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The World Health Organization(WHO) officially declared the coronavirus outbreak a public health emergency of international concern on January 30th, 2020. The very next day, the U.S. declared a public health emergency over coronavirus and restricted entry into the U.S. from China. Because of the increase of cases, WHO indicated that the coronavirus outbreak could become a

Earlier this month, Jeff Bezos, Amazon’s founder and CEO, flew to India in an attempt to reignite Amazon’s ambitions for global dominance of e-commerce overseas. During his visit, Bezos announced that the firm would invest $1 billion in digitizing small and medium-sized businesses in India, bringing its total investment in the subcontinent to $6.5 billion.

CSR/Sustainability executives, what is your number one priority in 2020? Check below and let us know what else is on your mind.

How is your CSR/Sustainability program performing? Where are you making progress and where are you falling behind? What are your goals and are they aligned? Are you using the right metrics and reporting standards? Are you fully compliant? What measures do you need to put in place now – at the beginning of the year

This year’s World Economic Forum in Davos placed climate change clearly on the agenda, signaling a shift that businesses are realizing the real consequences for their profits. In fact, the Wall Street Journal described the event as a “climate change conference this year.” At the conference, many climate topics were addressed, such as sustainable development,

We are excited to introduce you to The Bassiouni Group’s Winter/2020 Internship Team: Yunzhen Wang — MPA “21 (International Finance & Economic Policy), Ines Boussebaa — MPA “20 (Sustainable Development, Energy & Environmental Policy), Yuval Bresler — MPA “21 (International Finance & Economic Policy and Management),and Chunyan Qiu — MPA “20 (Environmental Science & Policy).

Wall Street is finally waking up to Sustainability and Sustainable Finance & Investment. So, if you’re still denying science/climate change and living in a cave somewhere, you may want to digest the recent news from BlackRock. The world’s largest money manager is putting Climate Change/Sustainability at the center of its investment strategy with environmental sustainability

It’s no secret that we are big proponents of Emerging and Frontier Markets. While some advisors and investors  maintain a myopic focus on North American and European markets, we will continue to promote Emerging Markets (EMs) and Frontier Markets (FMs), which now represent approximately 60% of global GDP (source: IMF/using PPP measures). During the last

Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR)/Sustainability is now a fixture at most companies but that doesn’t mean the path is well-worn or easy to navigate. Most CSR executives are often charting a new course (with little support) and dealing with the day-to-day challenges of implementation, measurement and improvement. Leading the way as a CSR/Sustainability leader requires vision

Did you know that effective CSR can lead to a 4-6% increase in a company’s market value? Implementing an effective CSR/Sustainability program is not just a “nice” thing! Good business is good business! #TBGPurpose #CSRLeaders #TheBassiouniGroup  #CSR #CorporateSocialResponsibility #CorporateResponsibility #CorporateCitizenship #Sustainability #SustainableBusiness #Sustainable #Sustainable Development Goals #SDGs #ThursdayThoughts Source: “Project ROI: Defining the Competitive and

Whether you’re a startup, a growing SME/SMB or multinational, you need  practical, growth-focused solutions to successfully navigate the global economy. So, CONTACT US NOW for a rapid assessment of your situation and needs. Why choose The Bassiouni Group? We have 500+ experts in over 150+ countries — and they’re proficient in over 100 languages. We combine business/market

Very powerful and moving speeches by Pres. Obama and Pres. Clinton at Chairman Cummings’ funeral today. Pres. Obama said that we “have an obligation (as citizens) to root ourselves in good soil” and noted that “being a strong man includes being kind”. That is a simple and powerful lesson. This sense of strength and compassion

So, you made it through the 3-hour Democratic Debate on Tuesday night. Well done. Have some Gatorade to rehydrate. Our guess is you’re now asking yourself this question: Just why do we use debates as a key indicator when determining “Presidential readiness?” Do we really learn anything, especially when you have 12 candidates on stage

TBG is excited to introduce the Summer 2019 Internship Team. This accomplished group of graduate students will be assisting TBG on our ongoing projects covering Consulting (Business, Institutional, CSR/Sustainability), Investment and Trade and will tackle numerous sectors from Agriculture to Cleantech/Energy to Infrastructure Development.Learn more about our each intern below.   George Khoury — Columbia University

The word ‘Artificial Intelligence’ or ‘AI’ has increasingly been a spotlight of the business world since early 2010. According to Statista, global revenues from AI for enterprise applications is projected to grow from $1.6 billion in 2018 to 31.2 billion in 2025. The growth in AI investment is a global trend: The UK announced approximately

  In late June, Facebook unveiled its plans for a new blockchain-based currency, Libra. Expected to launch in 2020, Facebook claims that its new digital currency has the unique potential to advance financial inclusion and create economic opportunity for billions of people around the world.   So what sets Libra apart from existing cryptocurrencies and

At its inception, venture capital (VC) investing was huge in clean tech, pledging billions of dollars to eventually produce a wave of startups between 2006-2008. However, VC investment in clean technologies plummeted in 2012, after investors took a number of losses from bad bets, as well as dealing with fallouts from the 2008 financial crash.

Pollution, global climate change, and growing income inequalities are major problems in the world. There is another issue that needs greater attention: extinction. Saving our planet is necessary for the present and future generations. We have a great responsibility to correct the negative environmental impact to slow the rate of extinction. According to the Intergovernmental

As a former United Nations official specializing in Humanitarian Response and Complex Emergencies, I had the opportunity to work in some highly challenging post-conflict environments such as Liberia, war-zones such as Somalia and post-disaster environments such as Southeast Asia after the 2004 Tsunami. However, assessing the aftermath of Hurricane Maria in Puerto Rico is particularly

In 2017, the Institute for Environmental Analytics (IEA) announced that they would be undertaking a new project using environmental data to create an energy planning tool aimed at islands increasing renewable energy use. The Renewable Energy Space Analytics Tool (RE-SAT) is now in partnership with the Government of Seychelles, the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP)

As a region, Asian Pacific countries are coming together to evaluate their progress in achieving the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. From 27-29 March 2019 more than 850 participants from governments, inter-governmental organizations, United Nations bodies, and civil society organizations convened for the Asia Pacific Forum on Sustainable Development in Bangkok, Thailand. This 6th forum

The US Department of Energy has named energy sector preparedness a key area in both cyber and energy security, as there is increased need for information sharing in our digital age. However, with this comes an element of risk, which must be addressed through situational awareness and thorough risk analyses. There are a number of

  The World Bank Group has two primary goals to achieve by 2030. One is ending extreme poverty by decreasing the percentage of people living on less than $1.90 a day to no more than 3 percent, and the other is promoting shared prosperity by fostering the income growth of the bottom 40 percent in

  Everyone that wears clothes participates in the fashion industry. The process of sourcing materials making clothes, shipping orders across the globe, wearing the clothes and disposing of them is a trillion-dollar industry. We can all do more to become aware of how our clothes are made, how often we wear the items in our

Blockchain is a technology that was originally created for the digital currency, Bitcoin, essentially allowing digital information to be distributed but not copied. However, since then it has come a long way in the tech world, and it now has potential uses that span a wide range of industries. One of these industries is energy.

“In these turbulent times, books embody the diversity of human ingenuity, giving shape to the wealth of human experience, expressing the search for meaning and expression we all share, that drive all societies forward. Books help weave humanity together as a single family, holding a past in common, a history and heritage, to craft a

  Happy International Mother Earth Day where this year’s theme is “Protecting Our Species.” Peace activist John McConnell, US Senator Gaylord Nelson, and environmental activist Denis Hayes contributed to the creation and worldwide celebration of Earth Day. Numerous activities are taking place today to clean-up trash, plant trees and flowers, conserve energy, and use alternative

India is currently the world’s third largest economy; a result of GDP growth amid a period of serious poverty decline. However, the country also has a large and steadily increasing population, bringing with it a growing energy demand, increasing at a rate of 3.1% per annum. Since 93% of the country’s current energy supply is

What if you could generate power by kicking around a soccer ball? Jessica O. Matthews, founder and CEO of Uncharted Power, formerly known as Uncharted Play, did just that with SOCCKET, a portable power-generating soccer ball designed to promote physical activity and spread awareness about the global energy problem. Matthews, a dual citizen of Nigeria

The International Energy Agency (IEA) predicts that in 2040, 60 percent of primary energy generation will still come from fossil fuels, despite acceleration in renewable generation, as fossil fuels currently satisfy 81 percent of today’s primary energy demand. In many debates, this is where Carbon Capture and Storage (CSS) is seen as a means of

The Idai Cyclone has caused catastrophic damage in Mozambique, Zimbabwe, and Malawi. Idai struck the coast of Mozambique, near Beira on March 14, 2019. Weeks after the cyclone hit, flood waters receded to show the landscape of destroyed houses, roads, and crops just before harvest. The confirmed total number of deaths is still unknown, but

  Until last year, Nicaragua was a tourism hot spot and home to one of Latin America’s fastest-growing economies, ticking upward at about 5 percent per year. President Daniel Ortega, who for years had been accused of consolidating power through nepotism and graft, maintained popular support by administering welfare programs for the nation’s poor. Things

In 2008, The United Nations General Assembly unanimously decided that 2 April would be recognized as World Autism Awareness Day to acknowledge and advocate for the estimated one percent of the world’s population that has autism spectrum disorder – in the US it is estimated that around 1 in 59 people, over 3.5 million Americans,

Gender and trade gained attention at the 63rd UN Commission on the Status of Women session. United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) Deputy Secretary-General Isabelle Durant said that trade affects men and women differently due to the distinct roles each plays in our economies and societies. Trade policies have to account for gender-specific

For the first time, scientists are theorizing that beehives could be possible detectors of air pollutants in cities. A study was published in Nature Sustainability this month, outlining the findings from scientists from the University of British Columbia (UBC) who examined honey from urban beehives in six Vancouver neighborhoods. The project initially began when a

Today is International Day of Remembrance of the Victims of Slavery and the Transatlantic Slave Trade to honor and remember those who suffered at the hands of the brutal slavery system. The theme for this year is “Remember Slavery: The Power of the Arts for Justice.” Art is a powerful tool to express past struggles,

President Muhammadu Buhari was elected to a second term, defeating the chief opposition candidate and former vice president, Atiku Abubakar, by a margin of 4 million votes. Abubakara’s People’s Democratic Party (PDP)’s own tabulation shows that Atiku won by almost 2 million votes, and are now the PDP is seeking to have the courts overturn INEC’s tabulation

For the first time, a Global Commitment Report (GCR) has been released, detailing the amount of plastics used in packaging and production by global companies, and calling for an end to secrecy in their plastic footprint data. The report was a collaborative effort between the Ellen MacArthur Foundation and UN Environment and gave data on

In the United States, March is Women’s History Month and on March 8 the global community celebrates International Women’s Day. This year the 63rd session of the Commission on the Status of Women is taking place at the United Nations Headquarters in New York from March 11-22, 2019. While every day is a great day

  The fast-growing industry of impact investing demonstrates the promising role of private capital in achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). An increasing number of fund managers, diversified finance institutions and individual investors are mapping their existing portfolios into the SDGs and align their investment strategies with their targeted objective of producing positive and measurable

On Thursday, the San Geronimo B substation went down, sending Venezuela’s capital city, Caracas, into darkness. Today, 18 of the country’s 23 states remain affected by the outage, food supplies are running short, and it has been reported that the country’s private sector has lost an estimated $400 million as a result of the blackout.

Humans have an impact on the environment, for better or for worse. Destruction, deforestation, loss of biodiversity, pollution, the list of harmful effects humans have on the planet can seem endless. So, what are some positive actions humans are taking to reverse the damage done to the planet? The United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) proclaimed

  The disruptive transformation of the labor market for the future of work presents both opportunities and challenges for women. Women could first face actual challenges before benefiting from technological advances: recent research shows that a larger proportion of the female workforce is at high risk for displacement. Women face higher risk of losing their

Ethiopia, Africa’s second-most-populous country, has suffered military rule, civil war, and catastrophic famine over the past half century. Yet, in recent years, it has emerged as a beacon of stability in the Horn of Africa, enjoying rapid economic growth and increasing strategic importance in the region. However, starting in 2015, a surge in political turmoil

Since pre-industrial times, Greenhouse Gas (GHG) emissions have caused a 1 degree Celsius (1.8 degrees Fahrenheit) rise in global temperatures as a direct result of human activity, and experts now warn that this must be kept below 1.5 degrees Celsius in order to avoid causing irreparable damage to the planet’s intricate eco and biosystems. The

Harnessing the power of solar energy in Latin America is becoming a competition. Luckily there is unlimited shine to go around. First there was the Atacama solar plant in Chile, then the Coahuila solar plant in Mexico was installed, and now the Cauchari solar plant in Argentina was named as the largest solar plant in

New research from the University of Madrid (UC3M) is using high-altitude kites and drones in an experimental energy study. The research was recently published in Applied Mathematical Modelling and presents a flight simulator software that is aimed at analyzing energy generation systems. The study specifically researches Airborne Wind Energy Systems (AWES), which harness wind energy

Here is a challenge: Try not to buy single-use plastic for a day. That may be easy, but now try for three days, now try a week, a whole month. Resisting products packaged in single-use plastics may not always be in control of the consumer. Single-use plastics are commonly used for one-time use, such as

The U.S. government’s partial shutdown shares some similarities with the collapse of a Brexit deal. The President of the United States, Donald Trump, has not been able to agree on southern border security with Democrats. Across the Atlantic, Prime Minister Theresa May is not having much luck with the members of parliament on the terms

Ukraine is of deep interest to Russia due to their shared history. Ukraine was a territory in the Russian empire since the 1600’s, only separating in 1918 with the collapse of Czarist Russia. In 1921, the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic was established after Russia conquered two-thirds of the country. The third part integrating into independent Poland