Topic: colombia

RELEASE: 14 Latin American and Caribbean Countries Adopt an Ambitious Plan of Action to Improve Access Rights in the Region

Lauren Zelin — Fri, 19 Apr 2013 17:17:15 -0400

Fourteen Latin American and Caribbean countries adopted an ambitious Plan of Action to improve access rights in the region, including access to information, public participation, and access to justice. The plan, which was approved at a meeting in Guadalajara, Mexico, on April 16-17, 2013, seeks to implement the Latin American and Caribbean Declaration on Principle 10 that was signed at the Rio +20 Conference in June 2012, under which countries agreed to work towards a regional instrument to improve access rights.

The meeting began with Colombia and Honduras signing on to the LAC Declaration, a major accomplishment for all parties. The 14 countries that have now signed on include: Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Honduras, Jamaica, Mexico, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Trinidad and Tobago, and Uruguay.

“The new Plan of Action shows political will to transform environmental justice and transparency in the region,” said Carole Excell, Senior Associate at the World Resources Institute and The Access Initiative. “It sets the pace and the agenda to tackle the challenges of negotiating a regional instrument to ensure access rights across Latin America and the Caribbean.”

Under the new 2013-2014 Plan of Action, the LAC countries have committed to:

Promote the Principle 10 Declaration and incorporate new signatories into the process;
Strengthen and highlight the progress made on rights of access to information, participation, and justice;
Promote active participation of civil society at the national level; and
Develop working groups to deliberate capacity-building and cooperation efforts, and determine the nature and scope of the regional instrument.

Ambassador Jose Balmaceda of Chile noted that the Plan of Action “is a strong political signal to the international community that we are responding in a responsible way to this commitment [to Principle 10] … It is the first time that government representatives from 14 countries and civil society sat down to debate – with transparency and trust – relevant issues for the future of the region. This is a testament to maturity in the region. We have been able to reach consensus on the Plan of Action that will allow us to move ahead on national processes and regional efforts. I am sure that this result will motivate other nations in the region to join the process.”

The Plan of Action includes a number of innovative provisions, including procedures for public participation in the regional process and its working groups. It will create opportunities for close South-to-South cooperation on rights to promote transparency, public participation, and access to justice, as well as a focus on increased support for effective implementation at the national level.

“We hope at the end of 2014 we can count on the development of an instrument on Principle 10 that establishes concrete actions to guarantee effective and informed participation to all citizens and communities of our region,” said Daniel Barragan, Ecuadorian Center for Environmental Law (Centro Ecuatoriane de Derecho Ambinental Ambiental), an environmental law NGO. “Soon we can have a voice and be a part of the decision making on the environment and natural resources.”

In addition to adopting the Plan of Action, members elected co-chairs to run the working groups. Costa Rica and Brazil were mandated to design the regional instrument on Principle 10 and Jamaica and Columbia were given the role to facilitate work on cooperation and capacity building.

A Seven-Country Assessment of National Capacities to Track Forest Carbon Dioxide Emissions and Removal

Sarah Parsons — Tue, 11 Sep 2012 11:16:54 -0400

Summary

Forest carbon monitoring is critical to evaluating whether policies aiming to reduce carbon dioxide emissions from forest change are achieving their goals. The objective of this brief is to highlight the technical capacity needs for implementing national systems for forest carbon monitoring. This paper assesses the technical capacity in seven countries—Brazil, Colombia, Ethiopia, India, Indonesia, South Africa, and Thailand—for monitoring forests, forest change, and associated carbon dioxide emissions and removals. The results can be used by national agencies and the international community, including donor agencies and non-governmental organizations, to identify priorities for capacity-building and funding.

Based on findings from the assessment, the seven countries would benefit from the following:

Establishing processes to regularly and more frequently update data to enable understanding of trends in forest change.
Ensuring consistency of monitoring methods to allow comparison of data and interpretation of change over time.
Improving spatial resolution of forest monitoring where important drivers of forest change are difficult to detect with mid-resolution satellite imagery.
Establishing or updating national forest inventories regularly to enable accurate estimates of carbon dioxide emissions/removals.
Developing protocols and training programs to guide and harmonize sub-national data collection.
Strengthening data management and sharing among government agencies to enable integration of forest change information with other land use, permitting and tenure data.

RELEASE: New Traffic Safety Guidelines Can Save Lives on Bus Corridors Worldwide

Lauren Zelin — Wed, 30 May 2012 18:32:23 -0400

EMBARQ releases most comprehensive research on traffic safety to cut down on the 1.2 million global traffic deaths each year

Editor’s note: Join EMBARQ for a special webinar on June 7, 2012, 10:00 a.m. EDT: https://www2.gotomeeting.com/register/857078514*

Each year, 1.2 million people die in traffic crashes, according to the World Health Organization, and traffic fatalities are projected to become the fifth leading cause of premature death worldwide by 2030, ahead of HIV/AIDS, violence, tuberculosis, or any type of cancer. One way to prevent many of these deaths and injuries is to improve traffic safety, especially on major bus corridors in cities. EMBARQ, the World Resources Institute’s center for sustainable transport, today released the draft “Traffic Safety on Bus Corridors” guidelines to improve traffic safety worldwide. Based on more than two years of research, the guidelines are part of the Road Safety in 10 Countries (RS10) project, funded by Bloomberg Philanthropies.

“This guidebook is part of a broader effort by EMBARQ to illustrate how sustainable transport projects can greatly improve traffic safety and ultimately save lives and improve quality of life for people around the world,” said Holger Dalkmann, director of EMBARQ.

The guidelines are based on findings from a two-year research project, led by EMBARQ, which evaluated safety, operations, and accessibility on major bus corridors and bus rapid transit (BRT) systems in 18 cities around the world. Key findings show:

Pedestrians account for the majority of fatalities across all bus corridors;
Safety on BRT and bus corridors depends on the overall design of the street and not just the bus infrastructure;
Center-lane BRT corridors with closed stations are the safest design option;
Counterflow, when buses drive in the opposite direction of mixed traffic, is the most dangerous type of configuration for a bus corridor; and
The most common types of vehicle collisions in BRT systems occur when cars make illegal left turns across bus lanes and collide with oncoming buses.

“BRT and bus routes are often located on major urban roads, which have the highest concentration of traffic crashes in cities,” said Claudia Adriazola, director of EMBARQ’s Health and Road Safety program. “A new BRT system can attract a lot of pedestrians to these areas, so it is crucial to help cities understand how to maximize safety for everyone on the road.”

The purpose of the draft planning and design guidelines is to provide bus agencies, local jurisdictions, and regional and international organizations with a set of suggested design, planning, and operational criteria for bus systems, including BRT corridors. The guidelines include recommendations for street design, intersections, stations, and station access, as well as transfers and terminals.

“Data has shown that after the implementation of some BRT systems, such as TransMilenio in Bogota or Macrobus in Guadalajara, crashes and fatalities on these corridors dropped by as much as 50 percent,” said Dario Hidalgo, director of EMBARQ’s Research and Practice and an author of the guidelines. “Not all bus systems have had a positive impact on safety, and in some cases, there is still considerable room for improvement, which is why EMBARQ developed these guidelines to improve traffic safety.”

The research included iconic BRT systems in places like Curitiba and Bogota, Colombia, megacities Mexico City and Rio de Janeiro, as well as examples from New Delhi and Ahmedabad, India, and Brisbane, Australia.

“Our research shows that the design of a bus corridor can have a significant influence on the frequency of crashes on the street,” said Luis Antonio Lindau, president of EMBARQ Brazil, who contributed to the research.

During the next six months, experts are invited to provide feedback on the content, methodology, feasibility, and usefulness of the safety recommendations. The feedback will be incorporated into the final version of the guidelines, to be released in 2013.

To read the full report visit: http://www.embarq.org/sites/default/files/EMB2012_Traffic_Safety_on_Bus_Corridors_Pilot_Version.pdf.

To participate in the “road test,” please contact EMBARQ Transportation Research Analyst Nicolae Duduta at nduduta@wri.org.

# # #

EMBARQ catalyzes environmentally and financially sustainable transport solutions to improve quality of life in cities. www.embarq.org

Measurement and Performance Tracking in Developing Countries

Samah Elsayed — Mon, 13 Jun 2011 15:31:09 -0400

Developing countries face the challenge of meeting development goals while at the same time reducing their greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions in order to address climate change. For these efforts to succeed, effective systems are needed to manage greenhouse gases and related emissions reduction activities.

To that end, the World Resources Institute (WRI) is working through the Measurement and Performance Tracking (MAPT) project to build national capacities in developing countries to measure GHG emissions and track performance toward low-carbon development goals. Lessons learned are also being shared with international audiences in order to replicate successes and inform the design of relevant rules within the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC).

WRI is partnering with a broad range of relevant stakeholders within the six MAPT countries, including government agencies, business, and civil society organizations. WRI’s engagement within each country is prioritized according to national capacity needs, which have been identified through scoping assessments conducted with in-country partners.

MAPT is a four-year project funded primarily by the International Climate Initiative of the German Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation, and Nuclear Safety (BMU) and being carried out in partnership with key stakeholders in Brazil, Colombia, Ethiopia, India, South Africa, and Thailand.

For more information on the MAPT project contact the project manager, Kelly Levin at KLevin@wri.org.

To learn more about the MAPT project visit:
Tools and Outputs
Countries

You can also read more about the individual components that make up the work:
Institutions
National GHG Emissions Inventories
Mitigation Accounting
Civil Society Policy Implementation
Industry
Forestry and Land Use
International

Low-Carbon Development in Emerging Economies

Kevin Lustig — Mon, 13 Jun 2011 15:25:58 -0400

Today’s major emerging economies — countries such as Brazil, China, India, Indonesia, and South Africa — face the challenge of increasing economic development while also overcoming serious barriers to energy access and reducing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. These countries recognize the need for a shift to low-carbon climate-resilient development, but seek solutions that do not compromise growth.

It is possible to meet this challenge while addressing climate change. WRI’s vision is that these countries make a clear link between low-carbon growth and long-term prosperity, and support policies and incentives that advance national development priorities while significantly reducing GHGs. If successful, these countries would redefine the conventional growth paradigm, and offer innovative solutions that set the world firmly on a low-carbon and climate-resilient path.

Use the links below to explore WRI’s work on emerging economies:

WRI’s work by country:

(Click on a highlighted country for publications and other resources)

Global Well-Being: Rooted in the World's Forests

Jonathan Lash — Tue, 26 Apr 2011 13:25:40 -0400

This piece originally appeared in the Washington Post Environmental Leadership supplement on April 20, 2011, and is reposted with permission.

This year, 2011, has been declared the International Year of Forests, and while a few bright spots exist, forests today face a host of challenges. Mounting pressures from agricultural expansion, rapid economic development, and growing demand for products are leading to deforestation and degradation of forests at alarming rates. The expanding global population— expected to reach 9 billion people by mid-century—is increasing demand for food, encroaching on forests and the value they hold.

Globally an estimated 1.5 billion hectares have already been lost to deforestation. Countries like Brazil and Indonesia face critical situations as millions of acres of rainforest are felled or burned each year to make room for cattle ranches, soybean and oil palm plantations, and the production of pulp and paper. Closer to home, the United States Forest Service predicts that more than 30 million acres of forests in the southern U.S. could be lost to suburban sprawl in the coming generation.

Forests, which cover one-third of the world’s land, are a precious natural resource. They offer food, shelter and income for around a billion of the world’s poorest people. More than half of land-based animal and plant species live in forests. And trees absorb vast quantities of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and protect vital freshwater sources.

The challenges are clear, but solutions have been harder to find. Certainly there is no single magic bullet, but evidence is growing from remote corners of the world— Colombia, Brazil, Niger, Nepal, Indonesia, and beyond— that offer reasons for hope and hold the promise for further success.

In Niger, West Africa, tree cover has increased dramatically across a vast swath of the southern landscape. This turnaround came after political leaders and forestry officials began to recognize the property rights of local farmers to manage trees on their land. Now, forests are being restored, erosion is being reduced, water tables are rising, soil is becoming more fertile, and crop yields are increasing.

In Latin America, some governments, including those in Colombia and Brazil, have been handing back vast forest reserves to the descendants of their original owners, including indigenous Amerindians and other local communities. Evidence is emerging that forest cover is preserved when coupled with ancestral land rights.

After decades of deforestation, Nepal has also begun to reverse course, especially in areas where local “community forests” have been established. Community forests account for approximately 20 percent of forested land in Nepal, where decision- making is accomplished locally by empowered villagers and supported by the national government. Over 12,000 Community Forest User Groups have engaged local communities in the business of protecting, rejuvenating and managing forested landscapes to produce fodder, wood and other products to use and sell.

Increased rights and recognition of land tenure can be a win-win, benefitting both people and forests.

Local control and decisionmaking is the common thread connecting these stories. Nearly a decade ago, the authors Andy White and Alejandra Martin proposed that the recognition of indigenous rights and community ownership offer “an historic opportunity for countries to dramatically improve the livelihoods of millions of forest inhabitants.” While there is still a long way to go to fulfill this vision, growing evidence suggests that increased rights and recognition of land tenure can indeed be a win-win, benefitting both people and the forests on which they depend.

Creative thinking around governance is also playing a hand in one of the best and most innovative opportunities to restore forests. In West Kalimantan, Indonesia, the World Resources Institute is working with local partners to encourage the restoration and reuse of degraded lands, including for palm oil production. By some estimates, more than half of oil palm expansion in Indonesia since 1990 occurred at the expense of forests. This project, which has growing support from the Indonesian government, would help divert some planned oil palm plantations away from natural rainforests and toward degraded lands instead.

Recent analysis by WRI and its partners shows that about three billion acres worldwide—an area larger than Brazil—of previously forested land ~~have become deforested or degraded over the last decade~~ provide opportunities for restoration. While some of these areas could be restored as healthy forests, other areas could be converted to food production. This, in turn, can bring a multitude of benefits, such as creating jobs, easing pressure to clear more forests, reducing carbon emissions, and protecting biodiversity.

While none of the actions alone is enough, together they offer strategies that would help restore and protect forests for future generations. Governments, international development agencies, and nongovernmental organizations—together with local communities—must now build on these approaches and expand the number of success stories in the years to come.

Reefs at Risk in the Atlantic/Caribbean

Maggie Barron — Fri, 18 Feb 2011 14:07:01 -0500

More than 75 percent of the coral reefs in the Atlantic region are at risk from local threats (i.e., coastal development, overfishing/destructive fishing, marine-based pollution, and/or watershed-based pollution), with over 30 percent in the high and very high threat categories. The least-threatened reefs are almost entirely in areas remote from large land areas, such as the Bahamas, the southern Gulf of Mexico, and the oceanic reefs of Honduras and Nicaragua. The insular Caribbean is particularly threatened: from Jamaica through to the Lesser Antilles, more than 90 percent of all reefs are threatened, with nearly 70 percent classified as high or very high threat.

Download hi-res version (JPEG, 2149 x 1575 px, 797 Kb)
View reefs at risk in Brazil
View global map of threats to coral reefs

MEDIA ADVISORY: CTS-Brasil, Challenge Bibendum Unite Latin American Mayors to Advance Sustainable Urban Transport

Paul Mackie — Mon, 23 Nov 2009 12:24:02 -0500

WHAT: The 2009 Sustainable Mobility Convention in Urban Renewal, hosted by the Center for Sustainable Transport in Brazil (CTS-Brasil), a member of the World Resources Institute’s EMBARQ Network, and Challenge Bibendum, an initiative sponsored by Michelin. The two-day event will gather mayors and transport officials from the 120 biggest cities in Latin America to discuss innovative initiatives for urban renewal and sustainable transport. For more info, go here.

WHEN: Wednesday, November 25 and Thursday, November 26, 2009

WHERE: Sofitel Rio de Janeiro Copacabana Av. Atlântica, 4240, Copacabana, 22070-002, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil Phone: (+55) 21 25251232

WHO: Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, president of Brazil, will present at the Opening Ceremony, along with the governor of Rio de Janeiro, Sergio Cabral, and the mayor of the city of Rio de Janeiro, Eduardo Paes. The Convention will also attract leaders like Jaime Lerner, former mayor of Curitiba, Brazil, who conceived and implemented the first bus rapid transit system in the world, and Enrique Peñalosa, former mayor of Bogotá, Colombia, who greatly improved mobility and accessibility in the capital.

WHY: Participants will discuss alternatives for a more equitable and sustainable use of road space, opportunities for integrating the use of private and public transportation, and best practices of non-motorized transport in the urban context.

RSVP: Rejane Fernandes, CTS-Brasil communications and institutional relations coordinator +55 (51) 3312-6324, rfernandes@ctsbrasil.org

Small Companies, Big Impacts

Maggie Barron — Mon, 19 Oct 2009 11:37:18 -0400

The New Ventures directors answer questions about what small, sustainable companies can do to boost local economies and protect the environment.

One company supplies solar lanterns to communities without electricity. Another refurbishes discarded copy machines and resells them to companies that couldn’t otherwise afford them. Another turns coffee waste into ethanol. Small and medium enterprises (SMEs) are the engines of local economies. They drive innovation, spur equitable growth, create jobs, and supply poor communities with better products and services. But many small entrepreneurs have trouble bringing their ideas to fruition, and most will fail within the first few years. For sustainable SMEs – those that manufacture and market environmentally friendly products and serve low income communities – the challenges can be particularly daunting.

WRI created New Ventures to help sustainable SMEs build their capacity, learn key management skills, and connect with investors. Working in six of the worlds’ emerging economies – Brazil, China, Colombia, India, Indonesia, and Mexico – New Ventures helps these countries develop their economies while protecting their environment.

I recently sat down with the six New Ventures country directors at their annual meeting in Washington, DC and asked them to explain why these small companies can have such a big impact:

What challenges do small and medium enterprises (SMEs) face?

Sanjoy Sanyal, India: In the developing world, SMEs lack one very critical resource: credit and financial resources to grow. They may also have access challenges, such as access to markets, access to the right kind of talent, but fundamentally the lack of access to credit and financial resources can be a debilitating obstacle.

Diyanto Imam, Indonesia: There’s also the challenge of capacity building. In terms of technical knowledge, these people know what they are doing. They know how to develop efficient machines, they know how to create a formula for an organic pesticide or herbicide. But many of them don’t know how to run a company, they don’t know how to develop a balance sheet, or they don’t even know what a balance sheet is.

Diyanto Imam

They don’t have the business skills to begin with, and for green SMEs in particular, they also need to educate their customers about their products. Most people in Indonesia don’t really differentiate between green products and conventional products. They equate green products with a premium price and don’t understand the other benefits.

Andre Carvalho, Brazil: In Brazil, it’s very difficult to attract investment. Many companies don’t know how to market themselves. They don’t know what “green” means exactly, or they’re green and they don’t even know it. These companies need investment, they need resources, they need networking opportunities, and they need media attention.

Why is it so important to help SMEs?

Sanjoy Sanyal, India: In developed countries like the US or in Europe, SMEs contribute a substantial percentage of the gross domestic product. So vibrant SMEs, when they’re well managed, have the ability to radically reshape a country’s economics. At the same time they have these challenges. So it’s really fertile ground for intervention.

Diana Gaviria, Colombia: It’s not only important to help SMEs, it’s important to help green SMEs. In many ways, in our country, SMEs are the motor of the economy, and by having green SMEs that are successful, we’re promoting more sustainable societies and showing the world in general that having a sustainable business model is something not only viable but that can also promote economic development.

Can helping SMEs also help the poor?

Andre Carvalho, Brazil: Yes, definitely. SMEs can work more directly with smaller suppliers than big companies can. The majority of suppliers to big companies have to be big themselves in order to keep up. If we help SMEs develop, they can act as suppliers to big companies and also develop relationships with smaller and local suppliers and bring more business to them. The business model is more inclusive.

Andre Carvalho

Diyanto Imam, Indonesia: They provide employment, which is particularly good for Indonesia because for the last thirty years, the center of economic activity has been in the capital in Jakarta. 70% of the money circulates in Jakarta, and that’s not good for the economy. So SMEs can really help develop the economies of smaller cities.

Sanjoy Sanyal, India: Most of our SMEs have base-of-the-pyramid strategies, where they either provide services to poor communities or low-cost products. They do help the poor, not necessarily because they are small, but because of the nature of the business they do.

Sanjoy Sanyal

The type of companies we work with are the ones that sell solar lanterns, or energy efficient cooking stoves for poorer people, poorer women in particular. These products help bolster local economies in both a socially and environmentally constructive way.

What does New Ventures do to help?

Weijia Ye, China: We help sustainable SMEs grow by getting them the right type of funding. We work with them to develop their business plans and help them network with a range of mentors whom they could not access by themselves.

Rodrigo Villar, Mexico: We are also trying to convince people that being an entrepreneur is better than just having a regular job. We don’t really have any entrepreneurs in Mexico. There is a negative connotation to what “businessman” means there; usually it makes people think of rich men who have stolen money. So no one wants to be an entrepreneur. Everyone wants to get a university degree and then work for a big company. And when you talk about environmental entrepreneurs, it’s even harder. We have to convince people to go into environmental areas and industries, because they can make a profit and help their society develop.

Diana Gaviria

Diana Gaviria, Colombia: One of the most important things we do is act as an honest broker and help these companies get to investors and institutions that can aid them in their process of acceleration. We’re trying to promote a climate where individuals of high net worth can invest in companies rather than just big institutions that come in and do all these very demanding due diligences and long processes for riskier business.

What are some examples of the companies in the New Ventures portfolio?

Sanjoy Sanyal, India: One company that comes to mind is called Sumaya HMX Systems. They make energy efficient air conditioning systems. India and large parts of the developing world are hot and tropical, and air conditioning is by now a mandatory requirement for most workplaces, but at the same time they consume loads of energy, and are a big source of carbon emissions. This company uses a technology that allows adaptive cooling – a more efficient cooling system – which brings the temperature to only a couple of degrees above what you’d expect in a conventional air conditioning system. It’s still comfortable, but it obviates a lot of the energy usage and carbon emissions in more conventional AC systems. It’s a great technology; it’s very useful and appropriate for large parts of both the developing world and the developed world. I think New Ventures’ intervention in this company was at a very interesting point. We were able to get the company a corporate investor, which took on a simple majority stake in this company, and helped the innovation reach a very large audience because of their marketing and technical service operation.

Diana Gaviria, Colombia: In Colombia we work with a man who had his own water treatment company that mainly served affluent neighborhoods. He wanted more out of his business, and so he investigated technologies and came up with one that would provide water to communities that currently don’t have any access to water at a very low cost, much less than what people were already having to pay. When he first came to us we weren’t sure if his proposal was viable. He wanted the communities to manage the whole operation, so he not only wanted to sell to them but he wanted them to be involved in the management of the business. We had many discussions with him and finally we were convinced. And so with the help of students from the Cornell MBA program and business mentors, we put together a viable business model, where he is able to produce portable water treatment plants that can be run and operated in local communities.

Rodrigo Villar

Rodrigo Villar, Mexico: We work with a company called Biofabrica Siglo XXI. They came to us four years ago. The owner of this company was an agronomist, he didn’t have any experience with business, and he was using this technology to change chemical fertilizer into biological fertilizers. So we helped him with the business plan, and now, four years later, this company is worth $7 million, and over 200,000 hectares are using his bio-fertilizers instead of the chemical ones, and he was able to drop the price of his product too, so he continues to get new clients.

How is the economic crisis impacting your country?

Weijia Ye, China: It’s different for different industries. In general it’s hard to say “Now it’s ending.” I would be pretty cautious and wait another half year or year. This crisis is so different from previous ones because no one can predict it. Some of them are doing pretty well, but it doesn’t mean it’s the end of the crisis. I think the current financial crisis is sending a very strong, clear signal that there is something fundamentally wrong with this current regime of the market economy.

Rodrigo Villar, Mexico: Between the economy, the H1N1 flu scare, and the drug problems, it’s been a tough year for us. But a recession can be a good time for entrepreneurs. Companies are growing. If they can make it work now, they’ll grow even more as the economy recovers.

Can green companies be competitive in the current economy?

Sanjoy Sanyal, India: These are early days. But I think there clearly is an understanding that yes, green companies can be competitive. A lot of it is coming from the fact that, while the US is still struggling with its economy, it is still clearly signaling to the world that businesses need to develop a more sustainable model. So whether it’s Walmart or a Cisco, people are saying that we need to incorporate energy efficiency and climate into our business thinking. Another thing the US is signaling to the world, which I think emerging economies are picking up on, is the fact that consumers are willing to vote with their wallets that they would like to spend more on goods and services that have a clearly professed environmentally positive, or at least an environmentally neutral effect.

Andre Carvalho, Brazil: Six years ago the community of investors in Brazil thought that sustainable business was only something very small, and that it couldn’t be scaled up. But New Ventures has been showing them that there are a lot of opportunities, and showcasing successful fair trade models that are part of a new history that’s being written right now. We are showing the mainstream that there are other ways to think about community development.

Weijia Ye

Weijia Ye, China: We want our SMEs not only to be producing green products, but also to have strong values. I believe that the future of the world depends on all companies becoming sustainable. There’s a call for a new generation of enterprises, which should be different from Henry Ford’s generation. Because at the time, if you look at the management of these original industries, they were quite brutal. We’re at the stage where we should not be doing the same things as we did before. We are ready to develop new models.

What motivates you in your work at New Ventures?

Diyanto Imam, Indonesia: You get to meet these great individuals with ideas, with fire in the belly. They have amazing passion. I like to meet with these entrepreneurs simply because they are passionate about what they do. They have this belief that they can change the environment and affect the people around them in a good way. The spirit is there. In Indonesia, life is tough. But these people see opportunities.

Weijia Ye, China: My wish is for the next generations of big companies to be fundamentally different from current versions. They should not be developing Corporate Social Responsibility plans only when they become big. They should have these plans in their DNA from the very beginning. It should be incorporated into their way of doing business. These small companies we work with have the right core values now, and when they grow they will be part of the next generation of business.

Tropical Americas (Reefs at Risk Regional Map)

Richard Waite — Thu, 25 Sep 2008 12:45:02 -0400

About 9 percent of the world’s mapped reefs are found in this region, most of which are located along the Central American coast and off the Caribbean islands.

Our results indicate that almost two-thirds of reefs here are at risk (about one-third at high risk). Sedimentation from upland deforestation, poor agricultural practices, coastal development, pollution, and overfishing are major threats to many reefs here.[1][2]

Most reefs of the Antilles and Lesser Antilles (including Haiti, the Dominican Republic, Puerto Rico, Dominica, and Barbados) are under high potential threat.

Virtually all of the reefs of the Lesser Antilles are at risk.

Almost all reefs of the Florida Keys are at moderate threat, largely from coastal development, inappropriate agricultural practices, overfishing of target species such as conch and lobster, and pollution associated with development and farming.

Those of the Bahamas and the Yucatan Peninsula and the remoter reefs off Belize, Honduras, and Nicaragua are largely at low risk from mapped human activity.

During review of these final threat classifications, coral reef experts provided the following observations:

The Florida Keys reefs are classified as under medium threat from marine pollution and coastal development. This is regarded as a potential underestimate of threat.
The reefs off southern Belize are classified as being under high threat, largely from inland pollution and erosion. This is regarded as a potential overestimate of threat, relative to other reefs in that region.
The reefs off western Costa Rica were estimated to be under high threat from coastal development and inland pollution and erosion. One researcher suggested that this overestimates threat in that area.
Bermuda’s reefs are classified as being under high threat from overexploitation. This is an overestimate of current threat since the pot fishing industry was closed in 1990.

NOTES

S.C. Jameson, J.W. McManus and M.M. Spalding, State of the Reefs: Regional and Global Perspectives (Washington, DC) ICRI, U.S. Department of State, 1995), 6-7.
Jorge Cortes, “Status of the Caribbean Coral reefs of central America,” in Proceedings of the 8th International Coral Reef Symposium (Balboa, Panama, Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute, 1997), 339.

New Ventures

Tracy Elsen — Thu, 27 Sep 2007 14:53:47 -0400

History

In 1999, the World Resources Institute established its pioneering New Ventures project to serve as a hub of environmental entrepreneurship – providing business development services to environmentally-focused small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in emerging markets.

In 2012, New Ventures was operating in six countries – Brazil, China, Colombia, India, Indonesia, and Mexico. These countries are home to 46% of the world’s population, over 12% of its GDP, and house 25% of the protected biodiversity areas on the planet. Their collective impact on earth’s sustainability is enormous.

With the recognition that the New Ventures Local Centers built strong, distinct programs in their respective countries, the World Resources Institute concluded its role as coordinator for the New Ventures global network in December 2012, moving New Ventures into its next phase of development. Read WRI’s statement on this transition.

Local Centers: Localizing the Approach to Addressing Global Challenges

Click to learn more about each Center and opportunities for involvement.

New Ventures Brazil: Sustainable Hub
New Ventures China: Institute for Environment and Development (IED)
New Ventures Colombia: Universidad de los Andes School of Management
New Ventures India: Regain Paradise Research Consulting Pvt Ltd
New Ventures Indonesia: The Apex Consulting Group
New Ventures Mexico: New Ventures Mexico

Accomplishments

Between 1999 and 2012, New Ventures worked with 367 innovative enterprises whose goods and services produce clear, measurable environmental benefits. Collectively these businesses received over $377 million in investment capital and held two Initial Public Offerings (IPOs) that raised approximately $100 million.

In addition, New Ventures developed metrics and practices to measure and promote the positive environmental impacts of companies.

3,306,786 tons of carbon dioxide emissions reduced or avoided from products and services
4,534,243 hectares of land conserved or sustainably cultivated
5,788,495,460 liters of water produced, treated, or saved from products and services

Each dollar of funds granted to New Ventures helped facilitate 28 dollars of investment to these entrepreneurs.

The Importance of SMEs in Emerging Markets

Entrepreneurs and the SMEs they often create are central to private-sector development—stimulating the growth of the local private sector in developing countries and helping markets to function well. As engines of economic growth and laboratories for environmental and social innovation, SMEs are helping to build modern economies that improve people’s lives while conserving natural resources. This is especially true in developing countries where such businesses can account for as many as four in five jobs and almost a third of GDP.

Despite the critical role they play in emerging markets, SMEs face severe barriers in accessing finance to scale their businesses. Smart, practical support for enterprises that can improve environmental conditions in these countries is not a choice we have: it’s an imperative. New Ventures enterprises are developing innovative technologies and business models that can play a vital role in sustainable economic development by delivering financial, environmental and social returns.

The New Ventures Approach

New Ventures supports enterprises that address specific environmental issues through their activity. Many New Ventures enterprises offer essential products and services that help under-served communities progress out of poverty. In its selection process, New Ventures prioritizes enterprises that seek the following results:

biodiversity conservation
energy efficiency
natural resource conservation (non-water, non-energy, non-agriculture)
pollution prevention and waste reduction
sustainable energy
water resource management