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Innovation, Technology, and Finance to make SMEs Stronger and More Productive
An initiative driven in El Salvador by IDB Invest, IDB Lab, and Banco Cuscatlán promotes digital transformation and adopting financial and non-financial products.
Superfoods also take care of Amazonia’s health
The development of sustainable value chains for quinoa, cocoa, sesame, and other high-nutritional-value crops can foster integration into international markets, benefit the region, and contribute to sustainable development goals.
By Adopting Traceability in Its Supply Chain This Company Managed to Become More Sustainable
In a world where sustainability is part of the DNA of business, an Ecuadorian company implemented standards to guarantee socially just and ecologically respectful practices throughout the value chain.
A Business Approach to Smallholder Agriculture
* By Andrea Sabelli There are an estimated 500 million smallholder farmers across the globe that produce food for over 2 billion people. These farmers work on plots of land that are under 2 hectares. The vast majority are poor and undernourished. Yet, the future role of smallholders in the food supply chain and as land stewards will be essential. By 2050, the global population is expected to grow by 2 billion. To meet food demand growth, FAO estimates that 90% of the increase in food demand will need to come from higher yields on existing farms, of which smallholders play a crucial role. Thanks to an example in Haiti, a business approach to smallholder agriculture may be what it takes for us to efficiently address demand.
Women’s Entrepreneurship Day: Smart companies, pay attention
On November 19, 2014, the United Nations launched Women’s Entrepreneurship Day. This day reminds me of a newspaper article I read eight years ago that changed my life. It stated that, although more Jamaican women (70 percent) than men were graduating from higher education institutions, they had a significantly higher unemployment rate -15.6percent and 5.7 percent respectively-. As a Jamaican woman then working her way through university, it marked my professional path forever.
The top 10 developing nations investing in clean energy
By: Agustín Cáceres The history of investing in clean energy in developed countries like Denmark, Spain or Germany is well known: big investments, subsidies, and an energy matrix that is much greener than that of other developed nations likes the US or Japan. However, developing nations represent a large and rapidly growing share of the world’s clean energy investment, according to Climatescope 2014, a country-by-country assessment, interactive report and index that offers the clearest picture yet of clean energy in 55 emerging markets in Africa, Asia, and Latin America and the Caribbean.
Getting Brazil Climate-Ready One Sector at a Time #CRinBrazil
At the very time the city of São Paulo is struggling with the worst man-made water crisis in its history, with millions of people and local businesses suffering from water scarcity, climate leaders gathered in Rio de Janeiro just a few hundred miles away, to come up with solutions to the global climate crisis. I was one of 600 participants who came from 55 countries to attend Former U.S. Vice President Al Gore’s Climate Reality Project’s 26th leadership training, #CRinBrazil, the first one ever held in Latin America and the Caribbean.
The evolution of impact investing: 6 signs of progress
Today experts from Latin America and the Caribbean gathered at the Foromic Conference in Guayaquil, Ecuador, to reflect on the evolution of impact investing. A recent JP Morgan and Global Impact Investing Network survey estimates there is at least $46 billion in impact investing assets under management globally, a figure expected to grow ten-fold in the next five years, according to predictions by the same institutions. The industry is especially relevant in emerging markets, where seventy percent of investment capital flows. This made today a timely moment of self-reflection to highlight how far impact investing has come and where it is going.
A Laboratory for Climate Finance
Editor’s Note: As of October 20th 2014, the Agricultural Supply Chain Adaptation Facility, along with 3 other financial instruments, has been selected at the Second Lab Advisor’s Meeting to move forward to Phase 3. During this phase, the Lab will refine the 4 most promising instruments with further analysis and stress testing, so they can be ready for pilot.