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![Madagascar is the world’s leading producer of vanilla. Fanamby has initiated a programme for the crop which aims to support farmers in producing good-quality vanilla with sure access to international markets, but without it being their only source of revenue. This programme also aims to promote gender equality by involving the leadership of strong women producers. Photo: Pierre-Yves Babelon/Shutterstock. A malagasy farmer and son in their plantation of vanilla near Sambava, east of Madagascar. Photo: Pierre-Yves Babelon/Shutterstock.](/sites/default/files/styles/listing_image_290x218/public/shutterstock_malagasy_vanilla_farmer.jpg?h=e85f6c07&itok=uhZA9pQb)
Conserving nature boosts farmer incomes and cuts poverty
Local communities need to be engaged when it comes to using their natural resources sustainably
Madagascar, island of a thousand wonders, is well known for its many endemic species of plants and animals. With more than 13 million hectares (more than 50,000 sq miles) of forest, it is home to more…
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![Growing population: approximately 20 million people now live in Lagos. Photo: ariyo olasunkanmi/Shutterstock. A busy market in Lagos, Nigeria. Photo: ariyo olasunkanmi/Shutterstock.](/sites/default/files/styles/listing_image_290x218/public/shutterstock_lagos_traffic.jpg?h=e85f6c07&itok=P6vV2t-o)
Renewable energy is the only way to fuel African growth
Public-private partnerships are proving to be an effective way of solving Nigeria's energy supply crisis
My country, Nigeria, will soon become the third most populous country in the world, reaching a forecast 400 million people in 2050. This demographic growth is happening at an incredible speed.…
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![Analysis shows that, for every dollar spent on food, society pays two in health, environmental and economic costs: $5.7 trillion (£4.33 trillion) of this huge annual economic burden is due to how food is produced and how its by-products are managed. Photo: Fotokostic/Shutterstock. Tractor spraying pesticides on vegetable field with sprayer at spring. Photo: Fotokostic/Shutterstock.](/sites/default/files/styles/listing_image_290x218/public/shutterstock_pesticides_tractor_farm.jpg?h=e85f6c07&itok=ADS_lvBv)
Fixing the food system: how cities can truly feed the world
Urban areas can change the broken food system that causes ill-health and environmental degradation
Over half of the world’s 7.7 billion people live in towns and cities. By 2050, more than two thirds of them will do so. Materials, waste, emissions, knowledge and influence follow this population…
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![It is now up to the private sector to prove on a large scale that sustainable business practices lead to greater biodiversity and to capturing more carbon – and, above all, that they offer robust financial returns. That calls for a fresh perspective: sustainability isn’t a “green cost of doing business” – rather, it is now the business itself. Photo: Gustavo Frazao/Shutterstock. Aerial shot of Amazon rainforest in Brazil, South America. Photo: Gustavo Frazao/Shutterstock.](/sites/default/files/styles/listing_image_290x218/public/shutterstock_amazon_river.jpg?h=e85f6c07&itok=tkOj3_3I)
Exploiting rainforest riches while conserving them
Products that are sustainably harvested from the Amazon can form a powerful bioeconomy
Climate change is coming to the global policy agenda, and damage to the world’s tropical rainforests is a key component of it.
In my own country, Brazil, there is widespread concern about climate change linked to…
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![Together, if we meet the SDGs, we will do something no generation has achieved since the first industrial revolution: we can hand to tomorrow’s generation a planet in better shape than we inherited it. Photo: TTstudio/Shutterstock. Wheat field with sun. Photo: TTstudio/Shutterstock.](/sites/default/files/styles/listing_image_290x218/public/shutterstock_wheat_field_telegraph_blog.jpg?h=e85f6c07&itok=YcWiHmTF)
Why investors must look beyond returns
Profitability and sustainability can reinforce each other. Business should do well, do right and do good – and it pays
When starting a business, founders grapple with its purpose – the reason for it to exist. This purpose has multiple dimensions, seldom one. These could include: developing goods…
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![Accenture estimates that going circular stands to add $4.5 trillion in value to the global economy – and without the damaging effects on the global commons inflicted by historical economic development. Photo: Comaniciu Dan/Shutterstock. Man looking at piles of rubbish at a landfill. Photo: Comaniciu Dan/Shutterstock.](/sites/default/files/styles/listing_image_290x218/public/shutterstock_recycling_circular_economy_news.jpg?h=e85f6c07&itok=LH-1sE4v)
Going circular offers a great opportunity
Combating climate change and the throwaway economy could achieve a leap in prosperity
In the past few months, I have heard Sir David Attenborough, and believe him when he says the next 10 years are make-or-break time for environmental stability on this planet.
I have heard Greta Thunberg, and share…
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![Today, farmers are shouldering the burden of adapting to the climate crisis. Food and agriculture can be powerful solutions in reducing greenhouse gas emissions, investing in soil health and innovating to sequester carbon. Photo: happystock/Shutterstock. Indonesian farmers harvesting rice. Photo: happystock/Shutterstock.](/sites/default/files/styles/listing_image_290x218/public/shutterstock_indonesia_rice_news.jpg?h=e85f6c07&itok=ypdnUQzd)
Transforming the food system to feed tomorrow's world
Supporting sustainable rice production protects the global commons, increases farmers’ incomes and is good for our business
The delicate ecosystem that allows our planet and its people to thrive is under pressure as never before. The UK Government recently became the first in the world to declare a…
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![Our failure to act over the past decades means that we are increasingly accepting that a part of our climate disruption is irreversible, and looking at adapting to it. But this, of course, should not prevent us from setting targets to reduce our greenhouse gas emissions to stop it getting worse. Photo: testing/Shutterstock. Our failure to act over the past decades means that we are increasingly accepting that a part of our climate disruption is irreversible, and looking at adapting to it. But this, of course, should not prevent us from setting targets to reduce our greenhouse gas emissions to stop it getting worse. Photo: testing/Shutterstock.](/sites/default/files/styles/listing_image_290x218/public/shutterstock_beijing_traffic_blog.jpg?h=e85f6c07&itok=5TwZJlfc)
Pricing carbon will help us better deal with climate change
Nearly 1,400 companies are adopting an internal carbon price so as to future-proof prosperity
The impact of climate disruption is already visible worldwide: irreversible damage to the oceans, more floods and prolonged droughts, which are causing issues for food production.
Methane explosions in…
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![A new drive for cooperation is propelling civil society, labour leaders, company CEOs and some governments to join together to bind business, communities and policy makers into new forms of common environmental action. Photo: Humannet/Shutterstock A new drive for cooperation is propelling civil society, labour leaders, company CEOs and some governments to join together to bind business, communities and policy makers into new forms of common environmental action. Photo: Humannet/Shutterstock](/sites/default/files/styles/listing_image_290x218/public/shutterstock_134720009.jpg?h=e85f6c07&itok=wsYDrzlQ)
A new green revolution can fix our relationship with the Earth by 2030
Extraordinary collaboration is succeeding where national and international government action alone has so far failed
For years, big environmental problems were for governments and international organisations to solve. But despite all their efforts the state of the global environmental commons has…
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![Partnership model: some Japanese fishing communities benefited from responsible resourcing. Photo: Marco Scotto/Shutterstock. Partnership model: some Japanese fishing communities benefited from responsible resourcing. Photo: Marco Scotto/Shutterstock.](/sites/default/files/styles/listing_image_290x218/public/japanese_fishing_boats_shutterstock_news.jpg?h=e85f6c07&itok=e9aRaeKA)
We can turn the tragedy of the global commons into an opportunity
The global commons are being pushed to breaking point, so coalitions are forming to protect them and to build lasting prosperity
My country, Japan, was long dependent on fishing. In the past, every fisherman in a coastal community would be tempted to catch as much as possible. When everyone did so…