How can entrepreneurs help to prevent deforestation, combat desertification & protect biodiversity?

How can entrepreneurs help to prevent deforestation, combat desertification and protect biodiversity?

A better world depends upon our ability to generate new ideas and build new systems that can better channel human, social and financial efforts towards the SDGs. Entrepreneurs are essential to this. They are key to creating the innovations that will enable us to go beyond and reach the SDGs with the resources we have.

Every other month, we bring together entrepreneurs, 'wantrepreneurs', investors, sustainability professionals and students to consider the role entrepreneurs can play in meeting the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

This Event

This June, we're focusing on SDG 15: Life on Land, with a special focus on combatting desertification, tackling deforestation and halting biodiversity loss. 

As world population creeps ever closer to 10 billion people - and as our planet warms and our climate becomes increasingly unpredictable - enormous pressure is being placed on the world's productive land. As a result, the Earth’s forest areas have continued to shrink, primarily due to agricultural expansion, and now stand at around 4 billion hectares, just 30.6% of total land area. Drought and desertification are also on the rise each year, amounting to the loss of a further 12 million hectares. This is not only threatening the livelihoods of the 1.6 billion people who depend on forests, but causing our wildlife populations to plummet. 

With the planet's sixth mass extinction said to be underway, around 8 percent of the 8,300 animal breeds known are now extinct - and 22 percent are currently at risk of extinction. Illicit poaching and trafficking of wildlife also continue to thwart conservation efforts, with nearly 7,000 species of animals and plants reported in illegal trade involving 120 countries. We're now seeing an alarming trend in the decline of biodiversity worldwide, with up to 1 million plant and animals species facing extinction, many within decades, due to human activity.

Held on the evening following the UN World Day to Combat Desertification and Drought, this event on will ask 'How can entrepreneurs help to prevent deforestation, combat desertification and protect biodiversity?'. By showcasing the work of entrepreneurs already working towards SDG 15, this event will inspire entrepreneurs and 'wantrepreneurs' in the audience, enabling them to understand how they can contribute to this goal through their existing or future business.

Your ticket includes:

• A great talk and Q&A session from our guest speakers.
• Networking and chatting with speakers, and the board members of Fast Forward 2030
• Free ethical & sustainably sourced drinks and canapés from Elsyia Catering & Toast Ale

Why the UN SDGs?

The UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) are the first comprehensive plan for the whole of humanity to flourish within the means of the planet. This makes them a good framework for people who want to have an impact.

They also set a direct challenge to the private sector by insisting that the environmental and social impact of the way we do business can no longer be an afterthought. They need to be at the very heart of how, and why our economies and businesses function. Fast Forward 2030 exists to encourage and inspire businesses that embody this.

About Fast Forward 2030

Fast Forward 2030 is a network and platform of entrepreneurs who believe that in order to achieve the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), entrepreneurs need to incorporate them into their business models.