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Water, hygiene and sanitation: does business have a role to play?
Posted by Guardian: Oliver Balch on October 17th, 2013
Guardian: No-one needs to explain to the rural residents of Zambia's Western Province the value of water. They know all too well. Two in three people lack safe water to drink in the region's villages, and even fewer have access to a clean toilet. So when Village Water Zambia arrived offering to provide wells, hand pumps and sanitation facilities, the charity was warmly received. Likewise, when US bank Bank of America Merrill Lynch stepped in and gifted the charity's UK arm more than £100,000 over two years,...
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Investors in agriculture ignore environmental risks at their peril
Posted by Guardian: Oliver Balch on August 12th, 2013
Guardian: Forget hi-tech stocks or shares in fast-growth pharma. Farming is where the clever money is heading these days. With the world enjoying the longest agricultural commodity boom since the second world war, billions of investment dollars are funnelling into farm-rich emerging markets such as Brazil, Nigeria and China. More established agricultural powerhouses such as North America and Russia are surging too.
Many investors are sitting pretty as a consequence. Global farmland asset values, for instance,...
Compelling conversation is the key for improving the odds on sustainability
Posted by Guardian: Oliver Balch on May 28th, 2013
Guardian: Being gloomy has never been easier. Open any newspaper and the world looks every bit like it's going to pot. Carbon levels in the atmosphere are stratospheric, literally. Freak weather-related disasters are becoming two-a-penny. One in eight people are still going to bed hungry. The apocalypse, you'd think, is nigh.
Bryan Welch would like you to think otherwise. A rare breed in these doom-mongering days, 53-year-old Welch is an out-and-proud optimist. This is the man who gave his book about the...