Creating Emerging Markets Sustainability Series – COP27 and the Climate Crisis
Cover image features Helmy Abouleish (left) and Runa Khan (right).
In recognition of the 2022 UN Climate Change Conference (COP27) in Sharm El-Sheikh, Egypt from November 6th – 18th, 2022, we begin our series with two pioneers of environmental sustainability from the private and NGO sectors who have mobilized their organizations in response to the worsening impacts of climate change:
- Helmy Abouleish is CEO of the SEKEM Initiative in Egypt. Since SEKEM’s founding in 1977, the initiative has sought to further sustainable development through organic and biodynamic farming.
“We will try to tell everyone [at COP27], whether it’s a government, a corporation, or civil society that agriculture, to our understanding from our example at SEKEM, is proven to be one of the best solutions to mitigate climate. It also of course helps adapt to climate change and improves resilience and food security.”
Take a look at this video clip explaining SEKEM’s biodynamic approach to agriculture and visit Helmy Abouleish’s interview page to download the full transcript and further video clips.
- Runa Khan is a Bangladeshi social entrepreneur and founder of Friendship (NGO). Since 2002, Friendship has provided healthcare and education to remote communities in Bangladesh that have been especially vulnerable to the effects of climate change with disastrous floods and rising sea levels.
“The climate impact [is pushing growth] down annually [with] multiplying effects. Over the last few years, we've had multiple floods every year. So can you imagine the link with poverty [and] migration?”
Learn more by downloading this video clip detailing the impact of climate change on Friendship’s work in Bangladesh, and check out Runa Khan’s interview page to download the full transcript and further video clips.