The Sustainability Learning Forum

Collaborating to conserve ecosystems and biodiversity

Stefanie Koch, Holcim
Rashila Tong, Holcim
Lafarge Holcim

Conserving ecosystems and stopping biodiversity loss is one of the major issues of our time, in particular in situations where industrial activities and population growth put increasing pressure on natural habitats. Believing that this issue can only be addressed by working together, leading building materials company Holcim and IUCN, the International Union for Conservation of Nature, have joined forces to effectively manage biodiversity conservation and to create biodiversity-based sustainable livelihoods. more[...] login_required

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When Water Becomes Sustainable Business

Carsten Bo Kvistgaard, Grundfos
Grundfos

By pairing existing technologies with an innovative business model, Grundfos LIFELINK responsibly changes the way of operating and managing rural water supply systems. more[...] login_required

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Hope Through Honey

Gerd Pfitzenmeier

“Fight poverty, maintain ecological equilibrium and so shape sustainable development.” These three clear goals are the essence of this truly mammoth project, Bhusan Shrestha says. The large Nepalese beekeeper Gandaki Bee Concern (GBC) wants to make money and at the same time bring progress to the small Asian country in the Himalayas. The company, founded in 1990 in the capital Kathmandu, wants to do no less than help more and more Nepalese “gain a source of income and at the same time conserve the quality of nature for the future.” more[...] login_required

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Environment Preservation in the Amazon

Editorial Team

Bradesco endeavors to incorporate sustainability into each one of its business activities and corporate strategies. We do believe in a better world for both current and future generations. Considering that socio-environmental investment is one of the pillars of our sustainability core, we support many initiatives regarding that matter in Brazil, through partnerships directed at the preservation of forest environment. more[...] login_required

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Environment Preservation in the Amazon

Eduardo Dantas, Bradesco
Banco Bradesco S.A.

Bradesco endeavors to incorporate sustainability into each one of its business activities and corporate strategies. We do believe in a better world for both current and future generations. Considering that socio-environmental investment is one of the pillars of our sustainability core, we support many initiatives regarding that matter in Brazil. more[...]

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Corporate Social Responsibility and Stock Market Efficiency

Prof. Leonardo Becchetti, University of Rome Tor Vergata
Dr. Rocco Ciciretti, University of Rome Tor Vergata

Leonardo Becchetti, Rocco Ciciretti and Alessandro Giovannelli investigates the relationship between Corporate Social Responsibility (hereafter CSR) and I/B/E/S Details analysts’ earnings per share (EPS) forecasts using a large sample of US firm forecasts for the 1997-2004 period. They shows that the net difference between CSR strengths and weaknesses significantly reduces both the absolute earning forecast error and its standard deviation after controlling for standard regressors and year, industry, and firm/broker effects. Their findings are consistent with the hypothesis that reduced transaction costs (and conflicts) with stakeholders and more transparent accounting practices implied by CSR significantly affect the bias. more[...] login_required

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Diversity and Inclusiveness at Ernst & Young

Sabine Moron, Ernst & Young Germany
Karin Sahr, Ernst & Young Germany
Ernst & Young Germany

The 6th principle of the UN Global Compact addresses the elimination of discrimination in respect of employment and occupation. At Ernst & Young, we not only believe in that goal from a moral perspective: We are convinced that Diversity and Inclusiveness (D&I) are actually a business must. That is why we do more than just look for ways to prevent or eliminate discrimination; we actively promote diversity as a value crucial to our company. more[...] login_required

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Diversity and Inclusiveness at Ernst & Young

Sabine Moron, Ernst & Young Germany
Karin Sahr, Ernst & Young Germany
Ernst & Young Germany

The 6th principle of the UN Global Compact addresses the elimination of discrimination in respect of employment and occupation. At Ernst & Young, we not only believe in that goal from a moral perspective: We are convinced that Diversity and Inclusiveness (D&I) are actually a business must. That is why we do more than just look for ways to prevent or eliminate discrimination; we actively promote diversity as a value crucial to our company. more[...]

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The microfinance revolution has only just begun

Prof. Hanns Michael Hölz
Deutsche Bank AG

Microcredits have proven to be powerful instruments in the fight against poverty. However, they will reach their full impact only if they manage to limit their reliance on the charitable sector. “The genocide brought the destruction of my parents’ retail shop“, Nsengiyma Gilbert from Rwanda explains. “It ended in ruins and in the brutal killing of my father. After the war, I dropped out of school, crisscrossed Kigali in search for a job to no avail. Then the idea of selling milk to a nearby kindergarten school near my home came to me. However, the earnings from this business were not enough to buy me a refrigerator and enable me rent a bigger place to start a restaurant,” Gilbert says. more[...]

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Light at Home: Sustainable Energy Access in Isolated Rural Areas

Editorial Team

The ACCIONA Microenergy Foundation was created to focus the Company’s efforts on social development activities that could meet the real demands and basic needs of the rural population in developing countries. The Foundation’s goal is to work with others to increase access to basic energy, water, or infrastructure services for people and communities that lack the means to acquire such basic services. more[...]

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Light at Home: Sustainable Energy Access in Isolated Rural Areas

Juan Ramón Silva Ferrada, Acciona

The ACCIONA Microenergy Foundation was created to focus the Company’s efforts on social development activities that could meet the real demands and basic needs of the rural population in developing countries. The Foundation’s goal is to work with others to increase access to basic energy, water, or infrastructure services for people and communities that lack the means to acquire such basic services. more[...]

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Indigenously Produced Organic Fruit

Gerd Pfitzenmeier
Amazon Carribean Guayana

In his factory hidden in the jungle, the French adventurer Pierre Saint-Arroman has taught indigenous workers how to harvest certified organic hearts of palm and pineapples, pack them in cans and ship them to customers in Europe’s organic stores and U.S. malls. With these goods, Amcar and the indigenous people create “benefits for everyone involved”, Richard notes in summarizing the basic business idea. Economic success is, of course, important to him and Pierre Saint-Arroman – but at the same time, they want to help the inhabitants of the Orionoco Delta. “In the first 15 years of our work, Guyana went through economic crises,” Xavier Richard remembers. “Today, the people earn a secure income from Amcar.” more[...] login_required

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Creating an Impact on Education for Girls in India

Carolyn E. Nimmy, Capgemini
Cecilia Schrijver, Capgemini
Capgemini

With girls representing two-third of the world’s uneducated children and women representing two-thirds of the world’s illiterate adults, it has been acknowledged that successful education for girls and women is a necessary mechanism for breaking the cycle of poverty, myths, and social norms, for ensuring the well-being and health of children, and for the long-term success of developing countries. Project Nanhi Kali is a participatory project where individuals, groups, and companies are encouraged to sponsor the education of girls. The Nanhi Kali project is jointly managed by the Naandi Foundation and the K.C. Mahindra Education Trust. The Capgemini Group is currently the second largest corporate sponsor of the Nanhi Kali project, which supports the education of over 10,000 girls in India. more[...]

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Indigenously Produced Organic Fruit

Gerd Pfitzenmeier

“Without the cooperation with the indigenous people,” Xavier Richard knows, “our company would never have been able to thrive as it has.” Since its establishment in 1987, Amazon Caribbean Ltd. (Amcar) has relied on the efforts of thousands of indigenous people from the Arawack, Warrau and Carib tribes in Guyana. In the jungle of the Barima-Waini Basin, they collect the raw materials for Amcar’s products: hearts of palm and pineapple. “Our mission,” the company states accordingly, “is to generate, in partnership with the people in Guyana, economic value added from naturally growing products.” more[...]

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Making A Global Contribution To Education Through Partnership

Editorial Team

The Deutsche Post DHL teamed up with the international not-for-profit organization Teach For All to improve access to education as well as the quality of education and educational systems throughout the world. more[...] login_required

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