Business and biodiversity: It’s time to broaden our focus beyond just climate change

Business and biodiversity: It’s time to broaden our focus beyond just climate change

The Big Picture Crowdsource Innovation More awareness is needed about the impending threat of biodiversity loss. Nature loss has caused a 69% decline in wildlife populations in just the last 50 years. Collective action from global leaders is required to mitigate the threats of biodiversity – and- nature loss. Globally, we are venturing into uncharted territory regarding climate change. The planning phase of critically assessing and defining how our businesses contribute to environmental damage is behind us, and now is the time to take action. According to World Economic Forum’s Global Risk Report 2022 , climate action failure, extreme weather and biodiversity loss are the top three environmental global threats over the next decade. Many companies recognize the need for climate action and experience the impacts of extreme weather. However, there’s a lack of awareness and understanding about biodiversity loss, which is defined as species extinction and/ or reduction and results in irreversible consequences for the environment, humankind and economic activity and a permanent destruction of natural capital. The responsibility of real climate action primarily falls on the shoulders of governments and businesses, including enforcing, enacting, or investing in effective climate-change adaptation and mitigation measures. We must rally our […]

I asked ChatGPT how to start a business and it gave me 8 steps that weren't that helpful

I asked ChatGPT how to start a business and it gave me 8 steps that weren’t that helpful

I asked the artificial-intelligence tool ChatGPT to help me start a business. The chatbot’s answers were generic and lacked important details. But when I asked more specific questions, it catered its responses to the type of business. Sign up for our weekday newsletter, packed with original analysis, news, and trends — delivered right to your inbox. Something is loading. Thanks for signing up! Access your favorite topics in a personalized feed while you’re on the go. Email address By clicking ‘Sign up’, you agree to receive marketing emails from Insider as well as other partner offers and accept our Terms of Service and Privacy Policy . Everyone’s asking ChatGPT to do something for them — which is no surprise, since artificial intelligence is expected to be a game changer for business in 2023. If you’re unfamiliar with the tool, imagine typing a question into Google’s search bar, but rather than sending you to a highlighted answer followed by pages of search results, it talks back in a private chat window. It uses stored information from books, articles, and websites to give you an answer, in complete sentences and paragraphs. ChatGPT, which is free to use, launched in November as […]

5 of the easiest online businesses to start in 2023

5 of the easiest online businesses to start in 2023

An increasing number of founders are launching brands fully online. Many Americans are looking for easy and entrepreneurial ways to make money . Some are creating online businesses, which often have lower startup costs than brick-and-mortars. Here are five of the easiest types to start, including content creation, coaching, and marketing. Suss out the need for your potential online business Conduct market and consumer research to determine what’s needed. It’s important for aspiring founders to ensure that the product or service is needed in the marketplace, said Cynthia Franklin, an entrepreneurship professor at New York University. When deciding what type of business to start, "looking at where societal forces are heading and seeing if you can get ahead of the trend" is a good start, she said. "Start with scratching your own itch," Franklin suggests for aspiring online business owners. "Whatever you do, find something you care about because you’re going to need to put a lot of time and energy into making it succeed." Here are 5 of the easiest online businesses to start in 2023. 1. Content creation and social-media management Lauren Mabra and Lauren Ferry founded the social-media content agency Lauren Labeled. Content creation and social-media […]

Equipment supplier expansion taking family company to new site

Equipment supplier expansion taking family company to new site

VINELAND — Good demand for outdoors-use equipment, big and small, is powering a relocation of Weaver’s Equipment. The family owned business anticipates starting construction this year on a replacement store at 3049 South Delsea Drive, less than 3 miles from its current location at 278 South Delsea drive. “The biggest reason for our move is the growth of our business,” owner Jaron Weaver said. "We have simply outgrown our current location. We are grateful to God and our customers for this and are looking forward to having more space to be able to better serve our community.” The project got its city planning approval at a hearing Wednesday night. The site is about 5.9 acres, adjacent to Tractor Supply, near Butler Avenue. The new operation will involve a 13,528-square-foot main building, which is several times larger than Weaver’s current one, as well as a 4,800-square-foot storage building. A specialized garage for repair work is part of the main structure, company attorney Michael Gruccio told the Planning Board. Project engineer William Parkhill said the undertaking benefits from an existing stormwater management basin built at the new site more than a decade ago, although a supplemental basin will be installed to […]

How can businesses prepare for economic turbulence in 2023? Chief economists give their views

How can businesses prepare for economic turbulence in 2023? Chief economists give their views

The World Economic Forum Chief Economists Outlook, January 2023 finds that growth prospects remain anaemic and the risk of a global recession is high. The IMF expects around a third of the global economy to enter a recession in 2023 and it has cut its forecast of global GDP for the year to 2.7%. We ask three chief economists how business leaders can best prepare their organizations to weather the economic storms ahead. Almost two-thirds of economists surveyed by the World Economic Forum expect there will be a recession in 2023. So what does that mean for businesses? In a world of ‘polycrisis’, how can companies pivot to resilience, while staying profitable and sustainable? These are some the questions that will be discussed during the Forum’s Annual Meeting in Davos – and in the months ahead. A survey of leading economists for the Forum’s latest Chief Economists Outlook gauged views about some of the likely headwinds that businesses are going to face in 2023 – as well as the most effective responses to these headwinds and sources of optimism. It finds that the outlook for the global economy is gloomy, with almost one in five respondents now considering a […]

Choice Hotels’ all-in cloud journey to sustainable business value

Choice Hotels’ all-in cloud journey to sustainable business value

Choice Hotels International’s early and big bet on the cloud has allowed it to glean the many benefits of its digital transformation and devote more energies to a key corporate value — sustainability, its CIO maintains. That is largely due to the 80-year-old hotel chain’s tight partnership with Amazon Web Services, says Choice CIO Brian Kirkland, who claims his company is enjoying the cost benefits and energy efficiencies of the cloud while exploiting many of 225 related services AWS offers such as analytics and AI to keep advancing on its digital reservations and pricing platform. [ Stay on budget with these 6 cloud cost management tips , learn the 5 fundamentals of effective cloud management , and beware hidden cloud migration gotchas . ] Kirkland, a founding member of SustainabilityIT.org, an organization to drive global sustainability through technology leadership, says Choice was the first hospitality company to make a strategic commitment to developing a cloud-native and sustainable platform on AWS. The cloud platform helped Choice pivot quickly during the pandemic, enabling it to scale on demand as hotel traffic went down. It also helped reduce energy consumption and costs. More importantly, perhaps, pushing all in on the cloud has […]

A new era for global business and investment in Africa

A new era for global business and investment in Africa

Crowdsource Innovation The Africa Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) was established in 2018 to provide opportunities for the world to benefit from the continent’s economies and businesses. A new report from the World Economic Forum, AfCFTA Secretariat and Forum partners provides tools and strategies for leveraging the new trade area’s opportunities. Four sectors – the automotive industry, agriculture and agro-processing, pharmaceuticals, and transportation and logistics – were analyzed in the report as they are expected to accelerate in production and trade volumes under the AfCFTA. At a time of multiple, overlapping global challenges – from climate change to energy shocks to rising inflation and a cost-of-living crisis – the Africa Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) offers promise not only for the region but for the world. The AfCFTA, established in 2018, will create the world’s largest free trade area, bringing transformative change and tremendous opportunity to African economies and business environments. Its adoption and implementation will accelerate intra-African trade and develop regional and local value chains, creating new business dynamics that offer investors access to a population of 1.7 billion people with combined business and consumer spending reaching $6.7 billion by 2030 . Have you read? High-potential sectors Global […]

Davos 2023: What you need to know about better business

Davos 2023: What you need to know about better business

More than 1,400 business leaders from across industries will come together in Davos for the World Economic Forum’s Annual Meeting 2023. The theme is ‘Cooperation in a Fragmented World’ and it’s never been more important for private-public cooperation to find solutions to the myriad challenges facing the world today. Here’s what you need to know about the sessions at Davos that will look at the balancing act businesses face between managing risks and making a positive impact. In the heat-laden months of 2022, it became abundantly clear the health of the planet is deteriorating. Companies are increasingly expected by investors and the wider public to be part of the multistakeholder, collaborative effort to restore it – and be transparent. As more than 1,500 business leaders come together in Davos for the World Economic Forum’s Annual Meeting 2023 – the highest ever business participation – the future of non-financial reporting and investment will be on the agenda. But so too will the prevailing economic conditions and the risks businesses face today. A global recession is considered to be extremely or somewhat likely this year by 63% of the economists surveyed for the Forum’s latest Chief Economists Outlook . It finds […]

Penta Infra buys Sungard AS data center and colocation business in France

Penta Infra buys Sungard AS data center and colocation business in France

European data center firm Penta Infra has acquired Sungard’s data center and colocation business in Paris, France. The company this week announced it had acquired the data center campus in the Lognes area of the French capital. Terms of the deal were not disclosed. – Google Maps Penta Infra said it will also acquire the colocation business and continue to deliver data center services ‘to the majority’ of the existing client base. The three-building campus, located at 93 Cr des Petites Écuries and consisting of two data centers and a workplace facility, covers more than 16,000 sqm (172,000 sq ft) and reportedly has “significant opportunities” for expansion. Penta said the site will be developed into a 10MW data center. Patrick van der Wilt, Chief Commercial Officer at Penta Infra, said: “We are very excited to announce that we’re expanding our footprint into France, one of the leading European markets. Acquisition of the Lognes data center campus is a new chapter in our ambition to increase our data center footprint in Europe. The high-profile customer base, a dense partner ecosystem that provides a wide range of connectivity and public cloud options, combined with the ability to scale on the Lognes […]

Columbus plans new downtown marketplace focused on women- and minority-owned businesses

Columbus plans new downtown marketplace focused on women- and minority-owned businesses

Columbus’ elected leaders want to help female entrepreneurs and minority-owned businesses set up shop in brick-and-mortar downtown spaces. To achieve that goal, Columbus City Council is taking steps to open a new downtown marketplace, Councilman Nick Bankston said. The marketplace program would include graduated rent support, a tenant renovation fund and technical assistance. Plans are still in the early stages and an exact location for the market has yet to be selected. But Bankston said the goal is to find an area that already has retail activity, and serve as a "catalyst" for continued growth of both the tenants and downtown Columbus. At the end of this quarter, the city will begin seeking an entity to offer the technical assistance. That entity could also serve as the master leaseholder for the facility, or two different organizations could be involved. Once responses come in, Columbus City Council would need to vote on the contract recipient. The program is one of a few ongoing efforts to spur downtown’s growth and development, particularly in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic. "We want to take the risk away from locating your business downtown," Bankston said. Rent support and technical help Bankston expects the […]