Search Results for: services

UNESCO and SEVENTEEN award grants to 100 youth-led projects around the world

Stuart Mitchell

UNESCO and K-pop icon SEVENTEEN, the Organization’s Goodwill Ambassador, are stepping up their support for youth by awarding financial grants to 100 initiatives designed and led by young people in 70 countries. The project leaders will also benefit from training and expert mentoring. Young generations are a source of innovation and solutions to meet the challenges of our century, but they often lack funds and support. With a budget of one million dollars, made possible by SEVENTEEN’s contribution, 100 inspiring initiatives created by and for young people will be implemented,…

WWF-led research highlights ‘invisible’ wildlife benefits people receive but could lose if biodiversity crisis ignored

Stuart Mitchell

New WWF-led research reveals that the vital benefits wildlife provides to people’s everyday lives are vastly underrepresented across science and policy discussions. This oversight could have detrimental consequences for achieving global conservation targets, explain the researchers. The study, published today in the first ever issue of Nature Reviews Biodiversity, shows that while the concept of Nature’s Contributions to People (NCP) is well-established in science, business, and policy, it often assumes that protecting a habitat or ecosystem will automatically preserve the benefits people rely on. This assumption overlooks the importance of…

Water at the epicenter of 2025 Global Risk Report, says WaterAid

Stuart Mitchell

Water is positioned at the epicentre of the world’s most pressing global crises, WaterAid observes, as the World Economic Forum publishes its highly anticipated findings from the new Global Risks Report 2025. The forum’s top four global risks predicted for the next decade all relate to environmental and climate issues, with ‘extreme weather events’ topping the next decade list for the second year in a row. Also notable on the list is ‘Inequality’. Taken in conjunction with the prominence of environmental and climate change risks, it cannot be ignored that…

IFC Issues Record $2 Billion Social Bond to Support Low Income Communities in Emerging Markets

Stuart Mitchell

IFC, a member of the World Bank Group, issued a three-year social bond, raising $2.0 billion to support low-income communities in emerging markets. The transaction represents IFC’s largest ever social bond, and the largest US dollar denominated social bond issued by a supranational. The orderbook reached a total size of $11 billion, IFC’s largest ever order book for a single bond issuance. It follows a 1 billion Australian dollar denominated social bond issued by the corporation last week.   Announced on Monday, the orderbook grew steadily during the marketing process…

UK companies revised marketing budgets up marginally as caution remains

Stuart Mitchell

After the uncertainty surrounding the Autumn Budget led firms to hit the pause button in the third quarter, the latest IPA Bellwether Report highlighted renewed marketing budget growth across the UK in the final three months of 2024. Over a fifth (21.7%) of panellists reported an increase in their total marketing budgets during the fourth quarter, which was higher than the almost 19.9% who made cuts, resulting in a net balance of +1.9% (up from 0.0% in Q3). This meant that upward revisions to advertising spend have been registered in…