Dialogue with Business about Poverty Reduction and Climate Change

SEED's Executive Director, Helen Marquard, took part in November in a session entitled Bottom of the Pyramid Approaches and Inclusive Growth - Innovative Business Models and Opportunities.

She drew extensively on the aims of the SEED Winners such as Oro Verde in seeking to implement a triple bottom line, creating livelihoods and delivering environmental benefits while facing sizeable hurdles as regards financing, skills development, and networking. The "Dialogue with Business about Poverty Reduction and Climate Change", an Inwent/GIZ programme, aims to contribute to poverty reduction and climate change mitigation and adaption of the business sector by making use of three approaches:

• Dialogue
• Network and
• Capacity building.

For more information on the International Business Forum, click here.

5th Sustainability Summit: Asia 2010 - “REMODELLING GROWTH"

In the same week, Helen Marquard was also invited to join the World Business Council on Sustainable Development, senior representatives from Microsoft and the Indian Ministry of Environment and Forests, and executive heads of 2 social ventures in a panel session entitled: Innovation-led Inclusive Growth. They discussed the roles of business and government in fostering green innovation and creating new opportunities for employment.  The ED focussed on the major role that small and micro-enterprises such as Oro Verde can play while emphasizing the capacity building efforts that are needed if the financial resource flows that are being created with the implementation of climate change adaptation and mitigation strategies are able to be absorbed on the ground.

Helen Marquard said:

It is tough being a social and environmental entrepreneur! We deal with start-ups and getting established is hugely difficult. Financing is an obvious need but it is by no means all of it. Skills building in a huge range of areas, starting with simple things like accounting.

For more information on the Sustainability Summit, click here.