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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.
Abandoned houses prove golden opportunity: An interview with Antonio Díaz, Founder and CEO of Provive
Miriam, 43, lives in Cañadas del Florido, a low-income neighborhood in Tijuana, Baja California, the northernmost state of Mexico. Three years ago, on any given day, Miriam and her three children would watch criminals, drug addicts, and vagrants frequent the empty house next-door. Their streets were littered with garbage and dead animals. This is not an uncommon situation in the Mexican neighborhoods, or fraccionamientos, where more than seven million houses were built by developers with mortgages from the government in the last decade. Thanks to Provive, Miriam’s life has since changed.
Soccer and women: not just something men talk about
Well done Germany! The German national football team is the winner of the FIFA 2014 World Cup that ended Sunday at the Maracanã stadium in Rio de Janeiro. The next time a men’s soccer team holds the FIFA World Cup trophy will be four years from now in Russia. As Die Nationalmannschaft were congratulated by two female heads of state; Brazil’s Dilma Rousseff and Germany’s Angela Merkel, another important event came to mind: the FIFA 2015 Women’s World Cup in Canada
Germany wins 2014 World Cup in energy efficient stadium
While the football battle of the continents continues, 50 percent of this headline will be true no matter how many goals die Mannschaft scores against los Albiceleste this Sunday. The energy efficiency part that is. Maracanã, South America’s largest stadium and the host of the final world cup game, is making history again 60 years after its completion. The US green building council announced recently that the iconic building, among four other world cup stadiums in Brazil, achieved LEED certification due to several design upgrades that result in lower resource consumption.
Keep The Ball Rolling: The Link Between the World Cup Mascot and the environment
“Fuleco” is its name derived by combining “Futebol” (soccer) with “Ecologia” (ecology), highlighting the role of the World Cup in preserving the environment. Many Brazilians also recognize it as “tatu-bola,” the Three-Banded Armadillo (Tolypeutes tricinctu) that exists only in Brazil. By either name, it is the FIFA 2014 World Cup mascot, and already a winning player. When the Tatu-Bola is threatened it turns into a round shape, similar in appearance to a soccer ball - making it a fitting mascot for the FIFA 2014 World Cup in Brazil, don’t you think?
Four Climate-Smart Business Opportunities in Jamaica and the Caribbean
If we contemplate climate change long enough, it seems like we all lose. However, if you really want to talk about the equivalent of an unfair penalty or missed offside call, look around Jamaica. Ten hurricanes ravaged the country in the last five years, each causing damages of approximately US$100 million. The rainy season is longer, droughts follow that exacerbate agricultural deficits, and the sea level is rising 3.5 mm year. Climate change affects Jamaica and other Caribbean islands disproportionately. And Jamaicans contribute very little to its causes.
Climate finance and Climate Investment Funds
What do Bob Marley and climate change have in common? Never would I have thought there might be a connection between Bob Marley and climate change. "It's all about 'One Love,'" repeated the Honorable Minister Ian Hayles of Water, Land, Environment and Climate Change, when he opened the Climate Investment Fund (CIF) Partnership Forum in Montego Bay, Jamaica. Obviously the minister realizes it is slightly more complicated than just “one love.” But starting with a little love, and, equally importantly, simplicity made the issue of climate change a tad more entertaining and understandable for the 500 plus global participants at this week’s event.