Bridging the Gap: How Tangible and Immediate Solutions Can Help Developing Countries Become Sustainable
By: Daniel Guelen
Tags: Sustainability, Sustainable Development, Entrepreneurship, Impact Investing, Climate Change

A family eats near a coal-fired power plant in China. Credit: Adam Dean/PANOS

Bridging the Gap: How Tangible and Immediate Solutions Can Help Developing Countries Become Sustainable

One of the most significant challenges with efforts to combat Climate Change is the alignment and participation of all nations. Daniel Guelen Follow Mar 25, 2020 · 5 min read

Even though efforts in the United States and Europe are lacking far behind what is necessary, the business climate in these countries is changing as consumers demand more responsible governance and corporate behavior, and the hope is that trends will head in the right direction. The growing importance of the United Nation’s Sustainable Development Goals as a global framework along with growing consumer power and the outspoken new generations of change agents, create fundamental changes in the economy, business models, and regulations that will drive more positive impact across the world.

However, among developing nations, many challenges remain. As China and India grow, they are driving carbon emissions up. On top of that, recent policy directions taken in countries such as China, Brazil, and India discriminate against ethnic groups, worsen social freedoms and standards, and abuse natural resources degrading their environment.

Contrary to populist talk or discriminating beliefs, this is not always entirely those nations’ fault. Naturally, their efforts to industrialize, the lack of particular technologies, lower thresholds by citizens to afford changes, and the scarcity of financial capital are hindering any attempts to become more sustainable. Although some are investing heavily in renewable energies, the current social, financial, and demographic issues will hinder some of their efforts.

Claiming that these countries should alter their behavior- now that we cannot ignore the catastrophic environmental results of our behavior- is easy when your country is already industrialized.

While those leaders should be held accountable for their abuses of human rights and the increasingly authoritarian policies, there is a lack of understanding of the situations they are facing. Claiming that these countries should alter their behavior- now that we cannot ignore the catastrophic environmental results of our behavior- is easy when your country is already industrialized.

It is not a reasonable expectation to ask other nations- and their citizens- to stop doing what developed nations did for centuries, without some kind of solution to level the playing field.

After all, we previously spent centuries industrializing in the same harmful ways and are now positioned to pivot to a more sustainable economy and governance model. Essentially, it is not a reasonable expectation to ask other nations- and their citizens- to stop doing what developed nations did for centuries, without some kind of solution to level the playing field.

Instead, we need to embrace and provide solutions that help those developing nations achieve the SDGs while stepping away from unsustainable developing models. This would allow time for their investments in renewables and other technologies to mature.

For instance, a solution would be for developed nations to fund the efforts of struggling nations who cannot afford to fundamentally change their industries and behaviors. This solution is regularly discussed and draws heavy political criticism, as it entails one government wiring over a massive sum of money to a developing government. However, this is not necessarily true or the only way to achieve the same results.

At Global Impact we identified the increasing role of organizations, institutions, and individuals in achieving the SDGs.

At Global Impact we identified the increasing role of organizations, institutions, and individuals in achieving the SDGs. Part of these efforts is the ability to fund projects and individuals to enable positive change themselves. Otherwise known as Impact Investing, these projects achieve tangible and realistic goals that can be verified and measured in real-time by Global Impact and its partners across the world.

For example, an aviation business we are helping wanted to become more sustainable and offset its customer’s carbon emissions. One way they can achieve that with us is by funding a project in India to provide an entire village of solar panels. The village steps away from its unsustainable reliance on high-emission sources that damage their environment, health, and economic performances. We proportionally allocate the impact created by this project towards the company, and customers, who funded it and assign the impact to the corresponding SDGs. We call this their Impact Portfolio.

The company can then use this to justify its operations to the public, attract employees who want to help towards certain goals and issues, and show regulators what they do to achieve the SDGs and combat climate change.

We help them doing so on our platform.

Meanwhile, India’s national efforts to become sustainable was indirectly funded by an organization located in the United States who invested in tangible, verifiable, and efficient results without the fear of it ending up in the wrong pockets or being wasted in bureaucratic systems. Additionally, this empowered citizens in India to organize projects and make sustainable choices.

Let me be clear. Also in developed nations the need for change is apparent. The United States has generally been reducing its emissions but is still the current second-largest emitter of greenhouse gasses and leads in per capita and total cumulative emissions. The European Union is making tremendous progress and is on track to achieving its Paris targets but still heavily uses coal and faces cooperation issues.

However, by providing some of the key components for achieving the SDGs- capital- organizations, institutions, and individuals can significantly help those within developing nations to act and become more sustainable.

By incentivizing those with capital to allocate it towards where it is needed most and could have the largest impact, we can effectively speed up efforts to become sustainable and act right now.

At Global Impact we take a lot of pride in what we do and how we help governments, organizations, institutions, and people become sustainable. Creating a bridge between countries is one of the aspects I believe is most promising, as it connects the problems of various stakeholders and brings forth one immediate, verifiable, and realistic solution.

While governments have issues coming to terms with top-down solutions, we facilitate all other stakeholders in society to connect and achieve solutions bottom-up. Ultimately, we help to bring real global impact right now when and where it is needed most.