Sam Lakha, Manager, Volans Outreach.
The Copenhagen Call
I spent Saturday-to-Tuesday late at the World Business Summit on Climate Change, facilitating a session on forestry. A blog summary of the event and the resulting ‘Copenhagen Call’ can be found here.
The address for this blog entry is: http://www.volans.com/2009/05/the-copenhagen-call/.
- John ElkingtonPhoenix 50 Pioneer has a new website - check it out!
I was impressed to find a FANTASTIC new website for The Global Impact Investing Network. There is some great information on some of their current projects. Check it out!
http://www.qk18ad7×79.web.aplus.net/index.html
The address for this blog entry is: http://www.volans.com/2009/05/phoenix-50-pioneer-has-a-new-website-check-it-out/.
- Charmian LoveThinking about Retirement …
… but not in that way.
Although I celebrate my sixtieth birthday in June, I have recently been thinking of retirement and retirees for very different reasons. One is that our visit to see Nick Robins at HSBC led me to pick up a copy of the HSBC Insurance publication, The Future of Retirement: Investing in Later Life. Another is that a growing amount of our work at SustainAbility and Volans, at least potentially, relates to the investment strategies and wider priorities of pension funds. But it’s also because I’m increasingly concerned what political role the Baby Boomers might play in the coming decades if their pension expectations are repeatedly shocked by pension industry crises. The Financial Times ran a pretty gloomy column today looking at the downsides of the Boomer story to date.
Talking to Doug Miller of GlobeScan last night, over dinner at Whit’s, Kensington, I began to think we that we should be trying to engage the Boomers much more actively, alongside the work people like Paul Hawken are doing to mobilise the young.
The address for this blog entry is: http://www.volans.com/2009/05/thinking-about-retirement/.
- John ElkingtonADP’s ‘Non of Our Business?’ event
On 20 May, I spoke at the Accenture Development Partnerships (ADP) event to debate the new paper from Gib Bulloch and Jane Nelson, Development Collaboration: None of Our Business?
The address for this blog entry is: http://www.volans.com/2009/05/adps-non-of-our-business-event/.
- John ElkingtonThe Earth is hiring
Well worth a read is Paul Hawken’s extraordinary commencement speech for students at the University of Portland.
A quote:
“Hey, Class of 2009: you are going to have to figure out what it means to be a human being on earth at a time when every living system is declining, and the rate of decline is accelerating. Kind of a mind-boggling situation… but not one peer-reviewed paper published in the last thirty years can refute that statement. Basically, the earth needs a new operating system, you are the programmers, and we need it within a few decades.”
The address for this blog entry is: http://www.volans.com/2009/05/the-earth-is-hiring/.
- John ElkingtonMiddle Eastern social entrepreneurs recognised
Two new social entrepreneurs with significant impact in the region have been recognized by the Schwab Foundation as winners of the Middle East Regional Social Entrepreneurs 2009. Naif Al Mutawa, Founder and Chairman of Teshkeel Media Group, Kuwait, and Ziad Al Refai, Chief Executive Officer, Tamweelcom, Jordan, will join other leading social entrepreneurs at the World Economic Forum on the Middle East, 15-17 May 2009.
Teshkeel Media Group is focused on creating wholesome new children’s adventures through its proprietary superheroes, “THE 99”. Drawing upon global history, culture and traditions, its aim is to provide positive and inspirational role models for children that are inspired by Islam albeit on a global level. THE 99 are superheroes from 99 countries that work together to improve the world with story lines that promote diversity, multiculturalism, personal responsibility and personal accountability. THE 99 comics have been licensed in 8 languages with editions in Indonesia, Turkey, France, India, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Nepal already, with other countries soon to be included. THE 99 Village theme park – the first of six – recently opened in Jahra, Kuwait and a global animation project co-Produced with media giant Endemol is poised to hit the airwaves by the end of 2009.
Tamweelcom is the Middle East’s leading microfinance organization, ranked 8th best microfinance bank worldwide. It provides credit opportunities for micro-entrepreneurs, who cannot access the banking system due to a lack of collateral. It also provide business training and vocational services to the poorest communities in Jordan, women-led families and widows, through its loan offices. Through successful innovations such as the Souk Ayyadi markets that create sales channels for the products and services of its members, educational scholarship funding for performing member’s family, and “pay and renew” loan systems, Tamweelcom has continued to grow and serve client’s needs. Since inception, it has served more than 100,000 micro-entrepreneurs with more than US$75million in loans.
The address for this blog entry is: http://www.volans.com/2009/05/middle-eastern-social-entrepreneurs-recognised/.
- John ElkingtonEDF on environmental innovation
Each year, Environmental Defense Fund (EDF) surveys the landscape of environmental innovation in business. The aim is to track down the “most compelling, and implementable, new practices and technologies—those that drive operational efficiency, create new business opportunities and carve out competitive advantages”. This year’s conclusion: That especially in these lean economic times, sustainability is business positive. From the Fortune 100 to the smallest start-up, U.S. companies are competing to be the most green. The second year I was part of the Advisory Committee.
The address for this blog entry is: http://www.volans.com/2009/05/edf-on-environmental-innovation/.
- John ElkingtonPreparing B-schools for the 21st century
We began to sketch out a new syllabus for business schools in The Phoenix Economy. In that context, I really liked this piece from GE’s Jeff Immelt on where B-schools need to head next.
The address for this blog entry is: http://www.volans.com/2009/05/preparing-b-schools-for-the-21st-century/.
- John ElkingtonCreating shared value
I spent much of last week in New York, primarily to take part in the first meeting of the new Nestlé Creating Shared Value Advisory Board. More here. The following day, Tuesday, there was an open public forum, also webcast, where I spoke as part of the opening panel alongside the likes of Michael Porter and CK Prahalad. Very stimulating in terms of our pathways to scale thinking.
The address for this blog entry is: http://www.volans.com/2009/05/creating-shared-value/.
- John ElkingtonEla Bhatt and the meaning of freedom
One of our favourite social entrepreneurs, Ela Bhatt of India’s Self-Employed Women’s Association (SEWA), is covered in The New York Times. One of the nicest parts of the profile is where she reflects on the meaning of freedom for SEWA’s poverty-stricken members. For some, it is the ability to step out of the house, for others having a door on the bathroom. Then she tells her personal favourite. Freedom, one woman told her, was “looking a policeman in the eye”.
The address for this blog entry is: http://www.volans.com/2009/05/ela-bhatt-and-the-meaning-of-freedom/.
- John Elkington