Environment and climate change
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SELCO makes solar-lighting accessible to poor families in India
SELCO India is a Bangalore‐based social enterprise that makes solar lighting technology accessible to economically impoverished people in India.
Profiles of the Corporate Social Responsibility (CRS) practices of Philippine mining firms
The increased awareness of environmental impacts, the socio-economic implications of mining and a downturn in productivity, have highlighted the need for mining companies to adjust their business management process.
Environmental Defense and DuPont develop a framework for responsible nanotechnology
Environmental Defense, an environmental advocacy organization, and DuPont, a science-based products and services company, have developed a comprehensive, practical, and flexible Framework for evaluating and addressing the potential risks of nanoscale materials.
Diageo publishes sustainable packaging guidelines
Diageo has published its first "Sustainable Packaging Guidelines". The Guidelines represent the company's global policy on ensuring that packaging is increasingly sustainable and reflect Diageo’s commitment to a holistic approach to reducing the company's overall impact on the environment across...
SEKEM: A Holistic Egyptian Initiative
After living in Austria for 21 years, Ibrahim Abouleish returned home to Egypt to do something about the difficulties he observed during visits. In 1977, he founded the Sekem initiative to promote social and environmental development through economic and cultural activities.
Sustainable Cashew Production in Guinea
Guinea grows about 5,000 tons of raw cashew nuts a year. Meanwhile, its much smaller neighbour Guinea-Bissau, with similar soil and climate, produces 80,000 tons. Encouraged by the growing consumer demand for cashews, Guinea has begun to focus on expanding cashew production—a good candidate for...
Partnerships bring fuel services to northern Mozambique medical clinics
In a country with 500 doctors for almost 20 million people, initiatives that can expand the reach of health services to rural people are in critical demand but in short supply. In northern Mozambique, the big challenge for health clinics is the lack of reliable fuel to light medical operations and...
Integrated Tamale Fruit Company: Organic Mangoes Improving Livelihoods for the Poor in Ghana
The Integrated Tamale Fruit Company—operating in the Savelugu-Nanton District in Ghana’s Northern Region, an area of widespread poverty—cultivates certified organic mangos for local and export markets. To boost its power in the export market with higher production volumes, the company established a...
PETSTAR: Adding Value to the Chain of Recycling While Improving the Scavengers’ Working Conditions
With about 85,000 tons of waste generated every day, Mexico is the 10th largest garbage producer in the world. At the same time, tens of thousands of scavengers, including children, are making a living by collecting saleable items from open-air dumps in very poor, informal conditions.
Amanco: Providing Irrigation Systems to the Rural Poor
For decades, small farmers in Latin America have faced a grim outlook: low productivity and inefficiency. That was the background for the decision of Amanco, a subsidiary of the conglomerate GrupoNueva, to develop a hybrid value chain model for serving low-income markets. As part of that plan, the...
Votorantim Celulose e Papel (VCP) in Brazil: Planting eucalyptus in partnership with the rural poor
Brazil suffers from high income inequality and widespread poverty, especially in rural areas. Despite recent policies to support rural settlements through land reform, a mismatch remains between the rural population’s social demands and the state’s capacity to respond.
Parternships in Belarus providing affordable Health Care to the Poor
Cardiovascular diseases are common among the population of Belarus. Belarus lacks quick cardiac diagnostic and treatment services in many remote areas outside of major cities. Telemedicine offers a solution to this problem by connecting a doctor in a local hospital with a cardiac specialist in a...
Working with the community to grow coconut tree business in Indonesia
Due to the abundance and ubiquity of coconut trees and plantations in Indonesia, there are potentially enormous social and commercial benefits that can be gained from integrating local communities in the production of high value coconut-based products. Indonesia has about 3.7 million hectare of...
PROMASOL partners to provide green energy and create jobs in Morocco
For a country like Morocco with 3,000 hours of sun per year, totally depending on imports for its energy needs seems like a paradox. Being aware of such a situation, Moroccan authorities aimed to benefit from renewable sources of energy to produce at least 10% of the country’s energy needs by 2010....
Saraman partners to provide affordable and green earthquake-Safe Schools and Housing
Housing is a major challenge for the rising young population of developing countries. For households who have their dwelling as their main asset and shelter, the robustness of the construction is crucial, especially in earthquake-prone areas. Yet, in low-income markets, conventional construction...
SELCO partners with India's state banks to bring sunlight to rural India
SELCO India is a Bangalore‐based social enterprise that makes solar lighting technology accessible to the economically impoverished people in India. SELCO’s mission is based on a simple but powerful idea that the economic conditions of the impoverished can be improved substantially if they are made...
Tedcor model helps out small businesses with refuse removal in South Africa
Tedcor started its community-based refuse removal system in 1992. Today, using Tedcor's model, over 80 trained entrepreneurs operate their own small businesses in 16 local authorities. They provide employment to more than 1,000 historically disadvantaged people and supply waste removal services to...
TEMASOL: Providing Energy Access to Remote Rural Households in Morocco
In Morocco, despite the government’s efforts to expand its grid-based coverage, about 9% of the rural population could not be cost-effectively connected. Given that Morocco enjoys 3,000 hours of sun per year, solar energy was therefore thought to be a cost-effective alternative. TEMASOL is a...
Toyola Charcoal Stove: Improving the Environment and Health of the Poor in Ghana
Toyola Energy Limited is a company that operates in Ghana. It produces and distributes energy efficient charcoal stoves and solar lanterns for domestic users in the urban and rural parts of Ghana. Toyola entrepreneurs Suraj Wahab and Ernest Kyei – two artisans - have implemented an innovative...
A sucessful community/private/public partnership model for waste recycling in Bangladesh
In Bangladesh, the large proportion of urban population combined with limited waste collection systems poses serious social, environmental and health problems. A social enterprise called Waste Concern has found a way to transform solid waste into organic compost using a low cost, low-tech and...