Vikas Vij

Vikas Vij
Vikas is a staff writer for the Sustainable Development news and editorial section on Justmeans. He is an MBA with 20 years of managerial and entrepreneurial experience and global travel. He is the author of "The Power of Money" (Scholars, 2003), a book that presents a revolutionary monetary economic theory on poverty alleviation in the developing world. Vikas is also the official writer for an international social project for developing nations "Decisions for Life" run in collaboration between the ILO, the University of Amsterdam and the Indian Institute of Management.

Posts by This Writer

2 years 4 months ago

(3BL Media/Justmeans) – The recent UN climate summit in Bonnhad an extraordinary participation from the US non-federal actors who reiterated their commitments to emission cuts despite the US pulling out of the Paris Agreement (COP21). The 100-plus US delegation at the COP23 summit included mayors, governors, civil society members and Universities, apart from sustainability representatives from Mars, Walmart, Coca-Cola Company, Microsoft and Kellogg.

Led by California Governor Jerry Brown, the delegation made its intent clear by calling itself “We Are Still In.” Along with...
2 years 4 months ago

(3BL Media/Justmeans) – During the depths of Detroit’s bankruptcy three years ago, JPMorgan Chase & Co. committed $100 million for economic development and neighborhood stabilization in the city. It added another $50 million to that amount earlier this year. Half the amount is in the form of grants, while the other half comprises a variety of loan funds for small business growth and real estate development.

JPMorgan Chase has now announced a grant of $900,000 as part of its commitment to help build Detroit’s sustainable infrastructure. The grant includes $175,000 for Eastside Community Network; $340,000 for Jefferson East Inc.; and $400...
2 years 4 months ago

(3BL Media/Justmeans) – To reduce global hunger and provide food security for about 10 billion people by 2050, farm productivity needs to be increased. Large agro-based companies need to continue to encourage crop diversification, the application of new technologies, and the development of agro-forestry models as a priority for farmers to improve their resilience.

British American Tobacco’s new report on Sustainable Agriculture and Farmer Livelihoods reflects the company’s commitment to working to enable prosperous livelihoods for all its farmers. The report provides an overview...
2 years 4 months ago

(3BL Media/Justmeans) – The US has 10 cities with a population of more than 1 million. China has 116, and that number is growing fast. Many of these cities are woefully underprepared for the challenge of supporting more people as an increasing number of people move to urban settings. Policymakers around the world are now recognizing the urgent need to build sustainable cities.

LStar Ventures, along with global engineering and design firm Arup, is developing a new city that will be an experiment in how to build sustainable cities of the future. Union Point, an abandoned naval air station south of Boston, Mass., is the site of this endeavor....
2 years 4 months ago

(3BL Media/Justmeans) – Sustainability drives innovation and value creation. But companies need better data to make sense of complexity and link sustainability with business performance. Every employee, team, department and business should know what they have done this week, month, quarter or year towards aligning strategy with sustainability.

PM2 Consulting, a company working in the area of performance measurement, has introduced the Sustainability Scorecard that is designed to help organizations prioritize ESG factors and allow employees and top management to...
2 years 5 months ago

(3BL Media/Justmeans) – Between now and 2030, the climate commitments made following the Paris Agreement are expected to realize over $23 trillion in investment potential in 21 emerging markets. Apart from the governments, more than a thousand large businesses have made ambitious climate commitments, and are putting their pledges into action by investing in low-carbon solutions.

A new report from the International Finance Corporation (IFC) highlights the myriad opportunities that exist for private companies and investors to get involved in climate finance. The “Creating Markets for Climate Business: An IFC Climate Investment...
2 years 5 months ago

(3BL Media/Justmeans) – In the last two decades, there has been a manifold increase in the number of reporting requirements and guidance documents related to corporate reporting on ESG issues as governments, nonprofits, stock exchanges and others look to companies for transparency on their sustainability performance. As a result, an increasing robustness is now seen in non-financial reporting among companies worldwide.

The CLP Group highlighted the importance of tracking the trends that are changing the business landscape and the need for incorporating the...
2 years 5 months ago

(3BL Media/Justmeans) – One of the key strategies for the successful implementation of the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) by 2030 is to integrate entrepreneurship and innovation in all economic and social dimensions. Entrepreneurs and innovators can provide breakthrough sustainable solutions that can be scaled to create a global impact.

UN Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO) and the Government of Bahrain recently organized the World Entrepreneurs and Investment Forum (WEIF) 2017, which recognized the vital role of entrepreneurs in global sustainable development and impact investing.

With females making up more than...
2 years 5 months ago

(3BL Media/Justmeans) – Global investors are increasingly hesitant to invest in companies with a traditional growth model that fails to incorporate the principles of sustainability. Recognizing this trend, China is getting ready to shed off its historic burden as the world’s largest producer of CO2 emissions, with major Chinese companies implementing comprehensive measures to address the threat of climate change.

The government of China is leading the drive towards sustainability with an agenda to enforce stricter regulation, make massive investments in cleantech infrastructure, and commit to green finance with large spending pledges...
2 years 5 months ago

(3BL Media/Justmeans) – The corporate reporting landscape is increasingly complex, as different countries and organizations move to introduce new standards and revised frameworks. Companies with greater clarity on global reporting standards and principles are in a better position to measure and communicate their ESG performance, and manage risks and opportunities more effectively.

Recognizing the importance of sustainability reporting and disclosure, top global companies are making positive progress in integrated reporting as well as a consistent shift towards digital reporting. This is one of the key findings in the latest edition of...

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