adelphi at the fourth round of negotiations for a treaty to combat plastic pollution
News publ. 30. Apr 2024
News publ. 06. Oct 2014
Two days of intense dialogue, 41 SEED Award winners and three new initiatives for sustainable and inclusive corporate management: This year's SEED Symposium built up real impetus and established itself as a global conference at the intersection of international development and the private sector.
The Green Economy is becoming ever more attractive for small and micro enterprises in developing countries and emerging economies. Innovative enterprises like the SEED Award winners are leading by example, decisively shaping the transition to a Green Economy. Their success is contributing to the attainment of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) which were agreed at the Rio+20 conference. These were the main conclusions from the SEED Africa Symposium 2014 which took place on the 10th and 11th of September in Nairobi. However, if sustainable development is to succeed environmentally and socially, existing barriers to growth must be eliminated and cooperation between small and large enterprises must be fostered.
This year, the Symposium took place under the banner of “Making growth sustainable: co-creating solutions through social and green entrepreneurship.” More than 300 businesspeople and representatives from politics, academia, civil society and international development cooperation from more than 30 countries were present. The two-day conference was characterised by workshops and panels on current themes in international development, as well as opportunities for cooperation and growth in the Green Economy. The focus, however, was on the ceremony for the international SEED Awards, at which 41 social and environmental start-ups were honoured. More can be read here.
Alongside the many discussions, three further important initiatives for green business and inclusive business were brought into being at the SEED Africa Symposium:
1. In order to strengthen the position of women in the economy, the United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women (UN Women) launched the "EmpowerWomen.org Business Hub" on September 11th. Enterprises and economic institutions can use this platform to gather and exchange information on the economic empowerment of women. In addition, UN Women pledged to promote a SEED Gender Equality Award in Kenya in 2015.
2. The Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) announced the start of their „Inclusive Business Action Network“. This network is intended to make it easier for social entrepreneurs to build new partnerships for inclusive business models.
3. In addition, the „Green Pioneer Accelerator Program“ was introduced - a joint initiative by four organisations: Impact Amplifier, Growth Africa, VC4Africa and Hivos. With this new program, green entrepreneurs from Kenya and South Africa will be supported in the further development of their businesses.
The annual SEED Africa Symposium is organised by the SEED Initiative, of which adelphi is hosting partner. More information on the Symposium can be found on the SEED Website.