International Development and Entrepreneurship Collaborate for Climate Change!

On November 2nd, 2022 the students from the International Development postgraduate program and the Entrepreneurship postgraduate program and select diploma students from the Faculty of Liberal Arts and Science joined together to welcome gender-focused climate change entrepreneurs from Africa and South Asia.

In collaboration with WUSC (World University Services of Canada), the Aga Khan Foundation, and Global Affairs Canada, students were able to hear first-hand from six entrepreneurs in the global south who are making a difference for both women’s economic security and the global climate change crisis.

Some of the highlights of the event: Diane Mbogo, an entrepreneur from Tanzania shared with students how the simple integration of solar lights for fishing boats helped to save as much on fuel oil as their neighbouring country, Burundi, used in a year.

Vikum Rajapakse, from Sri Lanka, described how his enterprise uses a relative of the agave plant to achieve operations that have a negative carbon footprint. They use the fibers of the plant to create cloth for their products and the pulp of the plant is used as biofuel to run the factory.