World Wildlife Fund Sustainability Works

The Markets Institute at WWF believes that one path of the route to a more resilient, accessible food system is more distributed capacity, a system in which some nutritious food is produced at scale closer to consumers, with more efficient use of inputs, less waste, and fewer GHG emissions. We are exploring if indoor, soilless agriculture can help us get there.

Between 20 and 30 percent of the food we grow on US farms never makes it out of the field or past the farmgate. While these crops get tilled back into soil, food banks across the country struggle to meet demand for those in need. And that’s in business-as-usual circumstances. Right now, food banks are seeing more than 100 percent increase in demand in many places as millions face furlough and unemployment. While both farmers and food banks may be aware of this disconnect, there are several roadblocks in the system we have yet to overcome, including the technology to help farmers find access to markets and availability of affordable, skilled workers to harvest surplus food.

Foro Ren mx, the first-ever renewable energy event in Mexico focusing on the role of corporate energy buyers in the renewables market was held in Mexico City on February 5, 2020. Over 200 corporate electricity buyers, renewable energy suppliers, and service providers took part in a day of lively discussions, focused on the state of market, procurement options, and regulatory outlook. During the forum, one statement resonated with all participants – the renewable energy movement, led by corporate buyers, will forge ahead.

The tuna industry provides job security for hundreds of thousands of people and contributes to the food security of millions more. An inter-connected network of people make up the sector and span the world. In places like Ecuador, the people who harvest fish work side-by-side with those who collect data about it, and those who work at the port in Guayaquil rely on the people who process fish landed there. When these groups work together, they can accomplish great things, including long-term environmental sustainability.

Nature-based solutions and corporate goal setting for forests and climate.

While uncertainties and disruption associated with COVID-19 abound, many leadership companies are still moving forward with the important process of drafting their 2020-2030 sustainability goals. Companies leading the pack recognize the importance of integrating sustainability and business goals, given the close link between environmental and business risks highlighted by the World Economic Forum Global Risks Report 2020.

April 22, 2020 is the 50th Anniversary of Earth Day, a time to appreciate all that nature provides for us and consider how we can best protect our planet. This year, as the world responds to the global COVID-19 pandemic, our thoughts are with everyone impacted by this crisis, and our gratitude goes out to those working to provide essential services for our health and well-being.

Earlier this year, I met some visionary leaders in Brazil’s Atlantic Forest. They’re landowners living at the intersection of ecology, business, and culture in one of the world’s most important and threatened bioregions.

The hearts of the world’s oldest and most intact forests are the global centers of evolution and biological diversity, and most of this diversity is unknown and microscopic. To a biologist, these “primary forests” are natural cathedrals that still contain untold numbers of undiscovered species. To an epidemiologist, they contain a primordial soup of novel and dangerous pathogens. Biological diversity does not only refer to the cutest or most charismatic of creatures.

The protection of forests plays a key role in protecting human health, from providing nutrition to helping us manage disease.

Infectious diseases that find a home in people have always existed and probably always will. But something about COVID-19 and the rate at which it has spread compared to other outbreaks seems new. While many pathogens are present in wildlife and have been for longer than people generally know, some emergent infectious viruses that have spilled over from animal populations include SARS, MERS, HIV, and many more localized outbreaks of even deadlier diseases such as Nipah and Ebola.

Clean technology innovation is a key opportunity to grow businesses around the world while protecting the planet, but entrepreneurs need more than a great idea to create a market-ready, final product and a viable business model. Access to incubation support and early stage investment are key ingredients for launching a product out of R&D and towards commercialization at scale. A perfect case study of what this stewardship can look like took place in India earlier this month.

While China and the United States have at times dominated the climate change headlines, decisions made today about the energy future of the world’s third largest greenhouse gas emitting country, India, may play an even more critical role in the decades to come. With one of the world’s most rapidly growing economies, a rising population expected to surpass China by 2024, and tens of millions moving into the middle class and increasing their energy demand, India clearly has a pivotal role in the global climate equation.

To strengthen the country’s climate innovation pipeline, WWF India hosted the second annual Climate Solver+ Demo Day event last week in Delhi in partnership with TiE Delhi-NCR. Ten promising startups had the opportunity to pitch their low-carbon solutions to leading investors, government leaders, companies, and other innovation ecosystem stakeholders interested in climate and clean energy breakthroughs.

These clean technology startups were first recognized by WWF’s global Climate Solver initiative, which hosts an annual awards ceremony showcasing promising innovative low-carbon technologies. The Climate Solver+ initiative, led by WWF India, then worked in partnership with DLabs at the Indian School of Business to provide awardees with critical training and business development support to further refine their technologies, pitches, and business models.

Having completed the intensive incubation program, this year's cohort of climate innovators are now, connected by Climate Solver+ to interested cleantech investors during the annual Demo Day event. With these opportunities, three quarters of the Indian Climate Solver innovators have expanded their business operations across all of India or even into international markets.

“Many good entrepreneurs often fail to impress investors if they lack a proper business plan presentation,” said Mr. Hemendra Mathur of Bharat Innovation Fund, who attended a previous Climate Solver+ event. “This initiative by WWF India to provide business planning support…has really helped these ventures sharpen/polish their investor pitch.”

Through this Demo Day and incubation support, Climate Solver+ serves as a leading hub for climate innovation in India. By connecting and empowering more of India’s most promising cleantech entrepreneurs, WWF will help catalyze investment in climate solution technologies that will be impactful at scale. It also serves as a model globally for nurturing innovation and entrepreneurship in the effort to tackle the climate crisis.

Here in the US, WWF supports similar efforts to scale up the use of innovative clean technologies by businesses through initiatives like the Renewable Thermal Collaborative (RTC), a coalition accelerating access to and deployment of renewable heating and cooling solutions, and our international renewable energy programs, which draw on previous success growing the Renewable Energy Buyers Alliance (REBA). Innovation in the renewable energy space has led to skyrocketing investment, with global renewable capacity growing by more than eight percent for seven years in a row as of 2017. There remains a long way to go in tackling the climate crisis but building on this model of merging innovation and business acumen is an important piece of the puzzle.