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Water Scarcity Can’t be Solved by a Single Sector: How Businesses and NGOs Can Work Together to Advance Water Security
Around the world, 2 billion people still lack access to safe drinking water, and a staggering 3.6 billion people lack basic sanitation, as of 2021. Amelia Metcalf at Water Unite argues that the vast scale of these challenges has created an urgent need for collaborative action between water-focused non-profits/NGOs and for-profit businesses, especially corporations and larger enterprises. She explains how this sort of partnership can deliver benefits to both sides — while offering a key opportunity to combat water scarcity at a global scale.
- Categories
- Environment, Investing, WASH
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Making ICT4D Green: Three Focus Areas for Improving the Environmental Impact of the Information and Communication Technology for Development Sector
The global digital transformation is generating many positive impacts, and digital technologies have become essential tools for climate and environmental action. But according to Nora Lindström at Catholic Relief Services, the growing use of digital technology is also causing some significant environmental challenges — and the “Information and Communication Technology for Development (ICT4D)” sector must address them. She discusses several ways to increase the tech industry's sustainability, focusing on three key elements of ICT: generative AI, broadband access and electronic equipment.
- Categories
- Energy, Environment, Technology, Telecommunications, WASH
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Trash Talk: Five Lessons for Reducing Plastic Pollution by Establishing Sachet Recycling Loops
Sachet waste — i.e., packaging for small, single-use quantities of consumer goods — is a growing environmental threat. With increasing demand for sachet-packaged products, particularly in emerging economies, the world now produces a staggering 855 billion pieces of this waste each year. Rolph Droste at Bopinc discusses the environmental impact of sachet waste, and shares learnings from a consortium of businesses and nonprofits that is establishing a large-scale, market-driven solution for recycling this waste in Bangladesh.
- Categories
- Environment, WASH
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NextBillion’s Most Influential Articles of 2023: Announcing the Three Winners of our Annual Contest
As 2024 gets underway, we'd like to announce the results of NextBillion’s annual “Most Influential Article of the Year” contest. This year's contest featured a strong slate of articles, covering a diverse array of topics ranging from systems change to decarbonization, in sectors that included energy, agriculture, finance and more. We've highlighted the three winners, as selected by our readers, in this article.
- Categories
- Agriculture, Energy, Environment, Finance, Investing, Social Enterprise, Technology, WASH
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Announcing NextBillion’s Most Influential Articles of 2023: Cast Your Vote in our Annual Contest by Jan. 7!
As 2023 draws to a close, it’s time for NextBillion’s annual tradition: our “Most Influential Articles of the Year” contest. As we've done since 2012, we've selected 12 of our most-read articles from the past year, inviting readers to vote for the ones that influenced their thinking the most. You can vote multiple times — up to once per hour — during the voting period, which will run from Dec. 22 to 11:59 pm on Jan. 7. Best wishes for a healthy and prosperous new year!
- Categories
- Agriculture, Energy, Environment, Finance, Investing, Social Enterprise, Technology, WASH
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Is Latin America and the Caribbean Really Just 1% Circular?: A New Report Highlights the Hidden Role of Informal Workers in the Circular Economy
Latin America and the Caribbean is 1% circular — far below the global average of 7.2% — according to a recent Circle Economy Foundation report. That means just 1% of all the materials flowing through the region’s economy get a second life through repair, recycling or other means. But Ana Birliga Sutherland and Esther Goodwin Brown at Circle Economy Foundation explain that this number doesn't reflect the contributions of informal workers. They discuss the key role these workers play in the circular economy, and the need for more data and other efforts to support them.
- Categories
- Environment, WASH
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From Trash Barriers to ‘Sky Latrines’: Leveraging Entrepreneurship to Address WASH-Related Challenges in Cambodia’s Floating Villages
Cambodia faces a number of water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH)-related challenges — particularly in the floating villages and dense lakeside communities around the Mekong River. As Simon Crittle at iDE explains, these waterways are heavily contaminated, causing residents to suffer from waterborne diseases. He explores how iDE is addressing these issues by helping local community members create and monetize waste-management solutions — providing livelihoods for women entrepreneurs in the process.
- Categories
- Environment, Social Enterprise, Technology, WASH
- Tags
- hygiene, recycling, sanitation, waste, water, women entrepreneurs
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Analyzing Menstrual Health and Hygiene Through a Market-Based Lens: A New Report Assesses the Landscape in the Global South
Around the world, roughly 1.8 billion people menstruate — and over 300 million are menstruating on any given day. Yet as Lucie Klarsfeld, Jeanne Charbit and Louise Berthault at Hystra explain, menstrual health and hygiene (MHH) is an overlooked topic in global development, and there's a lack of research about the market for menstrual products in the Global South. They share findings from a new Hystra report that addresses this knowledge gap by assessing the market for MHH solutions in eight emerging economies.
- Categories
- WASH
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