… the business. AXA’s business had grown rapidly over the previous decades. The company was formed in the 1980s through the merger of a few mid-sized French insurance firms. From the … in the United States, Europe, Africa, and Asia. AXA was hailed in the business press for savvy deal-making. The company took over struggling franchises and utilizing its strong … announced Ambition AXA, a five-year strategic plan to grow the company. The plan called for harvesting slow-growing businesses in mature markets, investing in emerging markets, and …
… In 2014, the four largest palm oil trading companies signed an agreement to end deforestation, development of peat lands and exploitation of locals not only with their own operations, but also from all of their suppliers. For environmental NGOs, the Indonesian Palm Oil Pledge (as the agreement was named) …
… most heavily traded edible oil in the world. Golden Agri Resources (GAR) has been in the forefront of this palm oil boom in Indonesia. Founded in 1996 by the influential Widjaja family (operators of the Sinar Mas business group), GAR became the holding company for the family’s agribusinesses, including its Indonesian subsidiary PT SMART. The company … oil value chain, from growing seedlings and managing over 450,000 hectares of plantation lands to running extraction and refining mills and marketing its own brand of cooking oil. …
… the trash because he would be embarrassed to show it to a partner.” In 2008, this was the investment strategy of Adam Blumenthal, founding partner of Blue Wolf Capital Management in New York. “What we’re looking for is something that has a solid business at its core, but that has enough other extraneous … that was used to create high-quality paper products. The mill had been run as a cost center for various public companies, and it had not made money in 40 years. In 2008 it was owned by …
… In early 2014 Alcoa announced that Ford's F-150 pick-up trucks, the best-selling vehicles in the U.S., would use … planned another $150 million on facilities in Tennessee to meet the demand generated by the Ford contract. The aluminum industry's growing success in the automotive sector reflected … the response of auto manufacturers to the increasingly rigorous fuel economy standards for U.S. vehicles and consumer preferences for high mileage vehicles. To meet those …
… finally produce a workable, global scheme to reduce greenhouse gasses in the environment. Unfortunately, the conference produced little concrete action and most agreed that the final … gas emissions were contributing to global warming. Over the next 11 years, the panel - formally convened as the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change - issued … system for carbon credits in 2005, which led to an explosion of climate-related investment opportunities in Europe, Latin America and Asia. A new industry around carbon …
… In August of 2014, Mark Gentry, the Chief Operating Officer of Gifford Pinchot State University (GPSU) Foundation**, called Robert Farrington, a Managing … urging them to divest of all fossil fuel companies from their portfolio. The Foundation’s investment committee had formed a subcommittee to consider what to do, but Gentry admitted … first time Farrington had received such a call. Commonfund managed the assets of 1,300 nonprofit institutions. He estimated about 40% of Commonfund’s university clients were either …
… products we buy. However, it is not something that consumers can easily spot or screen for. When, in June 2015, France’s Ecology minister, Segolene Royal, called on her country to … highlighted the hidden role it plays in the global economy. And, as fires set to clear land for palm oil plantations blazed in Indonesia throughout the fall of 2015, covering the … related to palm oil has occurred with companies and individuals setting fire to the landscape. In 2015, fires raged for months in Indonesia, severely impacting Indonesian and …
… Harish Hande and the company he founded, SELCO, provide solar electricity for lighting and power to India's poor. For the work of his company, Hande has received numerous recognitions; he is frequently … Corporation (IFC), Hande was able to restructure the company in 2008. SELCO remained a for-profit business, but Hande was able to seek new investors more aligned with its mission. In …
… hail insurance, the most common policy in agriculture. In years when crops were damaged before they could be harvested and sold, crop insurance provided resources that allowed farmers to be able to plant the following season. Settlements for weather damage not only made it possible for growers to continue their livelihoods, but also helped stabilize the region's food …