn more about what women and leadership mean to her.
How to lose weight, feed 9 billion people and save the planet?
Sustainable consumption as business opportunity Eat less meat! The BBQ fans out there don’t have to go cold turkey. The point is eating more vegetables, buying local, nutritious food whenever possible and minimizing waste by purchasing food with less packaging and in reasonable portion sizes can benefit your waistline and the environment. Conscious consumer choices and scarce natural resources incentivize agribusinesses in Latin America to produce more with less. From Brazilian cattle ranchers investing in pasture upgrades instead of deforesting to Nestlé reducing water usage in its Mexican value chain, the food industry has discovered healthy, sustainable consumption as a business opportunity.
Five ways leadership mitigates climate change and promotes sustainability
The Final Game Changer All the renewable energy and energy efficient technology alone cannot ensure a sustainable energy future. The missing element to long-term sustainability in Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC) is leadership. Effective, visionary leadership can mitigate climate change. As the final game changer, leadership is examined through the lens of five kinds of leaders:
Energy Efficiency: A game changer for business & the environment
Energy efficiency is a simple concept. Do more with less. Channeled through a wide array of industries and organizational departments in Latin America and the Caribbean and elsewhere, a serious approach to energy efficiency has many winners - consumers, private firms and governments.
Impact Investing: Does intent matter?
Impact investing in Latin America and the Caribbean was highlighted at the the IDB’s annual meeting in Bahía, Brazil. One of the first sessions of the day began with the story of a loan officer evaluating the credit profile of “Helena” – an intelligent, ambitious student seeking a university loan and representing many others like her in the region. Thanks to a bank loan, "Helena" would have a chance to further her education and strengthen her economic opportunities. But is this impact investing?
Game Changer #1: Renewable energy for a more sustainable future
Seguir a @BIDSecPriv The intersection of energy and sustainability is an issue important to me both professionally and personally. Prior to the IDB’s Annual Meeting, I wrote about the climate change challenges facing Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC). Then at the Annual Meeting, I focused on private sector solutions and proposed three game changers.
