Marcos Preto, CEO of Agrocortex: Unlocking Value of Forestry Projects

[caption id="attachment_19204" align="alignright" width="300"] CEO of Agrocortex: Marcos Preto[/caption]

REDD projects fight logging and environmental destruction of the Earth’s ‘green lungs’ – the amazing and irreplaceable rainforests of the Amazon.

Voluntary carbon credits are in high demand, increasingly so over the past year, and there are growing opportunities for carbon-offset project developers.

Marcos Preto is CEO of Agrocortex and head of Agrocortex's REDD (reducing emissions from deforestation and forest degradation) project in Brazil. Preto sees the sector’s potential – but acknowledges that carbon credits need to be properly understood and supported if their value is to be unlocked.

“In addition to preventing forest destruction, REDD projects protect biodiversity,” he says. “It is one of the only remuneration options available to landowners to protect forests and prevent alternative land uses that further destroy the environment.”

The Agrocortex project prevented the deforestation of some 5,300 hectares of land between 2014 and 2019. It has generated new sources of income and created jobs in one of the poorest regions Brazil.

Agrocortex has a forest that is being correctly managed while achieving social inclusion, economic development, forest protection and carbon offsetting.

“Buyers need to know the whole story behind a project,” says Preto. “I believe that they have a need and obligation to know what they are supporting, just as we have a need and obligation to deliver exactly what is described in our project plans and objectives.

“We send our buyers materials that highlight the characteristics of our project, the company, our shareholders and activities.” These materials are supported by photos, videos, certifications and all other mandatory documentation.

“We also explain our unique corporate structure to buyers. Our main shareholder is one of the largest private investment groups in Spain, and this gives us high levels of security and credit quality. To know that the money invested will be used correctly, and in accordance with best practices, is important for our supporters.”

[gallery link="file" ids="19205,19206,19207,19208,19209,19210,19211,19212,19213,19214,19215,19216,19217,19218,19219"]

The firm’s efforts have attracted recognition and awards, which Preto says in encouraging. “We work in an area of 186,000 hectares in the middle of the ‘Arc of Amazonian Deforestation’ – an area that is under great pressure.

“It is also an important biodiversity corridor that connects the Andes to the Amazon rainforest. It is estimated that there are more than 400 species of birds in the project area, which represents about 20 percent of the species found in Brazil.

“We have generated positive social and economic impacts in the form of jobs and alternative sources of income. We are continuously searching for the highest standards in our processes and activities. We have VCS and SocialCarbon verifications and FSC certifications.

“We also reinvest of 100 percent of the sales of our carbon credits back into our businesses and our activities are supported by strong partners.”

So, what do new entrants to the market need to know? “It is the same for new entrants and established buyers of carbon credits: know your projects and do not compare on price alone.

“GHG emission reduction projects are important, regardless of the type of project, but it is important to be sure of the quality of the project. Focusing on the price alone does not acknowledge this.

“Buyers should request all the essential information that guarantees the quality of the project, such as third-party certification and verification, as well as results achieved.”

Knowing the project, the owners, the developers, and the social, economic, and environmental benefits is also important.”

Looking to the future, Preto sees three main challenges. “There is a lack of knowledge and experience in the carbon offsetting markets: unfair competition from low-price, low-quality credits, and pressure from customers or buyers to acquire credits at a low price.

“Many buyers analyse only the cost. They do not consider the importance of this revenue for project developers. It is this revenue that must be reinvested in existing projects or in the development of new ones.

“We are asking buyers to choose carbon credits carefully and above all, value high-quality projects. We need everyone's support on this.”

Forest conservation is becoming more economically competitive, compared with other land uses. “We plan to consolidate our existing projects and develop new ones,” says Preto, “but we need more support from the market and buyers of carbon credits.”

REDD project

The primary objective of the REDD Project is to avoid unplanned destruction of Amazonian rainforest. The project area is located on a private property, Fazenda Seringal Novo Macapá, situated in the municipalities of Manoel Urbano, Pauini and Boca do Acre in the south-western Amazon.

The Agrocortex REDD+ project has established a barrier to deforestation, making an important contribution to biodiversity and climate regulation.

The main deforestation activities are cattle ranching, timber harvesting – legal and illegal – and infrastructure in the form of highways.

Conservation activities include increased monitoring by outside agents and the banning of unpermitted degradation. Other measures include forest fire prevention and firefighting training.

Strong growth Predicted

The REDD project has been widely praised for its conservation of the threatened Brazilian Amazon biome. The benefits of its work have helped to give Agrocortex benchmark status.

It has been acknowledged for huge contributions to economic, environmental and social outcomes in terms of education and the generation of new sources of sustainable incomes for the community.

“We hope that the increasing recognition will bring us visibility and support,” says Preto, “in addition to serving as an inspiration for other projects."


Otaviano Canuto: Middle-Income Countries Should Not Be Rushed to ‘Graduate’ Status

Many donor countries seem eager to see middle-income countries (MICs) graduate to non-client status in multilateral development institutions before achieving their full development potential.

Such institutions can significantly contribute to the sustainable development of MICs, while seizing many benefits from this relationship.

Multilateral development banks operate in two main ways: regular lending and concessional finance. Regular lending uses interest rates close to market levels and relies on the banks’ wealth of knowledge to create attractive projects for MICs. Concessional finance, on the other hand, is attractive for low-income countries for that knowledge and because it offers low interest rates or grants.

In recent years, major donors and multilateral development banks have steadily increased their focus on low-income countries. By doing so, they would achieve higher impact. However, a necessary increase in efforts aimed at low-income countries should not mean neglecting relatively well-off countries which still have a way to go before achieving full development.

The trade-off is false, for two reasons. Firstly, MICs borrow at close to market rates, which means that the financial cost of maintaining these countries in the client list of multilateral development banks is low. MICs mostly benefit from the knowledge they can access.

Secondly, knowledge that MICs access and use in no way drains the knowledge for use by low-income countries (LICs). Fixed costs for development knowledge are high, and a good share of that knowledge is non-rivalrous. MICs, because of their higher economic sophistication, allow for a better training ground for innovative approaches. Maintaining programmes in MICs can thus be beneficial for LICs, through what has been called the Hummingbird Effect.

One could argue — and many have — that independent of these arguments, MICs are already on a path to development. The resources which multilateral development banks devote to MICs are insubstantial compared to other sources. And multilateral development banks do not have infinite capacity for programme generation.

If multilateral development banks are not really decisive for MICs, then why should they not concentrate on where they will make a greater impact? Unfortunately, the progress that MICs have made so far is by no means guaranteed to be sustained. Considering that the share of the world’s population — and of the world’s poor — that live in MICs is high, we cannot afford to leave them in a possible middle-income trap. The measures which can be taken to help MICs are in the interest of all countries, poor and rich.

A major challenge for MICs is the accumulation of human capital. Recognising the importance of this does not automatically translate into higher levels. Years of schooling are not the same thing as better learning, even if there is a link between the two. Multilateral development banks can help MICs design effective policies to increase the level of learning-adjusted school years (a metric that combines quantity and quality of schooling) for a relatively low cost.

A business-friendly environment is essential to moving from middle- to high-income levels. The benefits of specialisation and scale, as well as innovation, depend on a healthy environment where starting, operating or closing a business are not cumbersome endeavours. Multilateral development banks have an essential role here. They can help MICs by increasing the scope of evaluations like the Doing Business Report, to better and transparently reflect the business environment of the countries they examine.

MICs are the “low-hanging fruit” of climate change mitigation. While their emissions are higher than those of the LICs, their carbon-efficiency is still low. This means that they are the cheapest environment where technologies can be used to reduce greenhouse gas emissions while expanding economic activity. Cutting emissions in MICs is in the world’s interest, and multilateral development banks can still expand such projects in MICs.

A rush to graduate and cease multilateral development bank activities in upper-middle income countries would come at a higher cost than is assumed. The development trajectory of these countries is far from a guaranteed, linear path. The emergence and persistence of the middle-income trap has demonstrated this.

Multilateral development banks, however, can do a lot to help ensure that these countries “graduate with honours” and even go on to become some of the main financiers of development — in the interest of all countries.


A Possible Tug-of-war Between the Fed and the Markets

The projections for United States GDP released by the Federal Reserve on March 17, pointed to a growth rate of 6.5% in 2021, well above December’s 4.2% forecast. Congressional approval of the Biden administration’s $1.9 trillion fiscal package and the vaccination march against COVID-19 explain the rise in the estimate. However, it should not be forgotten that growth in 2021 will follow a fall in GDP of 3.5% last year.

While the expected unemployment rate at the end of 2021 is now 4.5%, instead of the previous 5% projection, the median inflation rate measured by its core (price index of personal consumption expenditure, PCE) expected by members of the Fed’s monetary policy committee rose to 2.2%, above the December 1.8% forecast, but only slightly higher than the 2% on average that now serves as a target under the Fed's new monetary policy framework announced in 2020 (Table 1).

[caption id="attachment_19272" align="aligncenter" width="448"] Table 1: Economic projections of Federal Reserve Board members and Federal Reserve Bank presidents, under assumptions of projected appropriate monetary policy, March 2021. Source: Federal Reserve (2021), Summary of Economic Projections, March 17.[/caption]

For that reason, the opinions of participants in the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) meeting on how long the current basic interest rate (between zero and 0.25%) will remain were spread between 2022 and until 2024. At the press conference after the committee meeting, given by its president, Jerome Powell, the signal of a continuity in the immediate future of the accommodative policy approach was reinforced, including a continuation of the Fed’s purchases of Treasury bills.

It should be taken into account that the impact of the Biden fiscal package is what analysts call a ‘sugar rush’, or a short-term burst of energy. A second infrastructure package is planned, but the effect of the tax package now approved will be a one-shot stimulus, instead of creating lasting demand in the economy. Not surprisingly, on average, committee members said they expected core inflation to be 2% in 2022 and 2.1% in 2023.

What about the yields on long-term US Treasury bonds? They fell slightly after the projections were released on March 17, but there is evidence that volatility will continue.

There appears to be a double divergence between the market and the Fed. The inflation projections embedded in bond prices remain above those presented by the Fed. In addition, there appears to be a discrepancy between the mode of action announced by the Fed and what the markets predict as the Fed’s ‘reaction function’.

There is also some discomfort on the part of investors because anticipating movements in basic interest rates became more complicated after the Fed stopped using 2% as a kind of ceiling and the rate became an average. How much and for how long would inflation above 2% become a trigger for tightening monetary policy?

Anyone following Fed officials' pronouncements may have noticed the presence of deep-seated doubts over the past few years. What is the degree of flattening of the Phillips Curve? In other words, how long can the economy stay warm without full employment of labor? What exactly does such full employment correspond to?

In an article for Bloomberg, Jerome Powell referred to unemployment in the Black population, increases in wages in the low-income brackets, and workers with no college education. As in other parts of the world, there is a call for central banks to look at broader sets of indicators than isolated inflation indices as a sole benchmark for economic and financial stabilization. The straight use of aggregate projections for unemployment and inflation has proved tricky, as the world seems to have become too complicated to fit simple rules regarding such variables.

In New Zealand, a pioneer in formalizing the inflation-targeting regime, real estate prices are now included. Let us remember the fever that followed the 2008 global financial crisis about the possible expansion of the range of monetary policy, in combination with prudential regulation, to also keep an eye on the prices of financial assets, instead of simply focusing on prices of goods and services.

Will there be a tug of war between the Fed and the Treasury's long-term bond markets? The 10-year rise in market yields this year has been more pronounced than in previous times of instability, such as the 2013 taper tantrum and the sell-off of government bonds in 2003 and 2015 (Figure 1). Demand for US Treasury bonds has reduced since the beginning of the year, judging by auction prices, suggesting to some that “bond vigilantes” are policing and punishing fiscal policy considered too loose.

[caption id="attachment_19273" align="aligncenter" width="624"]
Figure 1: Unprecedent spike in 10-year US Treasury bond yields. Note: 100 = start of bond sell-off, trading days since start of the sell-off. Source: Ortlieb, P. (2021), Fed can crush ‘bond vigilantes’ if it chooses, OMFIF, March 17.[/caption]

The Fed announced Friday that it will not extend beyond March 31 the easing of banks’ minimum capital rules, which was granted in April 2020 during the financial shock of the start of the pandemic. The permission to temporarily exclude bank reserves of Treasury bills and deposits with the Fed from bank assets requiring coverage in terms of minimum capital will cease to apply.

What about the discrepancy between the Fed's narrative and long-term market yields? How proactive will the Fed have to be in convincing markets? At the Fed meeting in June 2020, the possibility of “controlling the yield curve” was ruled out because it was “not clear that the committee would need to reinforce its forward guidance” with the adoption of such a policy. The Fed's current complacency in relation to long yields can always be superseded by a revision of such a position for the sake of stabilization, if volatility increases in the long part of the yield curve.

About the Author

Otaviano Canuto, based in Washington, D.C, is a senior fellow at the Policy Center for the New South, a nonresident senior fellow at Brookings Institution, an adjunct assistant professor at SIPA – Columbia University, a professorial lecturer of international affairs at the Elliott School of International Affairs - George Washington University, and principal of the Center for Macroeconomics and Development. He is a former vice-president and a former executive director at the World Bank, a former executive director at the International Monetary Fund and a former vice-president at the Inter-American Development Bank. He is also a former deputy minister for international affairs at Brazil’s Ministry of Finance and a former professor of economics at University of São Paulo and University of Campinas, Brazil.


NIBULON: To Feed the World

According to the UN’s Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO), by 2050 the world’s population is likely to exceed nine billion – resulting in a 50 percent increase in global demand for agricultural products.

[caption id="attachment_19303" align="aligncenter" width="900"] NIBULON's cargo fleet[/caption]

The role of the agrarian sector in overcoming the global food crisis will increase, and investment in agriculture and the logistics development will be an important condition for sustainable development. And that is why the Ukrainian company NIBULON makes a real contribution to sustainable development and global food security.

Ukrainian Grain will Save the World

NIBULON is a leading Ukrainian investor, agricultural producer, and exporter. The company was established in 1991. It has maintained its leadership among Ukrainian exporters of agricultural products for 10 consecutive years.

Since 2008, NIBULON has been participating in the UN World Food Programme (WFP). This is the first Ukrainian company that participates in the WFP, as it is able to ensure the high quality of its products and to satisfy all contract requirements. During vessel-loading, the company complies with all conditions controlling the process. As part of the WFP, thanks to NIBULON, high-quality agricultural commodities were supplied to starving people in Pakistan, Ethiopia, Bangladesh, Kenya, Mauritania, Yemen and others.

“Twenty thousand inhabitants of our planet die every day because of lack of food,” says company general director, Oleksiy Vadaturskyy, who is Hero of Ukraine and Laureate of the Ukrainian State Prize for Architecture. “And in order to feed the population by 2030, an additional 150 million ha of land is needed for the production of bread; it is also necessary to produce more than 200 million tons of meat products.

“Being a head of the company that co-operates with more than 70 countries, I know first-hand that this is a real and very serious problem. In this regard, Ukraine is a country that can provide additional potential for agricultural commodities production in order to solve the problem of hunger.

“Today the whole world looks at Ukraine, which has all the opportunities for growing more agricultural commodities.”

Vadaturskyy is convinced that this goal can be achieved if modern agricultural machinery, irrigation systems and crop cultivation technologies are employed. “If favourable investment climate is created and investments are attracted, the potential of Ukraine is to increase production volumes at least twice,” he says. “This is precisely the potential that the world needs today in the fight against hunger.”

Leading Investor

In 27 years, NIBULON has invested more than $2.1bn. Since 2009, NIBULON has been implementing its investment project to revive the Dnipro and the Southern Buh Rivers as transport waterways of Ukraine. As part of this project, the company has already built a network of elevator complexes and transshipment terminals, and constructed a fleet at NIBULON shipbuilding and repair yard. “In this way, the company changes the logistics map of Ukraine.”

When redirecting its cargoes to a more environmentally friendly mode of transport, NIBULON reduces its carbon footprint.

The economic burden is also being reduced for agricultural producers, who will be able to free significant funds by investing in the production of agricultural commodities, which will become more competitive.

As a result of NIBULON’s activities, and the unique logistics infrastructure which it created, Ukraine is now renowned as a supplier of high-quality grain.

NIBULON transports 2.5 m tons of agricultural commodities by river each year. NIBULON continues constructing its fleet, which will number 100 vessels to transport four million tons of grain a year. The vessels are built at the company’s shipbuilding and repair yard, one of the few shipyards in Ukraine constructing complete vessels. NIBULON shipbuilding and repair yard has a heavy order book for the next few years.

The company is reconstructing and modernising the production facilities of the shipyard in parallel with the construction of vessels. After the reconstruction, the shipyard will be the most modern plant in Ukraine, and one of the best shipyards in Europe.

NIBULON continues developing its network of river transshipment terminals and complexes for receipt, storage and shipment of grain and oilseeds. In May 2018, the company put into operation a new elevator complex for grain and oilseed shipments (43,000 tons) as part of the transshipment terminal in Mykolaiv and the reconstructed 222-metre-long berth. This will increase the efficiency of the company’s fleet, and in July this year, NIBULON will construct two new transshipment terminals in Zaporizhzhia and Dnipropetrovsk regions.

[caption id="attachment_19304" align="aligncenter" width="900"] Mykolaiv, Ukraine: NIBULON's transshipment terminal and fleet[/caption]

Protecting Global Food Security

“Many countries know about NIBULON’s large-scale investment programme to develop logistics infrastructure in Ukraine,” says Vadaturskyy. “We always hear positive comments about its successful implementation. We regularly receive delegations at our facilities that are headed by ambassadors of the US, the Netherlands, Canada, Belgium, South Korea, and other countries and with the participation of leading experts, including foreign experts in the industry who study the problems of river transport development in Ukraine.”

Leading financial institutions, foreign governments and international organisations, including the UN, whose Food and Agriculture Organisation has the goal of eradicating hunger, appreciated NIBULON’s infrastructure projects and its experience in constructing grain elevators, river terminals, cargo fleet, reviving river navigation in Ukraine.

In 2017, in Cairo, Egypt, an important event aimed at saving global food security took place. FAO and NIBULON signed a memorandum to focus on improving the efficiency of Egyptian companies involved in grain production, storage and transportation. In Egypt, FAO is engaged in solving urgent issues related to the development of the infrastructure for grain preservation. According to this organisation, food losses in Egypt are up to 20 %.

As part of these agreements, and with the support of the Egyptian leadership, a series of meetings and mutual visits took place between NIBULON’s representatives and leading experts of the Ministry of Supply and Internal Trade, Ministry of Transport, Ministry of Land Reclamation and other government agencies.

NIBULON is one of the major suppliers of Ukrainian grain to Egypt. Over the past 10 years, NIBULON has exported more than 12m tons of Ukrainian wheat, corn, sorghum and soybean, having taken an active part in solving the country’s food security issues. NIBULON has opened a large Egyptian market for Ukrainian grain, having helped Ukrainian commodity producers to meet the competition and to sell their products.

Today, an organisation council, established under the Egyptian Ministry of Supply and Trade of Egypt, and NIBULON’s working group are exchanging information on the opportunity of investments in Egypt. It will include the modernisation of Egypt’s elevators, the construction of new ones, and the construction of a fleet at the country’s shipyards for grain transportation along the Nile River and its tributaries.

Thus, NIBULON plans to revive navigation on the Nile River.

Support of Reliable Financial Partners

NIBULON believes that partners’ trust is a source of future success. The company has an excellent 27-year credit history based on trust.

“Be honest. I appreciate honest people, when they are honest with themselves, the environment, and society,” says Vadaturskyy. “This is a very important trait I was brought up with in my childhood, and I’ve carried it through all my life.”

NIBULON plans to continue developing its ambitious investment projects. The company believes that long-term co-operation with international financial institutions – such as World Bank, IBRD, EBRD, EIB, IFC, ING, Credit Agricole, etc. – will be an important stimulus to create new jobs, to develop navigation and shipbuilding, to reduce traffic load on the roads, to develop Ukraine’s economy, and to strengthen global food security.

NIBULON’s goal is to do more for Ukraine and for the world, for decent living conditions and protection of vital human interests.


Making Science: ‘Top 20’ Goal of Digital Marketing Firm with Global Reach

[caption id="attachment_19335" align="alignright" width="289"] CEO: José Antonio Martinez[/caption]

The winner of the 2021 award for Best Digital Growth Strategy belongs to Making Science, the European technology and digital marketing consultancy.

The company, headquartered in Madrid, specialises in e-commerce and digital transformation and has undertaken a series of acquisitions over the past year to enhance its international reach and scope for its global clientele. This includes the recent purchase of Nara Media, a London-based digital marketing agency specialising in mobile app marketing and measurement.

The company’s recent growth strategy is part of a wider ambition to be present in the 20 largest digital advertising markets within the next five years with offices already in Spain, the UK, France, Italy, Portugal, Mexico and Colombia. Making Science was previously elected the SME of the Year 2019 by the Madrid Chamber of Commerce and received the CRECE (Rapid Expansion Company with Exponential Growth) award from Ernst and Young.

The company draws on 300 digital experts and marketers with international experience, and offers a bespoke service to clients with a strong legacy of innovation, acting as a leader in the development of technological solutions.

Leading Making Science is José Antonio Martinez Aguilar, or “Jama”, as he is known to colleagues and friends. Martinez Aguilar founded the company as its CEO, and has more than two decades of experience in the tech sector. Prior to Making Science, he worked for companies including Airtel (Vodafone) and Google. The latter post took him around the world, including stays in Canada and Portugal, where he was appointed managing director for Google Portugal.

Beyond Making Science, Martinez Aguilar is also a lecturer at the IE Business School in Madrid, where he teaches MBA students on digital strategy and technology, calling on his in-depth knowledge of digital trends and the industry.

On winning the CFI.co award, Martinez Aguilar said: “Winning this award attests to the hard work and dedication that all the staff at Making Science have put in over the past five years, helping us to grow to over 300 people across several markets.

“I want to thank them all for everything they have done to grow Making Science into the company it is today, despite the challenges we have faced, particularly over the past year. I am immensely proud and very much look forward to seeing where Making Science is in the next five years.”


World Bank: Pandemic Recovery is an Opportunity to Step Up Climate Change Action in Europe and Central Asia

2021 needs to be the year that climate change urgency truly entered the collective consciousness and lasting action followed.

[caption id="attachment_19349" align="aligncenter" width="900"]<img class="size-large wp-image-19349" src="https://cfi.co/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/Aral-Sea-5-1024x489.jpg" alt="Aral Sea, Central Asia: The Aral Sea, once the world’s fourth largest body of inland water, shrunk dramatically after the two rivers that fed its waters were diverted in the 1960s to irrigate cotton and rice fields, causing one of the worst environmental disasters of our times. Through a project called the Climate Adaptation and Mitigation Program for the Aral Sea Basin, the World Bank has been supporting both Tajikistan and Uzbekistan in their climate mitigation and adaptation efforts in the former Aral Sea." width="900" height="430" /> Aral Sea, Central Asia: The Aral Sea, once the world’s fourth largest body of inland water, shrunk dramatically after the two rivers that fed its waters were diverted in the 1960s to irrigate cotton and rice fields, causing one of the worst environmental disasters of our times. Through a project called the Climate Adaptation and Mitigation Program for the Aral Sea Basin, the World Bank has been supporting both Tajikistan and Uzbekistan in their climate mitigation and adaptation efforts in the former Aral Sea.[/caption]

In the same way the effects of climate damage are often described as irreversible, so too is the movement calling for change.

Findings from the largest-ever survey of public opinion on climate change, carried out by UNDP in 2020, found that nearly two-thirds of people around the globe recognised climate change as a global emergency that must take priority. This message has been amplified by a pandemic that has demonstrated, in the most tragic of circumstances, that our old exploits and behaviors can change. That emissions can fall and that we are all accountable, today, for the planet we inhabit.

Across the world, governments and corporations have committed to net-zero emissions or climate neutrality targets toward 2050 and this momentum needs to continue as we move closer to COP26 in Glasgow at the end of the year. Because, despite the lessons of the pandemic that we can change and despite the commitments that have been made, emissions bounced back to pre-pandemic levels by the end of 2020.

Around the world the primary focus is on COVID-19. Beyond the millions of lives so sadly lost, people have also felt the economic pain brought to bear with this enforced transition. Businesses closed, jobs cut, and livelihoods jeopardised. Now policymakers are looking at how to bring the global economy back to life – with sustainability at its heart.

A great example of this economic rethink can be found in Europe. The EU’s ambitious Green Deal sets out a bold vision for climate action, recognising the crucial link between decarbonisation, climate resilience, natural capital, and social inclusion. Rather than scaling back the Green Deal in the face of the COVID-19 pandemic, the EU doubled down – raising its climate ambitions and putting the strategy center stage of its $2+ trillion recovery program.

[caption id="attachment_19350" align="aligncenter" width="900"] Flooding in Serbia: In 2014 a low-pressure cyclone affected a large area of Southeastern and Central Europe, causing floods and landslides. Over 1.6 million people were affected in Serbia and Bosnia after a week of flooding. The World Bank’s Floods Emergency Recovery project supported Serbia after the devastating floods of 2014.[/caption]

Amid the pandemic, the World Bank Group has remained the largest multilateral funder of climate investments in developing countries, having committed $83 billion over the last five years. Across the world, translating bold climate objectives into policies and investments will require close attention to individual country circumstances and strong cooperation between national governments and international institutions. To stave off the worst impacts of climate change, policymakers should consider three key priorities:

First, ramp up financial support for middle- and low-income countries in areas such as clean energy technologies, access to electricity, sustainable forestry as well as resilience and mitigation measures to tame natural disasters caused by climate change. This involves richer nations supporting sustainable growth in poorer countries to help raise living standards and protect the environment. In our role, the World Bank Group has committed to an ambitious target: 35% of our financing over the next five years will go to support countries taking ambitious climate action. This will also be critical in supporting our country partners, including in Europe and Central Asia, to meet their national climate commitments made under the Paris Agreement in 2015.

Second, policymakers must view climate change through a multi-pronged lens. Too often in the past, climate or ‘green’ investments have been unfairly profiled: good for the environment, but costly and uncompetitive. The economic potential and savings of climate action are not always highlighted effectively. For instance, access to reliable electricity can extend business hours for entrepreneurs in developing countries. It enables children to study at night and improve their prospects. Similarly, clean cooking and heating materials have undeniable benefits for extending life expectancy and reducing costs of health care. It spares those in the home – often women – from spending each day collecting biomass, such as foraged wood or manure, to burn on rudimentary stoves. This is time that could spent on gaining an education or starting a business.

[caption id="attachment_19351" align="aligncenter" width="900"] Renewables in Poland: The World Bank is supporting Poland to transition out of coal in a just and fair way. As a result, the share of renewable energy sources in the country’s generation mix will significantly grow above the current levels of around 20 percent.[/caption]

We know by now that these climate ‘externalities’ all come with a cost to the economy. Failing to address them has negative implications for poverty reduction, fiscal performance, public health and ultimately economic growth. Institutions like the World Bank offer technical assistance and policy advice on how to maximise these benefits through investments.

Third, protecting the vulnerable from climate shocks and supporting the people and places that will be impacted by the transition to a low carbon economy. Just as we have with the COVID-19 pandemic, governments, businesses and international institutions must be ready to mobilise people and resources to protect the most at-risk groups in our societies. This means always being prepared for unexpected events by building programs based on the fundamental principle of resilience. The World Bank is supporting the European Commission with its €18 billion Just Transition Fund to help member states, particularly in Central, Eastern and Southern Europe, meet the EU’s climate neutrality goal by 2050. A big part of such a transition is phasing out coal use. The Bank is helping policymakers draw on lessons learned from projects in Greece, Bulgaria, the Western Balkans and Ukraine, as well as longstanding experience from the Russian Federation, Poland and Romania. Just Transition provides a comprehensive approach to energy policy changes and transitions and is of high relevance beyond Europe and Central Asia.

The reality is that climate change is a complex set of challenges – environmental, social, political and economic. There is no-one-size-fits-all solution and that is why it is so difficult to address quickly and impossible to tackle in isolation. This is where every country, large or small, has an opportunity to exercise global leadership in one way or another. Global and international financial institutions have an important role to play as conveners in bringing countries around the table to address a common threat.

Let’s look back at 2021 as the year when COVID-19 no longer stole lives and livelihoods and the recovery went into full swing while at the same time contributing to the collective net zero emission target.

About the Author

[caption id="attachment_15891" align="aligncenter" width="680"] World Bank Vice President, Europe and Central Asia: Anna Bjerde[/caption]

Anna Bjerde became World Bank Vice President for Europe and Central Asia on May 1st, 2020. In this position, Anna leads the World Bank’s strategic, analytical, operational and knowledge work in the region.

Prior to this, Anna was Director of Strategy and Operations for the Middle East and North Africa region at the World Bank. Before that, she oversaw the Bank’s strategies, lending and analytical work for sustainable development, covering all six of the Bank’s regions. She also held a deputy Vice President role in the Europe and Central Asia region in 2014-15.

Anna has over 25 years of experience working in development in Africa, the Middle East, Europe and Central Asia, Latin America and the Caribbean, East Asia, and South Asia. Anna is a recognized leader in economic development, with a specific interest in inclusive growth and sustainable development.

Anna is an experienced leader and manager, with experience overseeing large and decentralized workforces and country offices, as well as forging strong bilateral and multilateral partnerships. Anna has a Master’s in Business and Economics from the University of Stockholm.

World Bank’s Europe AND Central Asia Region

The World Bank supports 23 countries across the Europe and Central Asia region in promoting growth, reducing poverty, and boosting shared prosperity. We help our clients build more responsible institutions, increase private investment, improve service delivery, upgrade infrastructure, protect the environment, support human development, and empower marginalized groups.

For more information, please visit: worldbank.org/eca

2021 needs to be the year that climate change urgency truly entered the collective consciousness and lasting action followed.

[caption id="attachment_19349" align="aligncenter" width="900"] Aral Sea, Central Asia: The Aral Sea, once the world’s fourth largest body of inland water, shrunk dramatically after the two rivers that fed its waters were diverted in the 1960s to irrigate cotton and rice fields, causing one of the worst environmental disasters of our times. Through a project called the Climate Adaptation and Mitigation Program for the Aral Sea Basin, the World Bank has been supporting both Tajikistan and Uzbekistan in their climate mitigation and adaptation efforts in the former Aral Sea.[/caption]
In the same way the effects of climate damage are often described as irreversible, so too is the movement calling for change.

Findings from the largest-ever survey of public opinion on climate change, carried out by UNDP in 2020, found that nearly two-thirds of people around the globe recognised climate change as a global emergency that must take priority. This message has been amplified by a pandemic that has demonstrated, in the most tragic of circumstances, that our old exploits and behaviors can change. That emissions can fall and that we are all accountable, today, for the planet we inhabit.

Across the world, governments and corporations have committed to net-zero emissions or climate neutrality targets toward 2050 and this momentum needs to continue as we move closer to COP26 in Glasgow at the end of the year. Because, despite the lessons of the pandemic that we can change and despite the commitments that have been made, emissions bounced back to pre-pandemic levels by the end of 2020.

Around the world the primary focus is on COVID-19. Beyond the millions of lives so sadly lost, people have also felt the economic pain brought to bear with this enforced transition. Businesses closed, jobs cut, and livelihoods jeopardised. Now policymakers are looking at how to bring the global economy back to life – with sustainability at its heart.

A great example of this economic rethink can be found in Europe. The EU’s ambitious Green Deal sets out a bold vision for climate action, recognising the crucial link between decarbonisation, climate resilience, natural capital, and social inclusion. Rather than scaling back the Green Deal in the face of the COVID-19 pandemic, the EU doubled down – raising its climate ambitions and putting the strategy center stage of its $2+ trillion recovery program.

[caption id="attachment_19350" align="aligncenter" width="900"] Flooding in Serbia: In 2014 a low-pressure cyclone affected a large area of Southeastern and Central Europe, causing floods and landslides. Over 1.6 million people were affected in Serbia and Bosnia after a week of flooding. The World Bank’s Floods Emergency Recovery project supported Serbia after the devastating floods of 2014.[/caption]
Amid the pandemic, the World Bank Group has remained the largest multilateral funder of climate investments in developing countries, having committed $83 billion over the last five years. Across the world, translating bold climate objectives into policies and investments will require close attention to individual country circumstances and strong cooperation between national governments and international institutions. To stave off the worst impacts of climate change, policymakers should consider three key priorities:

First, ramp up financial support for middle- and low-income countries in areas such as clean energy technologies, access to electricity, sustainable forestry as well as resilience and mitigation measures to tame natural disasters caused by climate change. This involves richer nations supporting sustainable growth in poorer countries to help raise living standards and protect the environment. In our role, the World Bank Group has committed to an ambitious target: 35% of our financing over the next five years will go to support countries taking ambitious climate action. This will also be critical in supporting our country partners, including in Europe and Central Asia, to meet their national climate commitments made under the Paris Agreement in 2015.

Second, policymakers must view climate change through a multi-pronged lens. Too often in the past, climate or ‘green’ investments have been unfairly profiled: good for the environment, but costly and uncompetitive. The economic potential and savings of climate action are not always highlighted effectively. For instance, access to reliable electricity can extend business hours for entrepreneurs in developing countries. It enables children to study at night and improve their prospects. Similarly, clean cooking and heating materials have undeniable benefits for extending life expectancy and reducing costs of health care. It spares those in the home – often women – from spending each day collecting biomass, such as foraged wood or manure, to burn on rudimentary stoves. This is time that could spent on gaining an education or starting a business.

[caption id="attachment_19351" align="aligncenter" width="900"] Renewables in Poland: The World Bank is supporting Poland to transition out of coal in a just and fair way. As a result, the share of renewable energy sources in the country’s generation mix will significantly grow above the current levels of around 20 percent.[/caption]
We know by now that these climate ‘externalities’ all come with a cost to the economy. Failing to address them has negative implications for poverty reduction, fiscal performance, public health and ultimately economic growth. Institutions like the World Bank offer technical assistance and policy advice on how to maximise these benefits through investments.

Third, protecting the vulnerable from climate shocks and supporting the people and places that will be impacted by the transition to a low carbon economy. Just as we have with the COVID-19 pandemic, governments, businesses and international institutions must be ready to mobilise people and resources to protect the most at-risk groups in our societies. This means always being prepared for unexpected events by building programs based on the fundamental principle of resilience. The World Bank is supporting the European Commission with its €18 billion Just Transition Fund to help member states, particularly in Central, Eastern and Southern Europe, meet the EU’s climate neutrality goal by 2050. A big part of such a transition is phasing out coal use. The Bank is helping policymakers draw on lessons learned from projects in Greece, Bulgaria, the Western Balkans and Ukraine, as well as longstanding experience from the Russian Federation, Poland and Romania. Just Transition provides a comprehensive approach to energy policy changes and transitions and is of high relevance beyond Europe and Central Asia.

The reality is that climate change is a complex set of challenges – environmental, social, political and economic. There is no-one-size-fits-all solution and that is why it is so difficult to address quickly and impossible to tackle in isolation. This is where every country, large or small, has an opportunity to exercise global leadership in one way or another. Global and international financial institutions have an important role to play as conveners in bringing countries around the table to address a common threat.

Let’s look back at 2021 as the year when COVID-19 no longer stole lives and livelihoods and the recovery went into full swing while at the same time contributing to the collective net zero emission target.

About the Author

[caption id="attachment_15891" align="aligncenter" width="680"] World Bank Vice President, Europe and Central Asia: Anna Bjerde[/caption]
Anna Bjerde became World Bank Vice President for Europe and Central Asia on May 1st, 2020. In this position, Anna leads the World Bank’s strategic, analytical, operational and knowledge work in the region.

Prior to this, Anna was Director of Strategy and Operations for the Middle East and North Africa region at the World Bank. Before that, she oversaw the Bank’s strategies, lending and analytical work for sustainable development, covering all six of the Bank’s regions. She also held a deputy Vice President role in the Europe and Central Asia region in 2014-15.

Anna has over 25 years of experience working in development in Africa, the Middle East, Europe and Central Asia, Latin America and the Caribbean, East Asia, and South Asia. Anna is a recognized leader in economic development, with a specific interest in inclusive growth and sustainable development.

Anna is an experienced leader and manager, with experience overseeing large and decentralized workforces and country offices, as well as forging strong bilateral and multilateral partnerships. Anna has a Master’s in Business and Economics from the University of Stockholm.

World Bank’s Europe AND Central Asia Region

The World Bank supports 23 countries across the Europe and Central Asia region in promoting growth, reducing poverty, and boosting shared prosperity. We help our clients build more responsible institutions, increase private investment, improve service delivery, upgrade infrastructure, protect the environment, support human development, and empower marginalized groups.

For more information, please visit: worldbank.org/eca


Domini Impact Investments: CEO Carole M. Laible on ‘Investing for Good’

[caption id="attachment_19395" align="alignright" width="240"] Carole M. Laible: Chief Executive Officer, Domini Impact Investments LLC[/caption]

It began with a question. Can you do good by buying stocks?

Thirty years since posing that thought and launching the first socially and environmentally screened index, the Domini 400 Social Index, Amy Domini has proven that not only can you do good by buying stocks, but that you can have even more impact by becoming the founder of a mutual fund firm that inspires thousands of individual and institutional investors to join you.

Today, Domini Impact Investments, a women-led SEC registered investment adviser that specializes exclusively in impact investing, has $2.6 billion assets under management. The firm’s standards continue to loom large and its deep belief in universal human dignity and ecological sustainability, even larger. Domini seeks investments that promote long-term positive environmental impact as well as universal values of fairness, equality, justice, and respect for human rights.

Domini’s CEO, Carole M. Laible, joined the firm in 1997 and oversees the company’s vision: to harness the power of finance to build a better world. With a family five mutual funds, Domini empowers investors to grow communities, inspire companies, preserve the planet, and create a world of shared prosperity.

“Impact is when care reaches,” says Laible. But for Laible, this statement isn’t just a talking point; it’s a way of life. Besides being responsible for the overall research (the firm conducts proprietary in-house research) and mutual fund operations of Domini, she has been active in the fossil fuel divestment movement, supporting its efforts through public outreach and advocacy, including commenting on the issue, publishing op-eds, and participating in a roundtable on divestment of the NYS Common Retirement Fund.

Laible also ensures that Domini continuously shares information, works with peers, listens to stakeholders, and welcomes others to the industry. “We want our firm to demonstrate how today’s connections fuel tomorrow’s prosperity and make ‘investing for good’ the way all investing is done,” says Laible.

The rising momentum of the impact investment movement doesn’t surprise Laible, who has understood for decades that positive social, environmental, and financial returns aren’t mutually exclusive. “More than a trend, impact investing is Domini’s tradition,” she says.

That legacy is growing. Last year, the company launched two new mutual funds—the Domini International Opportunities Fund and the Domini Sustainable Solutions Fund. The latter was launched for investors seeking an unconstrained portfolio in search of answers to society’s sustainability challenges anywhere in the world and at any market capitalization. The former offers shareholders the opportunity to benefit from broad geographic diversification, while helping promote universal human dignity and ecological sustainability around the world.

No matter the fund, each is actively managed according to an innovative strategy that combines rigorous social and environmental investment standards and financial analysis. Laible views Domini’s standards as a key differentiator. “Our standards are applied consistently across all of our mutual fund products, as we consider our standards core to how investing should be done. In addition, we engage with companies and issuers in the Funds’ portfolios to encourage improvements in their social and environmental performance,” she says.

Women-led and impact leading, the firm views financial asset management as a network of individuals that are part of a system. When this system is used properly, it is ideal for delivering wellbeing on a global scale.

“Making an impact starts with an asset manager that cares, a set of standards that endures, an individual who believes, and a community that builds,” says Laible. She believes that if enough people come together with a care that’s mutual, there is real strength in numbers to encourage companies to create positive outcomes for people and planet.

“This is the better effect,” explains Domini. When investors choose to invest only in better companies, the definition of ‘better’ crystalizes. Securities markets of the world can begin to revalue the better-behaving companies, thereby delivering an incentive to corporate management for better behavior—and that kind of better is in all of our best interests.

“Throughout 2020 we were constantly reminded of the critical role impact investors play in shaping the future,” says Domini. “It’s clear that together we can make a difference.”

Laible agrees. “By thinking big but knowing that the secret to making a difference starts small, we can create positive impact, one investment and investor at a time.”


[caption id="attachment_19393" align="alignright" width="300"] Amy Domini: Founder & Chair, Domini Impact Investments LLC[/caption]

Amy Domini’s career began with a question: Can you do good by buying stocks?

Thirty years since posing that thought and launching the first socially and environmentally screened index, the Domini 400 Social Index, Domini has proven that not only can you do good by buying stocks, but that you can have even more impact by becoming the founder of a mutual fund firm that inspires thousands of individual and institutional investors to join you.

Today, Domini Impact Investments, a women-led SEC registered investment adviser that specializes exclusively in impact investing, has $2.6 billion assets under management. Led by Domini, its Founder and Chair, the firm’s standards continue to loom large and its deep belief in universal human dignity and ecological sustainability, even larger. The company seeks investments that promote long-term positive environmental impact as well as universal values of fairness, equality, justice, and respect for human rights.

Domini’s mutual fund firm has as its philosophical underpinning the concept that corporations are emerging as the dominant social force on the planet. “We select companies that are good citizens and talk directly with them about issues ranging from diversity on the board of directors to manufacturing in sweatshops,” she wrote in The New York Times.

As a member of Domini’s Investment Review Committee and Standards Committee, Domini upholds social and environmental standards across all Funds. She is also the co-portfolio manager of the Domini Impact Equity Fund, International Opportunities Fund, and Sustainable Solutions Fund.

Widely recognized as the leading voice for socially responsible investing, Domini was mentioned by Barron’s as one of “The 20 Most Influential People in ESG Investing” and Time magazine named her one of the “100 Most Influential People in the World.” Other awards include a recent Icon & Innovators honor from InvestmentNews, an honorary Doctor of Business Administration degree from Northeastern University College of Law, and an honorary doctorate from Yale University’s Berkeley Divinity School.

A frequent contributor to Green Money Journal, Domini has also written many books, including Ethical Investing, Investing for Good, and Socially Responsible Investing: Making a Difference and Making Money. She views financial asset management as a network of individuals that are part of a system. When this system is used properly, it is ideal for delivering wellbeing on a global scale. “If enough people come together with a care that’s mutual, there is real strength in numbers to encourage companies to create positive outcomes for people and planet,” says Domini.

In addition to overseeing Domini Impact Investments, Amy Domini holds the Chartered Financial Analyst designation, serving as a private trustee/portfolio manager of The Sustainability Group with the Boston-based firm, Loring, Wolcott & Coolidge. In that role, she advises high-net-worth individuals on sustainable investing.

“Throughout 2020 I was constantly reminded of the critical role impact investors play in shaping the future,” says Domini. “It’s clear that together we can make a difference.”


[caption id="attachment_19484" align="alignright" width="300"] Carole M. Laible: Chief Executive Officer, Domini Impact Investments LLC[/caption]

Carole M. Laible is on a mission: to harness the power of finance to build a better world. Since joining Domini Impact Investments in 1997, she has contributed to making that ideal a reality. Under her leadership as CEO, the impact-only investment adviser with $2.6 billion assets under management has empowered investors to grow communities, inspire companies, preserve the planet, and create a world of shared prosperity.

“Impact is when care reaches,” says Laible. But for Laible, this statement isn’t just a talking point; it’s a way of life. Besides being responsible for the overall research (the firm conducts proprietary in-house research) and mutual fund operations of Domini, she has been active in the fossil fuel divestment movement, supporting its efforts through public outreach and advocacy, including commenting on the issue, publishing op-eds, and participating in a roundtable on divestment of the NYS Common Retirement Fund.

With over 20 years of impact investing experience, Laible played a key role in the launch of  a new strategy for the Domini Impact Equity Fund, for which she is also the Co-Portfolio Manager. It’s a role she also holds for the recently launched Domini Sustainable Solutions Fund and the Domini International Opportunities Fund. She also oversees the current investment strategy and sub-manager selection for the Domini Impact Bond Fund and the Domini Impact Equity Fund.

Instrumental in helping to make ‘investing for good’ the way all investing is done, Laible ensures Domini continuously shares information, works with peers, listens to stakeholders, and welcomes others to the industry. “We want our firm to demonstrate how today’s connections fuel tomorrow’s prosperity,” says Laible.

The rising momentum of the impact investment movement doesn’t surprise Laible, who has understood for decades that positive social, environmental, and financial returns aren’t mutually exclusive. “More than a trend, impact investing is Domini’s tradition,” she says.

Nothing defines that legacy more than Domini’s Impact Investment Standards. “They’re a key differentiator for the firm,” says Laible, who serves on the Domini Standards Committee to define, clarify, and implement them. She also maintains a voting seat on Domini’s Impact Review Committee, which is responsible for the oversight of all companies’ consistency with Domini’s social and environmental standards and determination of investment eligibility.

In addition to her work at Domini, Carole M. Laible is also a founding member of the Sustainability Accounting Standards Board™ (SASB)™ Investor Advisory Group. She works to support diversity in the field of finance, including as a Global Angel member of 100 Women in Finance.


Boost R&D to Ensure Sustainable Post-Covid Recovery: Economists

Increased investment in research and development is crucial to post-covid recovery, say economists calling for lasting improvements in the field.

The European Commission’s €750bn Covid-19 Recovery Fund should help the bloc to hit its longstanding – but so far consistently missed – target to spend three percent of GDP on R&D. Spending currently stands at about two percent.

Ministers have identified areas to focus on: innovation, renewable energy, AI, and space systems hubs. Commission funding depends on such commitment from member countries.

With economies in crisis, corporate funding will inevitably reduce – and there is pressure on the public sector to compensate.

R&D stagnation – a drop of five percent in its share of global expenditure in the first 15 years of this century – has put the EU behind the US, Japan, and South Korea. China’s share rose from five percent in 2000 to 21 percent in 2015. That intensity exceeded EU efforts in 2017 – and China shows no signs of holding back.

Chinese premier Li Keqiang announced in March that the country’s R&D budget would increase by more than seven percent per annum from 2021 to 2025 in a push for major tech wins.

China would enhance its strategic scientific and technological capabilities, he said, underpinned by the development of national laboratories. “(The country will) strive to make major breakthroughs in core technologies in key fields,” according to Li, “and formulate and implement a 10-year action plan for basic research.”


Mackenzie Scott: Giving Wealth Away

[caption id="attachment_19404" align="alignright" width="300"] Novelist and philanthropist Mackenzie Scott. Photo: Elena Seibert[/caption]

Mackenzie Scott, the third-richest woman in the world, last year started giving her wealth away.

“There are lots of resources each of us can pull from our safes to share with others,” she said. “I have a disproportionate amount of money to share. But I won’t wait. And I will keep at it until the safe is empty.”

According to Forbes, the net worth of MacKenzie Scott (formerly MacKenzie Bezos) in January 2021 sits around $56bn. That figure bounces around in conjunction with Scott’s recent record-breaking run of philanthropy. By the end of 2020, she had given away nearly $6bn.

Her fortune stems from her stake in Amazon, the e-commerce juggernaut that she helped her former husband to establish. As part of the divorce settlement, Scott was granted four percent of shares in the world’s fourth-largest company in terms of market cap ($1.6tn).

In May 2019, within a month of the divorce, Scott had signed her name to the Giving Pledge, the campaign started by Bill Gates and Warren Buffet to persuade the world’s wealthiest to donate the majority of their fortunes. Bezos — the richest man in the world with a net worth of over $187bn — is conspicuously absent from this roster. More than 200 people from 24 countries have signed, and a handful of the world’s billionaires have already donated up to a fifth of their wealth.

Fast-forward to the following summer, as nations worldwide were brought to their knees by the Covid crisis. “Like many, I watched the first half of 2020 with a mixture of heartbreak and horror,” she wrote on Medium in August. “Life will never stop finding fresh ways to expose inequities in our systems, or waking us up to the fact that a civilisation this imbalanced is not only unjust, but also unstable.”

Scott pulled together a team to help translate her altruistic intentions into support for those worst-hit by the crisis. They took a data-driven approach to identifying organisations with strong leadership teams and results, with special attention to those operating in communities facing high projected food insecurity, high measures of racial inequity, high local poverty rates, and low access to philanthropic capital.

The team started with a list of 6,490 organisations, compiled from suggestions from hundreds of field experts, funders, non-profit leaders and volunteers with decades of experience. That list was pared back to 384 US organisations working to fulfil basic needs or “addressing long-term systemic inequities that have been deepened by the crisis”: debt relief, employment training, credit and financial services for under-resourced communities, education for historically marginalised and under-served people, civil rights advocacy groups, and legal defence funds that take on institutional discrimination.

“We do this research and deeper diligence not only to identify organisations with high potential for impact,” Scott said, “but also to pave the way for unsolicited and unexpected gifts given with full trust, and no strings attached. Because our research is data-driven and rigorous, our giving process can be human and soft.”

Her generosity came with little fanfare and complete trust in the organisations to put the money to good use. Scott, who rarely speaks to the media, didn’t disclose the individual donations — but they were estimated to vary between $3m and $40m.
Some criticise Scott for the lack of transparency, but the real rub comes from the source of her fortune: Amazon and its cut-throat, guerrilla-warfare tactics.

“That money, as she very well knows, was made through tax avoidance, by wage theft, by union busting, by driving workers into the ground at every turn,” author Anand Giridharadas told Marker. “She now has this classic modern dilemma: she is a serious person who wants to give the money back in ways that actually advance justice.”

Giridharadas highlighted the exclusion of labour rights groups from Scott’s list of beneficiaries. “The most important thing she could do is make sure she’s pushing for the kind of structural, systemic changes that would make it impossible for a fortune like hers to arise ever again.”


Inter Seguros CEO: Paulo Padilha

[caption id="attachment_19425" align="alignright" width="300"] Inter Seguros CEO: Paulo Padilha[/caption]

Chief executive Paulo Padilha is proud of the people driving the company forward, and their sense of purpose. "We are a team highly committed to the experience of our customers,” he says, “and we are aware of our mission to lead the insurance market revolution in Brazil."

In addition to any investment made in the creation of the most complete insurance platform in the country, the financial results in such a short time are noteworthy.

“Our main indicator will always be the satisfaction of our customers. It's the basis of everything. But we also believe, even with the culture of our team, that we must always be diligent and disciplined in seeking our results. We always try to reconcile execution and financial indicators well.”

The Inter Seguros team is made up of people who, despite their youth, have accumulated considerable experience in the sector, and in working together. Paulo Padilha is just 35. “We are a relatively young and small team,” he says, “with around 50 people in total. It’s a talented team that is committed to making Inter Seguros the largest digital insurance case in the country.”

“And, very soon, we want to be a global operation as well.”

In an increasingly unpredictable world, with accelerated disruptions, Inter Seguros believes in doing simple things well; having focus and discipline are fundamental.


Inter Seguros: We Need to Talk about Insurance, Brazil

A silent revolution is helping thousands of Brazilian families to plan and take care of the things that matter most

Revolutionising markets and simplifying the lives of its customers are the foundations of the culture of Banco Inter, the first 100 percent digital and free bank in Brazil. It is no different in the insurance market, with its insurance arm Inter Seguros.

Little is said about the sector in Brazil, perhaps understandably: only four percent of families have any insurance products. In more developed countries the percentage is around 15 percent. Despite its vast continental dimensions and economic potential, Brazil does not even make the top 20 in the global ranking system that lists the volume of insurance premiums by GDP in each region.

In addition to cultural issues, which weigh on the developing awareness of the importance of insurance products in family financial planning, the concentrated nature of the market and the general lack of focus on clients’ real needs play a part.

In recent years, Inter Seguros has been working to build an insurance offering focused on those needs, with a user-friendly and transparent digital experience. It is today the largest and most complete digital platform in the country.

In the space of two years, the firm has garnered more than 400 thousand customers – and that number is steadily growing. The portfolio has 20 products, including traditional life, health, automobile, residential, travel and assistance solutions – and even coverage for pets. The Inter platform is perhaps the most comprehensive in the world.

“Traditionally, the largest banks in Brazil offered insurance that did not meet client's real needs,” says Paulo Padilha, CEO of Inter Seguros. “Sales aimed just to reach the goals of branch managers.” At Inter, everything is different.

“We are 100 percent digital, we have no physical branch, but the main difference is our genuine desire to partner with, and solve real problems for, our customers.”

Buying insurance products at Inter, being completely digital, is without “middle-men”. With a few clicks on a mobile app the customer chooses the option that makes the most sense for their moment of life. The customised product offer is made through algorithms that “understand” each customer profile via AI – without the need for physically trying to sell perhaps unsuitable products.

Despite its recent introduction, the initiative has brought excellent results. In just over a year, the customer portfolio grew more than 10 times. While some insurtechs have tight margins, or even negative ones, Inter Seguros closed 2020 with an EBITDA margin of 89 percent. “This is just the beginning,” says Padilha. “For 2021, it is planned to become the global operation, with offers in different countries. Speaking of exponential growth does not seem to be ‘just a fad’ when we look at Inter Seguros' performance.”


Chaiwat Kovavisarach - Green Values Take Bangchak From Refinery to Icon Status

[caption id="attachment_19441" align="alignright" width="266"] Chaiwat Kovavisarach: president and CEO of Thailand’s Bangchak Corporation[/caption]

Chaiwat Kovavisarach, president and chief executive officer of Thailand’s Bangchak Corporation, is a man on a mission.

Under his guidance, Bangchak has grown from a Thai refinery into a transnational energy corporation. Kovavisarach brought a quarter-century of experience in engineering, investment banking and executive management to bear while turning around a company whose founding mission was to ensure national energy security.

Kovavisarach progressed its evolution into a model corporate group recognised for its commitment to regional green innovation and sustainable energy.

He took the helm in 2015 and took Bangchak into a new era under the vision of “Evolving Greenovation”, which has made the company a leader in sustainability and innovation.

He expanded Bangchak to span five main areas: Refinery, marketing, green power, bio-based products and natural resources.

In terms of the refinery business, Bangchak has the second-largest market share in Thailand, integrating a network of more than 1,100 service stations, along with supplementary non-oil businesses, most notably Inthanin Coffee. It has expanded to neighbouring ASEAN countries.

Green power is central to Bangchak, with operations and investments in renewable energy via BCPG, an icon in the sector. It has become of Asia-Pacific’s leading companies in renewable energy with solar, hydro, wind and geothermal power businesses in Thailand, Japan, Philippines, Indonesia, and Laos.

Operations and investments in bio-based products and technology has cemented the corporation’s positon as Thailand largest producer and distributor of biofuels. The natural resources focus is on petroleum exploration and production in Norway and lithium mining in the Americas.

To ensure that Bangchak remains competitive, Kovavisarach pushed for the establishment of Bangchak Initiative and Innovation Centre (BiiC). The centre is tasked with cultivating green ecosystems to drive innovation.

His drive and vision have reinforced Bangchak’s reputation as a pioneer of energy technology. It was the first, and remains the only, digital overhead service station in Thailand, and the country’s first Green Community Energy Management System (GEMS) project. The off-grid, AI-powered renewable energy initiative features Thailand’s largest operating lithium battery, laying the foundations for Thailand future energy decentralization and trading.

Bangchak undertook the first trial project for P2P energy trading in South East Asia, the largest in the world at the time of its launch.

Kovarisarach has made Bangchak is a household name in Thailand, and its exploration of environmental alternatives was further advanced with the introduction of Hi Diesel B20s, a product introduced to leverage Thailand’s oil palm and agricultural abundance.

Bangchak has also established the SynBio Academy, a consortium of corporations and academics to develop viable and sustainable synthetic biotechnology.

Kovavisarach’s dedication to Bangchak’s sustainable growth through integrated and balanced strategies, and his passion for innovation, have seen the company honoured with awards in innovation and creativity, corporate governance, financial successes, and corporate image.

Chaiwat Kovavisarach has been recognised domestically and internationally for his leadership, and has been a pivotal figure in propelling the Bangchak Group towards energy transition.

His passion for green innovation – above and beyond Bangchak’s businesses – is reflected in a monthly column in Krungthep Thurakij (Bangkok BizNews). Two compilations of his articles have been published in book form.


Shishir Poddar & Tirupati Graphite: Sustainability is the Buzz Word

[caption id="attachment_19458" align="alignright" width="243"] Tirupati Graphite CEO: Shishir Poddar[/caption]

Increasingly, investors want their cash to have a real impact on efforts to combat climate change; they want to see positive and measurable social and environmental effects, along with a financial return.

While some businesses are scrambling to rethink their strategies and sign-up to new targets, one company was early to the game, with sustainability and mitigating climate change at its core.

London Stock Exchange-listed Tirupati Graphite is a fully integrated producer and developer of high-grade natural flake graphite, speciality graphite, and graphene. These sustainable materials have extensive, unique properties – and many green applications. Tirupati places a special emphasis on that last attribute: with renewable energy generation and storage, this is a company committed to creating products that are as sustainable as possible.

CEO Shishir Poddar admits that the potentials of graphite and graphene are not generally well understood. “Not many people are aware that lithium-ion batteries contain 10-15 times more spherical graphite (SPG) than lithium, and that currently, most battery-grade graphite is processed in China using hydrofluoric acid (HF) and heat treatment methods.

“It goes without saying that the environmental damage associated with these methods of purifying graphite are high. We have developed zero-waste zero-HF purification technology enabling us to manufacture and supply sustainable SPG products to EV makers.”

Graphene, one or more atom-thick layers of flake graphite, has been hailed as a “wonder material”, unparalleled mechanical properties & highly conductive for heat and electricity. It also has the potential to reduce carbon emissions and energy consumption, reduce material consumption, improve the life of materials and next-gen materials, and address various challenges across industries and applications.

Tirupati is a trend-setter in this space, too; it recently announced that it had further optimised the material properties of its zero-chemical graphene products to consistently achieve a specific surface area of 1100-1200 m2/g from 400–500 m2/g. This can further enhance the uses and compatibility of the material in various applications under development.

In recognition of Tirupati’s green credentials, the London Stock Exchange added it to a select group of companies accredited with its Green Economy Mark when it listed in late 2020. The Green Economy Mark recognises companies that derive 50 percent or more of total annual revenues from products and services that contribute to the global green economy. The underlying methodology incorporates the Green Revenues data model developed by FTSE Russell, which helps investors understand the global industrial transition to a green and low-carbon economy with consistent, transparent data and indices.

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With over 150 years of collective corporate, commercial, and technical experience, the Tirupati team has proved a force to be reckoned with. Led by Poddar, with 30 years of personal expertise in the space, it Tirupati comprises world industry leaders including Matthieu Gresil (PhD), a global expert in the world of composites and nanomaterials, and the developer of graphene-enhanced polymers and composites.

Sustainability can no longer languish on the side-lines; major changes to businesses, industries and supply chains are needed to limit global warming to 1.5°C. Tirupati is leading the charge with efforts to develop technologies and products to support the green supply chain for electric vehicles and other applications that benefit the planet. Flake graphite has over 150 applications with multiple other green contributions and Tirupati is moving to become a global leader in the space with a sustainable strategy emanating from the industry dynamics.


Uzbekistan ‘s Enter Engineering announces Covid years project updates and operations guidance

[caption id="attachment_19499" align="alignright" width="300"] Picture from the Press-service of Enter Engineering showing the Uchkyr Booster Compressor Station[/caption]

According to Ulugbek Usmanov, General Director at Enter Engineering:

“Enter Engineering is involved in a variety of projects central to Uzbekistan’s growth and development. From the huge and pioneering GTL project - which is part of the country’s ambitious energy strategy - to the production of more fertilisers, and boosting transport and travel infrastructure,  Enter is playing a core role.

 “The Group performed excellently in 2020, assisting the national effort to fight the pandemic, and showing resilience by continuing operations with no work stoppages. We remain very involved in projects with a very positive impact for Uzbekistan, working with best-in-class international partners, and the outlook for 2021 is good.”

Operationally, key highlights in 2020 included:

Enter’s COVID-19 response

As part of a nationwide effort to tackle the pandemic, Enter constructed a specialised multi-disciplinary medical complex for COVID-19 patients.

The complex, in the Zangiata district of the Tashkent region, can accommodate 5,000 patients. It comprises five separate buildings with wards, an intensive care unit and a surgical department. Construction was completed in just three months, reflecting Enter’s efficiency and the national importance of the project

GTL Project

During the year, significant work was carried out under at Uzbekistan’s GTL project – which is now 95% complete. The project is one of the most capital-intensive investment projects in Uzbekistan and in Central Asia, with a total cost of US$3.6 billion. During 2020:

10,000 tons of steel structures were installed;

94 million metres of cables were laid;

Welding and assembly work was completed on 450,000 DI of pipelines;

Installation of large technological equipment was completed; and

Over 12,000 specialists and 800 pieces of equipment were involved at the peak of activity

The construction and installation phases are now complete, with finishing and testing works about to commence. The project’s general contractors: Enter; Hyundai Engineering and Hyundai Engineering & Construction are working on the commissioning of equipment. Over 9,500 people continue to work at the site.

Samarkand Airport and Samarkand Tourism Center

In March 2020, work began on the reconstruction of Samarkand Airport, involving reconstruction of the runway, expansion of aircraft parking areas and modernisation of the airport's radar systems.

Construction of the Samarkand Tourism Center is also underway. This large, 360 hectare tourism cluster is intended for domestic and international tourism and is anticipated to host next year’s Shanghai Cooperation Organisation summit.

Both projects are of national importance, and contribute to the expansion of Uzbekistan’s travel, transport, and tourism infrastructure.

JSC Navoiyazot

Construction of the new JSC Navoiyazot plant is almost complete. With its added production capability of ammonia and urea this facility is of national importance.

The plant will introduce modern energy-saving technologies. Completion will meet domestic agriculture demand for urea and provide additional mineral fertilisers for grain and cotton crops. Production will also be exported to neighbouring countries in Central Asia and beyond.

Licensors are Danish company Haldor Topsoe (ammonia), Italian multinational, Saipem (synthesis) and German group, Uhde Fertilizer Technology (granulation).

In December 2020, a ceremony was held to mark the launch of a new plant for the production of PVC, caustic soda, and methanol. Completion of the plant created 900 new jobs.

Additional projects

In 2020, eight projects were launched, including construction of the Uchkyr Booster Compressor Station. Completion will  increase daily production of natural gas to 2.0 million m3 / day. In 2021, ENTER has been involved in 11 active ongoing projects, two of which have been successfully commissioned.

Construction of the ‘Alan’ booster compressor station was rapidly completed in March 2021, adding one million m3 of daily gas production, from the Alan gas field in the Mirishkar district of Kashkadarya region. Modern gas turbine equipment and compressors were supplied by leading foreign companies including: Baker Hughes, General Electric (USA), Motorsich (Ukraine), Akcelik (Turkey), Denair Energy (China).

Construction of the ‘Zevardy’ booster compressor station was completed in April 2021 and set a company record. The project only took six months from first steps to commissioning. Despite the pandemic, the project was also completed with no work stoppages – testament to the hard work of Enter’s team. The station will increase daily gas production at the Zevardy field by 1.8 million m3.

In 2020, Enter demonstrated its resilience during challenging global circumstances. Whilst the Group inevitably faced some short-term disruption, the implementation of strict safety and hygiene requirements, flexible work schedules and remote working - ensured no work stoppages at any sites and continuing operations.

Key to this achievement was senior management’s strategic leadership and the patience and cooperation of the Company’s dedicated workforce.


KPMG Lower Gulf: What Should Banks Focus On?

[caption id="attachment_19511" align="alignright" width="300"] Author: Abbas Basrai[/caption]

Shifting Customer Behavior, Economic Headwinds, Intensifying Competition, Regulatory Pressure and Technological Disruption – What Should Banks Focus On?

It has been a tumultuous last 12 months for banks. Reeling from the aftershock of the pandemic, despite Central Bank actions to support the economy, banks continue to persevere in an environment characterised by low interest rates and deal with issues relating to counterparties’ credit worthiness and provisioning. Organic growth has been minimal, although there has been some progress in the GCC through mergers and acquisitions. The challenge for banks in 2021 will be to effectively extract value from data to help them focus on their most profitable segments.

With pressure on revenue expected to continue, the only way banks are likely to maintain profit margins is by strictly managing costs. Underlying this is the need to bolster back-end functions, which tend to be driven by people and paper, rather than merely focusing on what is visible to the customer. The mandate for a strong IT infrastructure is more relevant than ever, as lockdowns have rendered effective remote-working technology invaluable.

In a precarious market, banks are being forced to consider alternative models utilising cutting-edge technology, including Banking as a Platform (BaaP), which allows third-party FinTech developers to build products and services on behalf of bank customers. There is now a broad range of FinTech applications for loans, payments, investing, wealth management and other services.

Banks can overhaul their operating models by considering a combination of partnerships and alliances, technology incubators, FinTech acquisition, investments and transformation of their internal capabilities. They will need to rethink the customer experience by leveraging a “design thinking” approach to identify the customer journeys that prompt digital offerings from the platform. Banks should increasingly train their employees to guide customers toward platform-based services. The process, risk and control framework should be realigned, and the control environment will likely need to be extended to third parties.

"Technology is not, however, a universal panacea; wider implications around legacy infrastructures and data repositories remain."

Today’s customer is generally seeking a self-service, seamless, automated and omni-channel experience – with minimal waiting time. To enable this, banks across the Middle East are digitalising complex processes and end-to-end customer journeys across the front, middle and back offices. It remains to be seen whether banks are truly delivering on the promises they make to their customers, but the outlook is promising. The GCC has a strong regulatory foundation for the launch and operations of digital-only banks.

Technology is not, however, a universal panacea; wider implications around legacy infrastructures and data repositories remain. This has led several banks to consider alternative services that are able to support customer demands for consistent execution and provide for consolidated data storage and near real-time reporting – at lower operating costs. Managed services companies can help banks outsource certain functions. Banks can thereby optimise their footprint, business continuity planning (BCP) strategy, and total cost of operations.

It seems unlikely that banks can continue to maintain their competitive edge without effectively leveraging digital transformation to match their customers' evolving expectations and behavior. They can optimise their customers’ digital seamless journey through outlining a framework that aims to provide a coherent digitalisation journey based on the current tech maturity, positioning of the bank, providing next-best-action recommendations, and proposed processes elimination.

Additionally, cloud computing has presented consumers with stronger security and privacy tools, and improved measures for detecting, responding to and preventing security breaches, thus easing the burden for IT functions. By migrating to the cloud, financial services firms can leverage solutions that are inherently better suited to manage six key operational risks: cyber security, digital sovereignty, the remote workforce and customers, third party, technology, and facility.

Automation and AI are instrumental not only in driving operational efficiencies but can also play a role in boosting employee satisfaction. The people aspect of technology cannot be disregarded: it can help staff focus on the more fulfilling parts of their job, freeing them from monotonous, tedious tasks that can be done by a machine. Over the coming years, banks are projected to increase their reliance on robotic process automation (RPA) technologies to conduct human resources (HR) functions, like onboarding and talent acquisition. This should be combined with a focus on upskilling and reskilling employees through investment in learning and development initiatives.

Keeping up with technological innovation is only part of the puzzle: robust regulatory compliance and governance is also critical. In several Middle Eastern countries, over the last two years alone, local authorities have issued or revised many regulations to enhance financial stability. New ones pertaining to banks in the UAE, for example, include corporate governance and risk management regulations. The federal government recently published an updated Banking Law, Anti-Money Laundering (AML) Law, and Companies Law. To succeed in an environment characterised by continual change, banks must adopt compliance frameworks that are mature and flexible.

Regional regulators have also issued regulations related to internal controls over financial reporting (ICOFR). Globally, ICOFR was introduced by the Sarbanes–Oxley Act of 2002 (SOX). The board and senior management of banks are responsible for implementing an adequate internal control framework that identifies, measures, monitors, and controls all risks. Unlike their US and UK counterparts, however, local banking regulators do not generally mandate periodic reviews on the effectiveness of ICOFR systems.

An integral part of robust corporate governance is the statutory audit. The relationship between auditors and audit committees (ACs) plays a critical role in good governance. The discussion of the audit should not be considered as merely an ‘agenda item’ for the AC at quarter and year ends, but as an opportunity for the external auditor to provide independent insight on matters discussed in the AC meeting. We would also encourage more frequent bilateral (regulator and auditor) and trilateral meetings (including the bank) to create a better understanding of the audit approach taken.

Regulators, standards setters, audit committees and investors—indeed, the full spectrum of stakeholders—expect a culture of transparency and strong governance. They are seeking enhanced clarity and consistency of metrics being reported, faithful, complete disclosures, and greater assurance around the governance and culture framework of an organisation. Banks are witnessing a time replete with dissonances: great technological advancement tempered by the potentially catastrophic implications of the pandemic. Customer retention will be key, and retention strategies can be supported with digital transformation drives. It is imperative that financial institutions deliver on the promises they make to customers, ensure their experience is seamless, and fortify their control environment against the threats that abound.

By Abbas Basrai Partner, Head of Financial Services, KPMG Lower Gulf


Convergence Partners: Impact Investing, and the Metrics Needed to Ascertain the Benefits

It’s possible to fudge the definition of ‘impact’ in one’s favour – and that’s just not acceptable for South Africa’s Convergence Partners.

Business owners, communities and the environment must – as a precondition for sustainability, inclusion and prosperity – participate as a collective, and not as competitors.

This is the premise of impact investing, and beyond “doing well by doing good”, there is a further demand. That impact must be measurable – and not as a box-ticking exercise, administrative duty or afterthought.

This is something pan-African Convergence Partners, based in South Africa, understands. The firm’s ambition was to build a model to ascertain the impact of its investment in information and communication technology infrastructure.

“We have created tool for investors across sectors, industries and borders,” says CEO Brandon Doyle. “Our objectives are to record and report the nature and extent of the impact of our investments. The instrument we have developed will be able to be adopted by other participants in this and other industries as a flexible, customisable and standardised metric.”

For Convergence Partners, no definition would be complete without the requirement for measurement. “That is not to suggest for one moment that measuring impact is easy,” Doyle admits. “If anything, this sets the frame of reference for what needs to be done to measure impact, but it offers little guidance on how to go about it.”

Analogous fault lines exist in financial measures of economic prosperity. Using only industry-standard measures such as an internal rate of return (IRR), return on equity (ROE) or multiples at exit mean that results would ignore external “good” and “bad”.

“We know that competitive financial returns are not incompatible with positive impact. But if meaningfully measuring output and returns on a strictly financial basis is fraught, measuring total impact has proven vexing.

“Our departure point was the hard principle that to be viable and sustainable, every investment must earn at least its cost of capital. Both the impact industry and commercial reality demand this.”

At the same time, every investment has positive and negative effects on society and the environment. These pecuniary and non-pecuniary impacts must be evaluated as fully as possible, encompassing economic, social and environmental impacts.

“Our measure has the capacity and capabilities to communicate meaningfully to all our stakeholders,” says Doyle, “in line with our mandates and philosophy. This places emphasis on a process that is repeatable and a framework that is meaningfully portable across the borders of firm and geography.

“We recognise that we are by no means the first to try to quantify the impacts of our investments. It has long been a concern for investors. But it’s an unsettled discipline that is often clouded – or even confused – by a multitude of approaches, varied and wide-ranging toolsets, and modest standardisation.”

Quantified results can range between superficial narratives, amounting to little more than storytelling, and complex methods that engage sophisticated technical tools. This translates into outcomes which risk being “an opinion with adjectives”, where assessment is descriptive, unscientific and without framework. At the other extreme, sophisticated technical tools – embracing networking mapping, live data, complex algorithms, econometric models, stakeholder theory, randomised controlled trials or Herfindahl-Hirschman Indices – put the evaluation of impact beyond the reach of repeatability, common understanding or widespread application. Other risks in measuring investment impact take the form of self-serving calculations or intuitive, descriptive guesswork lacking rigour.

The blind spots and distortions are acknowledged in a healthy drive to find more reliable and robust indices. “We believe we have designed a model that holds up to the true standards of measurement: quantifiable, repeatable, portable and understandable.”

Convergence Partners’ model uses four pillars. The first scores capital contribution, or the nature and circumstances of investment.  The model recognises the impacts of replacement capital and growth capital, placing higher weight on the latter. Re-invested capital (retained profit) that funds growth also offers greater impact than replacement capital. This relatively simple weighting provides scores and distinguishes between investors in the same company at different stages of its life cycle.

The second pillar maps the impact of the investment to the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). “We have focused on the mathematical correlations between the improvement of the SDG scores and the development of the industry in which the investment operates,” says Doyle. “This creates a ranking of SDGs per opportunity, with the most highly correlated SDG providing the highest score.”

This second pillar is moderated by the operating performance of the investment and multi-purpose scoring mechanisms to capture the particulars of any metric identified. Put simply, good ideas that are badly managed translate into low impact.

The third pillar “flexes” the baseline impact score for context and location. Impacts are influenced by a range of factors, most notable the country, community and form of the corporation invested in. “For example, an investment in long-haul fibre network in South Sudan will have higher impact than the same investment in South Korea,” explains Doyle. “Similarly, marginal impacts are greater in smaller companies than in meg-caps, and marginal benefits are larger in under-serviced rural areas than in urban hubs.” Nuances must be accounted for in making these evaluations, but “we must start somewhere to get from ‘adjective’ to ‘measured impact’,” he adds.

The fourth and final pillar holds the investment to account: it must produce a return above the cost of capital. An asset that cannot do so fails a primary requirement. This doesn’t necessarily make it “bad” – it may offer valuable social or economic elements – but to be a sustainable financial investment, the return must cover cost.

These factors are brought together to produce an investment impact score out of 100, in what Convergence Partners terms the Sira Impact Model.

“Drawing these elements together equips us as investors to go beyond sentiment,” says Doyle. “We have made investments with the intention of substantial positive impact since our first deployment in 2007. Our previous work and – admittedly anecdotal – evidence suggests we had achieved the requisite positive impact.

“But the spirit of the definition of investment impact demands more robust evidence than that, and this model holds us to that standard. It is robust and repeatable, which means that we are equipped to better manage our portfolio companies and people. We are also able to demonstrate the impact of our investment to shareholders, policymaker, funders and the societies in which we invest.

“In line with our investment philosophy, the model is designed with broad use and wide application. With publication of our source code, we invite participants from across our industry – and other industries – to adopt, implement and advance this model.”