NextBillion - An Initiative of the William Davidson Institute at the University of Michigan

Waste Ventures Gives India’s Waste Pickers Access to Carbon Markets

Urban India generates 40 million tons of rubbish each year, a figure that is growing by more than two million tons ever year. Just 25 percent of that rubbish is collected by government contractors and there is little recycling; the rest is dumped and left to rot, producing methane, which is 23 times more harmful to us than carbon dioxide. Waste Ventures is a social enterprise aims to build a model in waste management that empowers the was...

Source

Wired (link opens in a new window)

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Environment

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waste

A New Direction in South-South Collaboration at the 6th Annual New Ventures India Investor Forum

Last month, New Ventures India held its 6th annual Investor Forum, which showcased 17 environmentally-focused SMEs to investors and business leaders in Mumbai. For the first time, the forum hosted several sessions dedicated to South-South collaboration giving 8 companies from across Asia and Africa the chance to present the case for entering India.

Categories

Environment

Financing Agricultural Supply Chains – Sustainably

In April of 2011, Rainforest Alliance and Citi Foundation hosted a Sustainable Value Chain Finance Workshop, which established a dialogue across the full range of agricultural sector participants, including buyers, exporters, retailers, producers, insurers, private and public financial institutions, development agencies and civil society.

Categories

Agriculture, Environment

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supply chains

Best Ideas of 2011: Green Economy and Green Growth

An economy that works better for both people and the planet - it almost sounds too good to be true. But this year, the ideas of green economy and green growth became the subject of much buzz that has the potential to turn into action starting in 2012.

Categories

Environment

Guest Post: Africa Enterprise Challenge Fund’s Competitions Focusing on Agribusiness, Climate Change

The Africa Enterprise Challenge Fund, which invests in businesses seeking commercially viable and high development impact projects in Africa, has launched three new competitions. Two will focus on agribusiness development in Sub-Saharan Africa and South Sudan, and renewable energy to help small farmers in East Africa to adapt to climate change.

Categories

Environment, Investing

Tags

venture capital

Housing Series: Sustainable Communities Generating Sustainable Habitats

We began Echale a Tu Casa over 25 years ago as a nonprofit to help low-income Mexican families improve home safety, health and hygiene conditions. Realizing that philanthropy would not permit us to have much of an impact on these living conditions, we created a social enterprise built on an integrated system of savings, credit and subsidies.

Categories

Environment, Health Care, WASH

Tags

employment, housing, rural development

Seven Billion: The Real Population Scare Is Not What You Think

The Earth’s resources that underpin our modern lifestyles are deteriorating. This is not to suggest that hard-earned middle class lifestyles must be curbed or that Africans and Asians should be denied the chance to own laptops and iPods. Far from it. Rather, as the middle class grows, business needs to find ways to shrink natural resource use.

Categories

Environment, Health Care

Tags

nutrition

At the Tipping Point: How Can Global Financiers Create a Sustainable World Economy?

Last week’s UNEP FI conference, ?The Tipping Point: Sustained Stability in the Next Economy? considered the emerging role of sustainable finance in reforming the financial sector for the long term. As we reach a different tipping point, the 7 billionth person on Earth, it’s just the sort open and strategic conversation we need.

Categories

Environment

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impact investing