Fish Forever: Building Sustainable Enterprises at the Grassroots

Blog Entry by Vikas Vij in Sustainable Development

Typical corporate sustainability programs drive change from the top down. The multinational company sets targets and standards for its global supply chain, and aims to improve sustainability down to the level of workers and farmers. However, there are large sections of population at the bottom rung that are not even a part of the mainstream supply chain, and remain excluded from the sustainability programs.

This is where the role of a conservation nonprofit such as Rare comes in, which aims to address the needs of the people at the lowest rung of the ladder, and help them build sustainable enterprises from the bottom up. Rare’s chief executive, Brett Jenks, says that the organization’s work begins where the developed-world mainstream supply chains end.

Rare’s connection with global business primarily remains in the form of its major donors, which include former Goldman Sachs CEO Hank Paulson and his wife, Wendy; Bloomberg Philanthropies, the foundation of former New York mayor and media tycoon Michael Bloomberg; and investor and environmentalist Jeremy Grantham. The Waitt Foundation, led by former Gateway CEO Ted Waitt, is financing Rare’s latest project called Fish Forever.

Fish Forever is a partnership with the Environmental Defense Fund and the Sustainable Fisheries Group at the University of California at Santa Barbara (UCSB). The initiative is an important example of how sustainable business practices can be used in areas that are beyond the influence of large corporations.

View the rest of the article at JUSTMEANS.