Insights Blog

From youth activists marching in the streets to economic leaders in Davos, the world is calling for business to combat the climate crisis. Indeed, business plays a vital role in the effort to limit global warming to 1.5°C in line with the Paris Agreement targets. And business is making progress: to date, 769 companies with a combined market cap of over USD$10 trillion have committed to setting science-based targets (SBTs) to reduce their greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions.

The integration of ESG issues into investment practice and decision making is an increasingly standard part of the regulatory and legal requirements for institutional investors around the world. In China, two key drivers have recently prompted interest in responsible investment: a government effort to promote green finance, and the increasing globalisation of China’s investment market. New research by the PRI shows there is a third driver for responsible investment in China: that ESG integration is a source of investment value.

Manuel Albaladejo, the representative of the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO) in Uruguay, is one of the leading promoters of a circular economy in Latin America. In this interview with Chile’s País Circular, originally published on 9 March 2020, he analyses the challenges and prospects for the circular economy in Chile and the region. The original interview in Spanish can be found here. The following translation into English is by Paula Mirazo.

Given that chemicals and waste affect all aspects of development, the sound management of both is key to achieving a number of targets under the UN Sustainable Development Goals. In this blog, Thomas Jakl, the Deputy Director-General of the Ministry of Environment of Austria, shares how chemicals can be produced and used in ways that minimize significant adverse impacts on human health and the environment through Chemical Leasing.

This blog describes the concept of Nature Based Solutions (NBS), and discusses some of the benefits arising from the employment of NBS, illustrated by mini-case studies.

To celebrate International Women's Day on the 8th of March, the Economic Empowerment of Women in Green Industry (EEWiGI) held an interview with Patricia Valdez, who has contributed to the formalization of the glass-recycling sector in Peru.

Patricia Valdez participated in a national assessment of Peru’s green industry as part of the UNIDO programme “Economic Empowerment of Women in Green Industry”, which is making a significant push to improve leadership and participation of women as entrepreneurs and industry professionals, while also advancing green industrialization. The programme, underway in Cambodia, Peru, Senegal and South Africa, is assisting policymakers and practitioners with the establishment and implementation of a policy framework to integrate gender and green industrial policies.

 

Imagine an economy without waste. What would it look like? And what would we need to do to get there? In this thought piece, Steven Stone, Chief of the Resources and Markets Branch at UNEP, outlines seven steps to circularity plus a bonus step to measure #beyondGDP.

On International Day of Women and Girls in Science, UNIDO spoke to Professor Linda Godfrey, a principal scientist at South Africa’s Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR).

Godfrey manages the Waste Research, Development and Innovation Implementation Unit at the CSIR and is supporting the Department of Science and Innovation in its development of a circular economy roadmap for South Africa.

She also serves on the National Steering Committee of the UNIDO programme, “Economic Empowerment of Women in Green Industry”, which is making a significant push to improve leadership and participation of women as entrepreneurs and industry professionals, while also advancing green industrialization. The programme, underway in Cambodia, Peru, Senegal and South Africa, is assisting policymakers and practitioners with the establishment and implementation of a policy framework to integrate gender and green industrial policies.

 

Interview:

Who has influenced your career? Who has supported you?

In many areas in China, urban centres are swallowing up the thousands-year-old Linpan – a unique rural agricultural landscape, consisting of small villages surrounded by forests, rivers and farmland. In an attempt to boost local rural economies and pay homage to the social and environmental values of a traditional way of life, Song Jianming returned to his hometown in Liujie, near the Sichuan city of Dujiangyan, to open the Pigpen Café.

This blog explains how integrated, systems-level approaches can help increase the resource efficiency of infrastructure as a key driver of sustainable development.