News

Charting the Rise of Neem in Agriculture

Feeding the world in a safe and sustainable manner is a considerable challenge, especially with a rising global population, significant arable land degradation and crop yields starting to show a decline. The primary obstacle to sustainable food security today is an economic model and thought system, nurtured throughout the industrial revolution, that views social progress as the ability to produce at maximum capacity and at any financial or environmental cost. This attitude is on the verge of profound change. Natural solutions for comprehensive crop care such as neem are well positioned to set the foundation for a revolutionary transformation in global agriculture.…

The Rise of Impactful and Responsible Investment

How can an industry focused on financial returns generate a truly positive global impact? The answer is alarmingly simply – align investment strategy with environmental, social and corporate governance criteria to generate sustainable returns and shared value.

A quiet revolution has been underway in the responsible investment arena for over a decade. For the first time in history, social responsibility and sustainability initiatives are being demanded from mainstream investors rather than their politicians. The Global Sustainable Investment Alliance estimated that environmental, social and corporate governance integration in investment strategy reached an unprecedented $10.4 trillion in 2016, up 38% from 2014. The market for impact investments – injecting cash with the explicit intention of achieving measurable social or environmental impacts as well as financial returns – swelled by an even greater 57%across the same timescale.…

An Opportunity for Mexico in Latin America

We have now reached the fourth round of renegotiations of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), the largest free trade agreement in the world worth a staggering $17 trillion. Months have passed and little tangible progress has been made to date. With US President Donald Trump routinely threatening to leave the accord, Mexico is doubling down on free trade and turning toward allies in Latin America and the rest of the world.

There’s no doubt that a dismantled NAFTA would cause some difficulties initially for Mexico. The United States is Mexico’s most important trading partner, worth $580 billion in 2016, accounting for 80% of all exports and the majority of agriculture imports.…

A Revitalized Brazil is Emerging

Investors around the world are rallying around Brazil’s economic revival. Necessary pro-business reforms have strengthened the country’s long-term prospects, attracted record levels of foreign direct investment and laid the foundation for a more globalized system that stands to benefit from the rise in protectionism seen in other developed economies around the world.

Brazil’s President Michel Termer made this abundantly clear during his opening address at the 72^nd Session of the United Nations General Assembly. A clear departure from Brazil’s more inward-looking history, Temer came across as a truly global leader. Criticizing the rise of protectionism as a solution to economic difficulties, he cited Brazil’s own efforts to restore growth through market-based reforms aimed at opening access to trade and investment.…

A Brighter Future for Emerging Economies

Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa (BRICS) remain some of the fastest emerging economies in the world, accounting for over $16 trillion in GDP and nearly half of the working population. These powerhouses of the global economy met at the 9^th Annual BRICS Summit in Xiamen, China to consolidate resources, strengthen prospects for economic growth and establish a unified political position on some of the world’s most significant challenges.

Brazilian President Michel Temer, Russian President Vladimir Putin, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and South African President Jacob Zuma all met to reinforce their significance on the global stage and discuss the direction of their continued partnership.…

Global Food Security Threatened by 6th Mass Extinction

“People think that I’m just trying to look after nice, fluffy animals. What I’m really trying to do is stop the human race from committing suicide.”

Gerald Durell, Pioneer Conservationist (1960)

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10,000 years ago, the biomass of humans and their domestic animals represented 0.4% of the total. Right now, the share is closer to 96% and rising. The Living Planet Index, compiled by World Wildlife Fund and the Zoological Society of London, calculates that two-thirds of the world’s wildlife in 1970 will disappear by 2020. Of the 85,000 species listed by the International Union for the Conservation of Nature, more than 24,000 are in danger.…

Building a Productive Framework for Sustainable Business

Global leaders have gathered at the United Nations in New York City this week for the 72^nd Annual United Nations General Assembly. Over 100 Heads of State are joining the United Nations’ main, deliberative and policy-making conference on global issues ranging from disarmament, migration, climate change, and healthcare. While politicians promote their agendas and practice diplomacy, business leaders are meeting at the Global Compact Leaders Summit to find solutions to some of the world’s most significant challenges.

The rapid depletion of natural resources,

rising inequality and the threat of intensifying climate change are global grand challenges that not only compromise humankind’s future prosperity but also risk reversing human progress.…

The New Frontier of Climate Resilience

“The gains from investing in low emission, climate-resilient infrastructure will more than offset the impact of higher energy prices, tighter regulatory settings, and high carbon assets that may become economically stranded before the end of their economic life.”

The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (2017)

The past few months have been devastating for many people around the world. Historic hurricanes, massive earthquakes, and intense wildfires have simultaneously struck the Americas, causing an estimated $300 billion in damages. Monsoons and flooding continue to wreak havoc across Asia, directly affecting over 40 million people. While policymakers and environmental scientists trip over themselves debating the cause of such extreme weather events, affected communities are left to face the very real consequences.…

The Environmental Horrors of Plasticulture

Plastics are used in almost every facet of modern day life. Found in packaging, clothing, furniture, microchips and even medical equipment, these imperishable materials are being produced at alarming rates. Polyethylene, one of the world’s most popular and dangerous plastics, is even applied in agriculture as a cheap solution in crop care. Once celebrated for strengthening the global food supply, these agricultural films are now known to severely degrade natural capital and the ecological services we depend on for sustenance.

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The application of razor-thin sheets of polyethylene film across farmland began in the 1950s when agronomists noticed that it could successfully moderate soil temperature, limit weed growth and prevent moisture loss.…

The Need to Strengthen Global Water Security

Over 3,200 environmental specialists and 330 organizations from 130 countries have gathered in Sweden for World Water Week to exchange ideas, catalyze new thinking and develop solutions for today’s most pressing water challenges. With droughts in Somalia, water rationing in Rome, water-based conflicts in Donetsk and even flooding in Houston, time is of the essence.

Even though one billion trillion liters of water cover two-thirds of the world’s surface, 683 million people are left without direct access to this life-saving resource. If no action is taken, the majority of the global population will live in water-stressed regions by 2050.

The Driving Factors in Global Water Security

Source: Edie (2017)

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