Investments

If the scientists themselves cannot work out what a landscape is, what hope do businesses have? Well, quite a lot, actually. In fact, there are many examples of big business engaging with local actors on a landscape scale, to protect their businesses long term, as well as protect the environment and the people in that […]

The Issue: Global environmental and social trends like climate change, ecosystem degradation or unemployment and poverty in rural areas are affecting stakeholders at all levels. Farmers and foresters in developing countries often lack access to financial and other inputs while investors are deterred from the many risks that seem to accompany investments in rural areas. […]

By Georgina Smith, International Center for Tropical Agriculture (CIAT) When environmental organization Markets for Change released a picture of a wee possum in a liquidizer on Facebook, it went viral. It “portrays the danger to Australia’s precious wildlife posed by new woodchipping plans for industrial logging to feed bioenergy production”, according to the not-for-profit’s website. […]

By Angela Dewan The world is transitioning to a green economy, but the many synergies between greater sustainability and the forest-focused REDD+ mechanism are underutilized, according to a recent United Nations report. Countries with tropical forests have for years been preparing for a full-scale implementation of REDD+, and can offer a wealth of knowledge and […]

Farmers require financing to meet the growing demand for food. A new working paper identifies opportunities for investing in sustainable agriculture in ways that benefit smallholders. Smallholder agriculture and forestry is constrained by the high risk embedded in current approaches to providing capital for longer-term investments in sustainable practices.  Authors of the working paper Financing sustainable […]

Peter describes how state-or-the art technology is being used to preserve fragile balance in forests around the world.Peter Lee is the Executive Director of Global Forest Watch Canada, which focuses on improving sustainable forest management. He has worked with government, academia, the private sector and international organisations. Global Forest Watch is partnership project between Google, […]