In January this year Deloitte published a short but seemingly comprehensive overview of the key upcoming issues in the global water sector. Although 70 per cent of the Earth’s surface is covered with water, the report is focused on the “less than 0.5 per cent of the world’s water [that] is available for human and …
Category archives: Problems
Agro-ecology can double food production in 10 years
A UN report (published March 2011) says that adopting agroecology methods, if sufficiently supported, could double food production in entire regions within 10 years. At the same time it would mitigate climate change, and alleviate rural poverty. States and donors must take a leading role in making this happen, the report says, since “private companies will …
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Searching for a money tree
Posting, here, a link to an interesting story about food-growing in sub-Saharan Africa. The article explains how crop yields there have been falling dangerously low, and how the traditional approach of ‘adding more fertilisers’ is no longer working. A new approach, called ‘agroforestry’, involves working more closely with nature — and is having great results. In this …
George Soros foresees US class war
In a recent interview with Newsweek, George Soros has said that he foresees “riots on the streets [in the USA] that will lead to a brutal clampdown that will dramatically curtail civil liberties.” This is not good news for US citizens, or business. People who are rioting do not make good customers, or employees. And …
Energy and Growth — a physicist’s view
We cannot continue to grow our economy forever. A physics professor at the University of California has used the laws of physics to write two blogs that explain why. Permabusiness takes this information and looks at what would come next — both for the financial system and the wider economy. Unexpectedly, we find stories in …
“Fixing Britain” — a clear view of a future for business
Lots of people talk about “thinking global, acting local”. This guy does a good job of putting it into practice. He paints a clear picture that runs from the strategic rise of China to the practical need for better education, less regulation, more environmental responsibility, and more socially-inclusive wealth creation.
Big Picture — December 2011
When the managing director of the IMF, Christine Lagarde, issues warnings like this: “There is no economy in the world, whether low-income countries, emerging markets, middle-income countries or super-advanced economies that will be immune to the crisis that we see not only unfolding but escalating.” [Source] it is time to take stock of where we are …
Sir Stelios sets up short term car hire club
Depending which way you want to look at it, a new entrant to the car hire industry, or a substitute for buying a car, has just been announced by Sir Stelios Haji-Iaonnou and Brent Hoberman (co-founder of lastminute.com). Their new service, called Zipcar, will rent cars by the hour and will be test launched in spring 2012. http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/68d4cba2-249d-11e1-bfb3-00144feabdc0.html
Organic can feed the world
As we switch our focus for a while from problems to solutions, organic farming may seem an odd place to start. But having enough to eat is a strategic requirement for any future business. And farming is a business too. So, with falling stocks of natural fertilisers, and escalating prices for the fossil fuels used …
CO2 emissions accelerating
During the last 20 years, global carbon dioxide emissions from burning fossil fuels have increased by almost 50 per cent in the last 20 years. The rate is accelerating — in 2010 they increase by just under six per cent. This is dramatic news for the ability of Earth to support life. In the light …