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Engaging with the private sector for greater impact
Since the landmark Paris Agreement of 2015, there has been a dramatic increase in private sector interest and action related to climate change. In just five years, hundreds of companies have set targets to reach net-zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050 and have outlined science-informed plans to…
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![Reflections of nature in an office building. Photo credit: Vitaliy Krasovskiy/Shutterstock Reflections of nature in an office building](/sites/default/files/styles/listing_image_290x218/public/shutterstock_80741110_nature_reflection.jpg?h=e85f6c07&itok=Th7VTz0Y)
We should prepare for future shocks post COVID-19
Businesses that integrate sustainability are more resilient
As chief executive of a firm that has for 50 years helped the world’s leading organizations navigate sustainability challenges, I am often asked how companies should prepare for a next crisis such as COVID-19 or other future shocks. The…
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![With less than 10 years to prevent global warming from exceeding 1.5˚C and only 10 years to achieve the UN Sustainable Development Goals, it is critical to bring together leaders across industry, government, and civil society to shift the global economy more aggressively toward circularity. Photo: Pavlo Glazkov/Shutterstock Modern sustainable neighborhood in Almere, The Netherlands. The city heating in the district is partially powered by a solar panel island. Aerial view.](/sites/default/files/styles/listing_image_290x218/public/shutterstock_netherlands_solar.jpg?h=e85f6c07&itok=yxZXDapj)
The world needs a circular economy. Help us make it happen
The circular economy could be a $4.5 trillion business opportunity.
Only 9% of the global economy is circular at present.
The Platform for Accelerating the Circular Economy is helping to speed this transition.
As policy-makers worldwide respond to a rising tide of climate activism and…
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![The Global Commission on Adaptation estimates that investing $1.8 trillion to climate-proof businesses and the broader economy between now and 2030 could generate up to $7.1 trillion in net benefits. This is a very attractive return on investment. Photo: donvictorio/Shutterstock. Cargo ships entering one of the busiest ports in the world, Singapore.](/sites/default/files/styles/listing_image_290x218/public/shutterstock_cargo_singapore.jpg?h=e85f6c07&itok=ApvsD7yD)
The next challenge for business: adapting to climate change
The private sector must begin preparing for climate change and the ensuing disruption to operations and services with new approaches
The future success of the private sector may not only depend on how successfully it can mitigate, but also on how it can adapt to climate change.…
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![All of us in the supply chain have the information we need to make more informed decisions about the social and environmental changes required. But we, and the rest of the sector, need to go much further and more quickly. To do so, we also need the help of others. Photo: ABO Photography/Shutterstock. Basket of vegetables](/sites/default/files/styles/listing_image_290x218/public/shutterstock_food_blog.jpg?h=e85f6c07&itok=2D3mj7a9)
Producing sustainable food is every company's business
Businesses of all kinds must be prepared to help re-imagine the world’s food system, which is not fit for purpose
Are you reading this with a cup of coffee, a piece of chocolate or maybe even a protein bar with nuts and puffed rice? There is a good chance that the coffee beans, cocoa, nuts or…
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![Next year is expected to mark the tipping point when Asia’s economies surpass the rest of the world in terms of purchasing power parity. But the bigger and inarguably more transformative impact will come not from this greater prosperity, but from Asia’s opportunity to embrace and drive sustainable development. Photo: BatmanV/Shutterstock. Deforested area](/sites/default/files/styles/listing_image_290x218/public/shutterstock_telegraph_deforestation.jpg?h=e85f6c07&itok=9ZL5KiLb)
Sustainable development in Asia: seeing both the forests and the trees
As the continent comes to dominate the global economy, it will do much to determine the fate of the global commons
As a young Asian business leader, it is fascinating to be part of an important transformation – the rise of Asia in the global economy.
Next year is expected to mark the tipping…
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![Alternative approaches need a major change of mindset and a paradigm shift to design a new food ecosystem based on agroecology principles, requiring different kinds of crop planting practices, mechanisation and aggregation of commodities. Photo: LALS STOCK/Shutterstock. Combine in wheat field](/sites/default/files/styles/listing_image_290x218/public/shutterstock_blog_wheat_field.jpg?h=e85f6c07&itok=b-SKcybc)
We need a new approach to growing and consuming food
Food wastage must be reduced, consumer preferences must change and farmers must be weaned on to ecologically sustainable practices
From consumers in London to drought-prone farmers in central India, nobody needs convincing that climate is changing for the worse. But policymakers are failing to…
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![Fishery improvement projects (FIPs) bring together businesses, vessel owners, NGOs and governments to identify environmental challenges in a fishery and develop an action plan to address them. Photo: J'nel/Shutterstock. Tuna amongst prey. Photo: J'nel/Shutterstock.](/sites/default/files/styles/listing_image_290x218/public/shutterstock_telegraph_tuna_blog.jpg?h=e85f6c07&itok=8v42mnZ4)
Needed: an ecosystem of partners to support ocean health
Global co-operation, with businesses playing a critical role, is needed to transform the seafood industry
It is estimated that approximately three billion people around the world rely on seafood for their primary source of protein, making flourishing oceans an integral part of the global…
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![We are in the middle of a disruptive digital transformation that compels us to update traditional business models. We need to create an entirely new model for the chemical industry – one we might term “chemistry and materials as a service.\" Photo: Tong Nawarit/Shutterstock. Woman using a microscope. Photo: Tong Nawarit/Shutterstock.](/sites/default/files/styles/listing_image_290x218/public/shutterstock_scientist_microscope_blog.jpg?h=e85f6c07&itok=4hgMXhHz)
Business should ensure the well-being of people and the planet
Innovation, sustainability and the efficient use of capital are mutually reinforcing
More and more private companies are incorporating the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) into their operating strategies and using them as business opportunities.
Approved by the UN General…
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![Human activity has “significantly altered” 75 per cent of land and 66 per cent of oceans, mainly through food production. Photo: Ethan Daniels/Shutterstock. A shallow seagrass meadow surrounds a tropical island on the Mesoamerican barrier reef off the coast of Belize. Photo: Ethan Daniels/Shutterstock.](/sites/default/files/styles/listing_image_290x218/public/shutterstock_seagrass_global_commons.jpg?h=e85f6c07&itok=PN-pTEjT)
Three steps to meeting the climate and nature emergency
We must make the most of a super-year in 2020 for saving the global commons next year
There are growing calls to declare climate and nature emergencies. But are these justified? The latest scientific assessments on the state of Earth’s climate and biodiversity provide robust evidence.
The…