Every month the Erb Institute for Global Sustainable Enterprise highlights a particular area of interest surrounding sustainability. This month the Erb Institute focuses on business sustainability; which is central to everything that our institute stands for. The timing could not be better as we highlight partner, Ford Motor Company as it announced a seismic shift in its business model this week; pivoting to be both an auto and a mobility company on June 15, 2016.
Henry Ford famously said, “Great businesses do well by doing good.” Ford is continuing this legacy, harnessing innovation to navigate the significant and complex global issues of climate change, supply chain sustainability and human rights.
The Ford Motor Company is clear that mobility is a critical part of the answer.
Why?
- “The Mobility Divide” – Lack of access to transportation and information are both symptoms of poverty and key factors in keeping families, communities and nations poor.
- “By 2050 the world is forecasted to rise to 9 billion, with most living in India, China, Africa and Latin America. Unless this population can be brought into the global market, two thirds of the World’s future population could be living in poverty.”
- “Increasing mobility is associated with economic growth and development:
- It connects people to jobs, markets, essential services and political representation.
- It enables business to contribute to development, by serving new markets and unlocking new resources.
- It reduces the trade barrier effect of costly and unreliable transport, enabling poor regions and nations to become more competitive.”
In this brief video, Ford highlights one of its signature initiatives: Project Better World, providing vehicles and services to meet the critical mobility needs of underserved communities. This initiative brings medical care and supplies through partnership with Riders for Health to rural parts of Nigeria, as well as helping remote areas reached by World Vision South Africa where improved connectivity serves multiple needs in underserved populations. Ford is on an exciting path and we here at Erb are excited to see where this takes them next.