Global Stories

Sponsored by Magnolia Quality Development Corporation, the Well-being Architecture, Technology and Sustainability (WATS) Conference held on 3 June attracted 1,000 participants from diverse professions. Assoc. Prof. Dr Singh Intrachooto, Chief Advisor of the Research & Innovation for Sustainability Center (RISC) under MQDC, declared at the opening that, “Natural disasters, air pollution, climate change events are...

The global food system is expected to feed a world population of 9.8 billion by 2050. However, it is under threat from all sides. The system that produces and delivers food from farm to consumers is responsible for 19-29% of greenhouse gas emissions. The system is also threatened by the impacts of climate change,...

Canada is committing $330 million to women’s rights organizations and gender equality in Canada and across the globe, making the country the top investor in women’s rights organizations in the world. Maryam Monsef, minister of international development and minister for women and gender equality, announced the initiative, called the Equality Fund, on Sunday ahead of...

India has secured 95th rank in the first-ever SDG Gender Index, which measures strides made in achieving gender commitments against internationally set targets. The index which took the performances of 129 countries in total, concluded that while India is leading in certain SDGs, it is lagging way behind in achieving gender equality. The index has...

The United Nations Global Compact (UNGC) has released 10 principles more than 15 years ago to drive sustainability. Since then, nearly 12,000 companies worldwide have recognised these principles as part of their Corporate Social Responsibility and have committed to adopting the sustainable and socially responsible policies that it calls for. The recommended policies by the...

Waking up early and stepping out to jog in the fresh morning air, but getting irritated instead for having to navigate your way through littered waste, is a story of every jogger in the world. We all get disappointed in such a situation. Many of us often end up changing the fitness routine. But...

On its current trajectory, Asia and the Pacific will not achieve any of the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) by 2030, according to a new report by the United Nations’ regional arm. Findings by the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP) show that for more than half the SDGs,...

Modern-day slavery is highly prevalent in the global supply chains of big business conglomerates. Especially in developing nations, many workers are forced into labour in inhumane working conditions. While CSR, with welfare initiatives, can uplift the lives of the labourers, it is not enough to eradicate modern slavery altogether. The concept of Business and...

You may not hear much about this legacy company, but the offshoot of a Silicon Valley titan has been leading on tough environmental and social challenges from the circular economy to human trafficking. Hewlett Packard Enterprise (HPE) split from the legacy company Hewlett-Packard in 2015 and incorporated most of the business-to-business product portfolios of the well-known...

Global climate change has made the binding international goal for a transition to a low carbon economy under 2 degrees, inevitable. The recent new EU Sustainable Investment Disclosure Rules, the new EU Directive for Non-Financial Reporting, the UN Sustainable Development Goals, the market-driven self-regulation initiatives such as TCFD, the market proof as well as...

The circular economy is maturing, and companies no longer have to reinvent the wheel to take on every new supply chain challenge. They can close the loop by tapping into a rich pool of experienced partners in the business and nonprofit communities. That strategy has paid off for Dell Technologies. Last month, the company announced...

3D printing has been hailed as the catalyst for the next industrial revolution and the “democratisation of manufacturing”, being viewed as having the capacity to shift manufacturing to a more local level - from mass-production to mass-customisation. However, in reality the balance of pros and cons is more complex, and the technology is unlikely to...