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Report: Biodiversity crisis: Technological advances in agriculture are not a sufficient response
Rapid population and economic growth are destroying biodiversity. A growing demand for agricultural products requires ever new cultivated areas. Even though technological advances are making agriculture more efficient, the growing population makes up for these successes. Effective nature conservation needs concepts against population growth and for sustainable consumption.
- Categories
- Agriculture, Environment, Technology
- Tags
- agtech
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Coffee, Cocoa, and the Cutting Edge
Deforestation is threatening crop diversity and jeopardizing the livelihoods of millions of poor small farmers around the world. But innovative technologies and better access to financing can help farmers to counter some of these risks.
- Categories
- Agriculture, Environment, Finance, Technology
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Why Health Benefits Could Drive Customer Value for Solar Lighting and Clean Cookstoves
Solar lighting and improved cookstoves have multiple benefits. But according to a new FINCA International survey of end-users in Uganda, the benefits customers value most involve the products' perceived contributions to a cleaner, healthier household. Scott Graham and Anahit Tevosyan at FINCA explore how highlighting these benefits can help product manufacturers and distributors – and the donors and investors who support them – to strengthen the uptake and usage of off-grid products.
- Categories
- Energy, Environment
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Climate change is a disruptor. Here’s how to harness it for innovation
The need to act on climate change is the greatest potential cause of disruption faced by new and established businesses alike, and is also the greatest catalyst for innovation for those willing to harness it.
- Categories
- Environment, Technology
- Tags
- climate change, innovation
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World Bank urges spending on ‘climate-friendly’ infrastructure
Spending an average of 4.5% of GDP on ‘climate-friendly’ infrastructure could help developing countries achieve the Sustainable Development Goals.
- Categories
- Environment
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Sustainable Finance Is Growing in the World’s Worst-Polluting Country
Being an impact investor in China isn’t as lonely as it used to be, says Zhang, whose firm has made or facilitated more than $200 million in China-focused environmental and social investments over the past decade. They include projects to develop clean refrigeration technology and to convert agricultural waste into cooking charcoal.
- Categories
- Environment, Investing
- Region
- Asia Pacific
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Viewpoint: Impact Investors are not Funding the Patagonias of Tomorrow—and That’s a Problem
By creating a sense of shared identity, a “cool factor,” and sensitizing parka buyers to technocratic topics like supply chain transparency, Patagonia has transformed the conversation around environmentalism and made it a defining part of many people’s identity. That shift is incredibly hard to quantify and to value in dollars and cents .
- Categories
- Environment, Investing
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Why the Social Impact Sector Needs a ‘Bizarro Davos’: A Modest Proposal That Nobody Will Like
It’s that time of year again: Time to talk about the true meaning of Davos. But among all the hot takes and well-earned snark at the expense of insufferable elites, it’s worth asking if the rest of us are so different. Even those of us who work in the social impact sector don’t seem to object to high-brow conferences, and few regular folks seem willing to make the kinds of sacrifices that may be necessary to tackle the generational challenges we face. NextBillion editor James Militzer discusses this dynamic, and makes a sure-to-be-unpopular proposal.
- Categories
- Environment, Social Enterprise
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