Sustainable Development Goals

Safaricom Limited is a telecommunications company, the largest mobile operator in Kenya, serving over 20 million customers and occupying two-thirds of the market share in the industry. The company strives to push the boundaries of conventional ways of doing business by focusing on value creation to the society, economy, and environment of Kenya by incorporating the top-down, bottom-up approach to integrate the SDGs into its corporate strategy and its corporate social responsibility projects. The mission of the company is transforming lives, and this is evident from its operations and investing resources in sustainable projects.

The Relationship of Sustainability Reporting and Share Prices with a Mediation of Green Invention: A Conceptual Review Paper

Corporate Social Responsibility is considered to be an important part of company’s strategy. European and western countries are seriously improving the social, environmental, and economic practices to become a sustainable representatives. Firms which are implementing sustainable practices, likely to have a better business performance and brand image. Furthermore, Companies all over the world are encouraged to invest in the sustainable projects to build a better reputation to attract more investors. Besides, recent studies also showed that the investment in sustainable projects is considered to be a sunk cost for the company which discourages the investors to invest. The higher management needs to consider the investors behavior before investing in sustainable projects. The current study proposes a conceptual model to understand the investor’s behavior especially when management decides to promote the sustainable initiatives. This study will develop into a concrete hypothesis which will explore the shareholders reaction to the sustainable projects especially with mediation of green invention. The resulting model from the study will be taken as useful guide for adopting the sustainability initiatives which shows it will affect the share performance.

Corporate Green Bonds: Understanding the Greenium in a Two-Factor Structural Model

A novel structural model is developed to understand the determinants of green bond prices and the so-called ‘greenium’, that is, the premium that bondholders are willing to pay to invest in green securities rather than conventional ones. The presence of a greenium makes green bonds relatively cheap vehicles to fund environmentally sustainable projects and thus contributes to the shift to a green economy. Yet, evidence on the greenium is mixed and the determinants of green bond yields are not fully understood. In this model two sources of uncertainty are introduced, that is, of cash flows of the firm and of the effectiveness of the financed green projects. The adoption of two risk factors brings in some mathematical complexity but allows for a better modelling of the multi-facet nature of these financial instruments. Our model is rich enough to generate both a positive and a negative premium, as both have been detected in the empirical literature. Thus, we shed light on possible heterogeneity concerning the existence of a greenium in the green bond universe. Moreover, we show how green bonds affect the issuer’s creditworthiness, depending on the correlation of the green project with the core business of the firm and study their impact on investors’ portfolio allocation.

Collaborations in Environmental Initiatives for an Effective “Adaptive Governance” of Social–Ecological Systems: What Existing Literature Suggests

Moving from the scientific literature on the evaluation of environmental projects and programs, this study identifies how and under which conditions collaborations in environmentally sustainable projects are considered effective for the adaptive governance of SES. The method adopted is a systematic literature review based on the quantitative and qualitative analysis of 56 articles selected through specific queries on the SCOPUS database and published from 2004 to 2020. Results of the quantitative analysis identify conditions able to evaluate collaborations, highlighting the need to adopt a transdisciplinary approach analysing both social and ecological challenges and assessing both social and ecological results. Moreover, they suggest preferring using primary data involving multi-sector and multi-scale actors and enlarging the geographical context to the most vulnerable countries. The results of the qualitative analysis provide specific recommendations for collaborations being effective when related to communication, equity, foresight, and respect, which need to be further strengthened by all actors. Multiplicity in visions and approaches should be seen as a resource able to stimulate creativity in social arrangements and environmental practices, making collaborations in environmental projects instrumental for the effectiveness of adaptive governance of SES.

Tall Wooden Residential Buildings in Finland: What Are the Key Factors for Design and Implementation?

This chapter examines tall residential buildings using engineered wood products (EWPs) in Finland. As specified in the National Building Code of Finland, ‘tall wooden building’ is defined as a structure with more than 8-story. Currently, there are two wooden residential buildings, 14-story Lighthouse Joensuu (2019) with laminated veneer lumber (LVL) structure and 13-story HOAS Tuuliniitty (under construction) with cross laminated timber (CLT) structure, that fit the definition above. This study analyses the phenomena associated with the design and implementation processes of these remarkable buildings, the starting points for the projects as well as the prospects of tall wooden housing in Finland through the case study method and interviews with the key actors in the projects. These cases are mapped with extremely detailed information, comprising a valuable source both for designers, engineers as well as developers. As a result, the current state-of-the-art and the critical factors influencing the design and implementation of these challenging sustainable projects in Finland have been identified. It is believed that this chapter will aid and direct key stakeholders in the construction industry in the sound planning and development of tall wooden residential projects in Finland.

Diffusing Entrepreneurial Innovation and Tourism: An Empirical Evidence of Permaculture

Entrepreneurial innovation and tourism are essential factors in the economic growth of a rural agrarian area. This paper's concept is from Schumpeterian creative destructions' philosophical idea to shift rural communities' mentality from the product-based economy to diverse tourism entrepreneurship. In achieving and sustaining the development of permaculture as a platform for rural agritourism, the social capital theory of collectivism was employed to foster the development that would deliver socio-cultural, environmental, and economic benefits to all stakeholders in the community. This paper employed a descriptive research design to analyze the diffusion of entrepreneurial innovation and tourism systematically; also, to interpret the community's attitude towards the diffusion of permaculture for agritourism. Furthermore, interviews were conducted with the key informant group among the women organization. The paper subjected its participants’ through a non-probability sampling method using cluster sampling in the three barangays of the municipality of Bokod, Province of Benguet. The study results show that the respondents were willing to accept the permaculture for tourism and were willing to commit time to develop and manage the Permaculture project. They were motivated to accept and to participate in the project because they knew the values and benefits that permaculture would bring to the community. Also, while answering contingency valuation questions, the respondent thought about the value and benefits the project would bring. This study will enable communities to develop agritourism through permaculture landscapes in the rural community and, help policymakers in planning sustainable projects to support the community in entrepreneurial innovation.

Sierra Gorda Biosphere Reserve, Querétaro, Mexico: An Example of Sustainable Tourism

The importance of tourism in the economy and development, from countries worldwide and specifically to Mexico, makes it increasingly necessary to carry out tourism activities and create sustainable policies that reduce the impacts of the mass movement of tourists. The work aims to present the different actions carried out in the Sierra Gorda Biosphere Reserve, Querétaro, Mexico that allow it to offer ecotourism activities and develop sustainable projects, which benefit the surrounding communities and allows the tourist a low impact approach with nature. Promoting a sustainable entrepreneurship model by consolidating economic development with biodiversity conservation.