AIESEC Nepal hosted Action for SDGs

AIESEC – earlier an acronym of Association Internationale des Étudiants en Sciences Économiques et Commerciales – in Nepal hosted an event ‘Action for SDGs’ today,
The event – powered by Coca-Cola, co-sponsored by Cathay Pacific, Plan International and associated by Khalti, Raleigh International, Restless Development, VSO and United Nations (UN) – brought 300+ young people with their amazing ideas and more than 20 companies together for helping and guiding them to transform their ideas into products and more than 10 experts sharing their experience of contribution, struggle, and learning which inspired and motivated them to never give up. The event created a platform for young people who aim to create change in the society through their ideas, products or services focused on SDGs. The 5 focused SDGs were Quality Education, Gender Equality, Clean Water and Sanitation, Peace, Justice and Strong Institution and Partnership for Goals.
On the occasion, managing director of Bottlers Nepal Ltd Pradip Pandey shared that the company is pleased to support young people on their journey towards leadership through the provision of fundamental life and business skills as well as effective networks. “We will continue to support this important initiative and nurture the positive changes it will make in the communities we co-exist in,” he said, adding that it is always so inspiring to see young, energetic and enthusiastic youth come together to work towards making greater impacts in the communities we live in. “The Final top 3 ideas were selected 60 per cent by the above-mentioned speakers and 40 per cent by the audience via Khalti polling system.”
The top 3 winners Navraj Khanal, Imisha Pokhrel and team and Kritika karki received seed funding amount and 6 months of mentorship from AIESEC to bring their idea into reality by the end of June.
AIESEC is a global youth run organisation present in over 120 countries with a vision to achieve peace and fulfillment of human kind’s potential. Through its various platforms they seek to inspire, engage and mobilise young people to take ownership of their thoughts and actions so as to make a difference and contribute to a better society.

Relief aid flowing into Nepal, rebuilding could exceed Rs 1 trillion

The country needs around Rs 1 trillion to reconstruct the damaged infrastructure in the Saturday's devastating 7.8-magnitude earthquake.
The cost to rebuild Nepal after its most devastating earthquake, in eight decades, would exceed Rs 1 trillion ($10 billion) and take years, according to the finance minister Dr Ram Sharan Mahat. The reconstruction estimate is equivalent to around half of Nepal's GDP that stands at Rs 2 trillion ($20 billion).
According to the US Geology survey, the earthquake has damaged around Rs 1 trillion worth infrastructure including world heritage sites and historic monuments, roads, and buildings. "Due to the mountainous geography, infrastructure damage, collapsed bridges and damaged roads, access to many of the affected areas is reported to be extremely limited," according to the UN.
Scared to sleep inside due to fear that cracked buildings might crumble in another aftershock, Kathmanduites have been living as refugee out in the open. Kathmandu valley has turned into a refugee camp, and they it is in dire need of tents, water supply and medicines, before it is too late to control outbreak of cholera. The situation is not different outside the valley too.
Likewise, the mountainenous region is out of reach also due to geographical difficulty. The UN has also estimated that about one third of the country's population of 28 million have been affected due to the quake with about 1.4 million in need of food assistance.
The government with its limited resources is doing its best to provide relief, Mahat said thanking the development partners for their immediate relief response.
The friendly nations and development partners have committed around Rs 8 billion grant as an immediate relief package, apart from medicines, tents, water, food stuff and relief staff. However, the government that is struggling hard to rescue people trapped more than 72 hours after the earthquake, is waiting for the cash to fund the rescue work.
The International aid organisations and foreign governments are scrambling to get much-needed relief to Nepal.
The United States, India, Israel, Pakistan and other governments have sent emergency supplies and personnel such as doctors to Nepal. The Red Cross has 1,500 volunteers and 300 staff on the ground providing basic first-aid and other support.
On Monday, the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) issued an appeal to raise 33.5 million Swiss francs ($35.2 million) to provide emergency assistance. "We call on all partners and donors to urgently and generously support our action," said IFRC secretary general Elhadj As Sy.
The country needs some $13 billion to $18 billion investment to fill the infrastructure gap and also to help country graduate from the current Least Development Country (LDC) status to development country status by 2022. With the current damage of estimated $10 billion, the country now needs to invest around $28 billion in infrastructure that could propel sustainable economic growth.
Though the country has witnessed a political stability, the economy has been slowing recently. The Asian Development Bank (ADB) and World Bank (WB) have recently estimated the economy to grow at 4.6 per cent – down from 5.2 per cent a year before – and down from the government's target of six per cent, due to mainly poor monsoon. But the damage of the Saturday's devastating earthquake will pull the economic growth further down.
Though for the time being many charities, government agencies and nonprofits are sending essential aid and medical assistance for the rescue and recovery efforts.

Here are some of the countries and organisations that have announced cash contribution:
United Nations: The office for the coordination of humanitarian affairs is releasing $15 million from the U.N.'s emergency relief fund. It expects to issue an appeal for donations from member states later this week.
United States: Washington has committed a total of $10 million for response and recovery efforts, according to US secretary of State John Kerry.
Japan: Announced a 1 billion yen ($8.4 million) grant and sent rescue personnel.
United Kingdom: Department for International Development (DfID) announced a £5 million ($7.6 million) aid package on Sunday; £3 million will be used immediately; £2 million will be given to the British Red Cross.
Canada: Donating 5 million Canadian dollars ($4.1 million) to aid organisations to help with life-saving efforts.
Norway: Donated 30 million Norwegian kroner ($3.9 million) for relief efforts.
Australia: Donated 5 million Australian dollars ($3.9 million) and sent experts.
European Commission: Announced €3 million ($3.3 million) in immediate aid money for Nepal on Sunday.
China: Ministry of Commerce has reportedly given 20 million yuan ($3.2 million) in humanitarian aid, according to the Chinese newspaper, China Daily.
Germany: Berlin has pledged €2.5 million ($2.7 million) and is sending supplies.
Singapore: Donated 100,000 Singapore dollars ($75,000) to the Singapore Red Cross for aid. Singapore Red Cross agency is appealing for more donations. Has already begun disbursing 50,000 Singapore dollars worth of emergency supplies.
Asian Development Bank: The group of 48 countries in Asia and the Pacific are providing a $3 million grant.
USAID: $1 million in emergency financial support.
AmeriCares: The group has raised $750,000 to support relief efforts in Nepal.
American Red Cross: $300,000 initial contribution.
Save the Children: £300,000 ($454,000) in emergency aid. Expects to eventually send millions.
Christian Aid: Immediately sent £50,000 ($76,000) in aid on Saturday. Has raised £124,000 ($188,000) from donations. Expects to raise over £1 million for this urgent appeal.
Oxfam: The British aid agency said online donations totaled £500,000 in Great Britain and $1 million in the United States.
Companies
Coca-Cola: The beverage giant said it is working to provide bottled water to survivors as soon as possible.
Pepsi: Is also donating bottled water and food.
Kellogg: The food company said it donated $200,000 to the World Food Programme (WFP) that is earmarked for Nepal.
Toyota: Making a combined donation of 10 million yen, or about $84,000.
Facebook: The social network has developed a new tool called Safety Check. The simple tool sends messages to people who are in Nepal, urging them to click a button to let their Facebook friends know they're okay.
Google: The search engine has revived its "Person Finder" tool this weekend. The tool helps people search for and post information about missing friends and family in the disaster zone. As of Monday morning, the site hosted 5,600 entries.
Microsoft: Has pledged $1 million in cash and in-kind donations. It is also offering free Skype calls to and from Nepal.
UPS: Pledged $200,000 to various charities working in Nepal.
Communications companies: T-Mobile, Sprint, Verizon, Vodafone Time Warner Cable and others have waived fees for calls in Nepal.
Payment providers: Apple, PayPal, Square Cash are waiving fees and taking other steps to facilitate donations.

Coke plans sustainable social development

One of the top global brands in 2013, Coca Cola is manufactured in Nepal in two places at Balaju – by the Bottlers Nepal (Balaju) – and at Bharatpur – by the Bottlers Nepal (Tarai) – both of which are listed companies at the Nepal Stock Exchange (Nepse). Bottlers Nepal (Balaju) has listed 1,948,787 units, whereas Bottlers Nepal (Tarai) has listed 1,210,000 units of shares at the Nepse. Both the shares have been trading at around Rs 1,700 per unit at the stock market. Coca Cola that has come to an existence some 127 years ago is a multinational company and popular around the globe. Coke's country manager for Bhutan and Nepal Shadab Khan speaks about the company's plan, CSR activities, market and quality;

How is the market of cold drinks in Nepal?

Khan: I think the market is extremely buoyant. Personally from Coca Cola stand point of view I am extremely excited about the opportunity. We just made $26 million investment last year in Bharatpur. That only shows the commitment we have for the market and what we think of the market is going to be. So the market for us is growing and continues to grow.

Will there be any difference in company's policies from past years to next year?

Khan: I think from a market perspective, consumer preferences are getting more and more evolved. But at the same time you have a lots of Nepalese who have not tasted a beverage once a year. So from that perspective, its going to be an interesting challenge for companies like ourselves to be able to play that differently across metro Nepal, which is all the top 12 towns and places where we already have distribution. Worse is rural Nepal. So our focus is going to be how we will ensure more and more places that we can reach and ensure more and more Nepalis have 'a sip of happiness' as we call it.

Market expansion is one aspect, whereas equally important is ensuing quality. Mostly in the rural parts there has been complaints about the quality. What is the company's strategy to supervise and monitor quality regularly across Nepal?

Khan: Quality for Coca Cola is paramount. We have reached here because extremely quality focused and quality sensitive. We have an extremely robust mechanism for ensuring good and safe quality products. There are two aspects to quality. One is quality within and how you manufacture the products. We are ensuring the state of the art technology that goes in. Our $26 million plant is a testament to that, apart from the best equipment we put in to manufacture and processes that we do have, which are regularly audited. Our audits are not scheduled. We don't tell you that I am coming. Our auditors just land up on the door and they open and start checking. Its always a surprise audit, which ensures that quality. We call ourselves 'audit ready system'. That's the simple matrix around to ensure quality in all our products and all our factories. We have global standards. There is no different standard from Africa or US or for Asia. It is the same quality of product that you get every where around the world. One you have to ensure what you do is water tight and the second aspects is what we do in market. There are more compliance checks again. We fix the basics and then ensure that what you do in the market. We have a full-fledged Dual Product Management (DPM) team that is regularly visiting the market. This is different from the Sales Team. Its not the sales guys going there, it’s a quality team that goes in the market and does checks. There is a monthly check that happens from the Atlanta Global Team as well. To check on beverage quality, package quality, what's happening in the market and all of these are fed back to plant to ensure the things are improved. The sale steam does its own checks, its regular monitoring mechanism. From the supply chain team as well, there is what we call warehouse upkeep audit and route vehicle upkeep audit. They check how our distributors ensuring stocks, managed, maintained. And at the end, the last mile, all of us from managing director to sales executive have our personal journey plan (PJP) regularly. We visit the market ourselves constantly keeping the check on what is happning. Even now we are actively picking back products and destroying. And we are now keeping the Department of Commerce posted on steps that we are taking.

How is the competition in the market?

Khan: Competition is strong everywhere. Thankfully because of the love Nepali consumers have for our brands we are strong and continue to gain share. We fully respect competition because unless you have competition in the market, you tend to get sometimes complaisant. Somebody who is on your toes can only ensure that you are doing what best you can.

How is the competition helping you diversify products?

Khan: It’s a question of market dynamics. And what we can do in each market. Apart from Coke, Fanta, sprite and kinly soda, we are looking at other categories that make sense. From a Nepal market perspectives, what we can do efficiently here. We have stared importing Maaza, and cans. Step by step whatever we see as market demands, we tap in like Maaza was only started last year. Every year we look at trying to do something interesting fro the consumers.

Is there any plans to start manufacturing Maaza in Nepal or starting any new plants?    

Khan: I never say no. Right now we have had fantastic response fro Maaza. But for any new manufacturing to start we have to be able to sustain plant investment. Yes, as and when we believe there is potential for us, we start manufacturing locally. About plans for new plant, not that I know of immediately. But we have just expanded our operations in Chitwan. Atleast fro the nest few years, we have more than enough capacity to ensure that we can service our market efficiently.

What do you think CSR activities help establish brands or the companies feel it morally responsible to give back to society under CSR?

Khan: The brand a moral responsibility. As I call it, we are a global company but in local business too. We hire, live, manufacture, distribute locally. We operate in this environment. You could be whoever, operating anywhere but you are operating in this environment. And given brands like us, we have the scope and able to do sustainably something. Therefore it makes imperative for large brands like us to do CSR. We believe in golden triangle. As one company we cannot do everything but government, civil society and our partners come together, that's what we call golden triangle, we can do something. So, corporate civil society and governments can really start to make difference.

But most of the companies do CSR to establish and promote their brands. How is the case with Coca Cola?

Khan: Every company has their own ways of doing things. But Coke does it primarily because we genuinely believe. We have the ability and responsibility to do better. So, sustainability for us is its in our blood. Coke flows in our blood so sustainability also flows in our blood. We don't do things that make difference in our business. We have three large buckets; Me, We, World. Me is for the individual. We do things like supporting marathons, healthy active living programmes whether football like Coca Cola Cup or cricket programme in Sri Lanka and India. In the We part, its about community. As we are a global company with a local business. We operate within a community. We have started a programme called 5BY20, which is our chairman's promise empowering five million women by 2020 across the world. We have launched that programme in Nepal as well. Last year, we have trained 1,015 women retailers on how to run a shop. We also support My School, which is basically a programme where we go and rejuvenate schools. We have done with 13 schools so far between Kathmandu, Lalitpur and Bhaktapur. Over 13,00 students benefitted from the programme. There are five different aspects of the programme like ensuring clean drinking water by water harvesting programmes with Sajha, recreational facilities, sanitation, and ensuring they start to become a good citizen. This rounded development should start from very early ages. In the World piece, we do a lots of things like environment. we are now working with Hamri Bahini, Sagarmatha Pollution Control Committee and Everest marathon. We believe that its our duty in many ways to do it.

What is the CSR budget of Coke?

Khan: Globally we do separate about one per cent of the our profit. In Nepal also we do separate one per cent of profit but the beauty of Nepal is, we also leverage our global funds very well. The Coca Cola Foundation has a lot of foundation money and we try to get as much as we can from that kitty as well. We have started working with WWF on the Koshi Basin, that funding is all from global team. Similarly, we also do our projects like UN Habitat on the safe water project in Tarai to ensure household water treatment. Because one of the biggest reasons for diarrhea is bad quality water. As a responsible corporate operating in Kathmandu, Kathmandu is extremely water stressed, so we tied with Smart Pani for water recycling, which we have always been doing. With Sajha Yatayat in 130 ropanis of land we have started water recycling plant that can recharge almost 10,000 kilolitres of water annually. It will be continued with other partners in other parts of the country too.

Generally multinational companies are said to be interested in third world countries like Nepal only to make money. Is Coke going to change people's perception with all these good work?

Khan: All organisations either local or multinations exist to make money. I don’t think commercial aspect to business is bad. Business needs to have commercial aspects. Besides that business also needs to be responsible. For companies like Coca Cola, its in our blood. We have been doing CSR and not talking about it since we have started 127 years ago. And even today we don't talk much about it. It is something all companies absolutely needs to do. We have reached the position where we can make change we need to do.

What are the three major challenges for business expansion in Nepal?

Khan: It’s a mix of both external and internal. How we ensure more and more consumers make available of our products, that's one key aspect. last year, there has been a fair amount of disturbances due to closure that has impacted our ability to manufacture. Now with new government and Constitution in next 12 months, its going to be better situation. Infrastructure is another bottleneck as getting to some parts of Nepal is extremely costly. Its all a question of time, and all of this is going to be sorted out. For me problems are always short-term. The current challenge is what we can do as a company and make our products available everywhere.

Wai Wai best domestic brand, Ncell best multinational brand

Wai Wai, a flagship brand of the Chaudhary Group, bagged the best domestic brand award, whereas telecom service provider Ncell bagged the best multinational brand award during the Nimbus FNCCI National Excellence Awards ceremony here today.

The Federation of Nepalese Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FNCCI) Best brand award – that has been started from this year – was selected on the basis of Facebook like and SMS voting.

The domestic instant noodles brand, Wai Wai – that belongs to the first Nepali billionaire listed in Forbes Binod Chaudhary, who is also the President Emiratus of CNI – was nominated along with Chocofun, Jagadamba Steels, Pashupati Paints and Tokla Tea for the best domestic brand.

Likewise, Coca-Cola, Fair & Lovely, Asian Paints and Standard Chartered Bank were other nominees in the best multinational brand category.

On the occasion, President Dr Ram Baran Yadav and finance minister Shankar Prasad Koirala awarded some 16 business houses and individuals under nine categories, including the first ever best brands – domestic and multinational – awards.

The President also handed over Nimbus FNCCI National Excellence Awards to Unilever Nepal, Quest Pharmaceuticals and Get Paper Industry as the best enterprises. The FMCG major Unilever Nepal bagged the coveted FNCCI National Excellence Award for its outstanding performance among large-scale industries, whereas Get Paper Industries was recognised under small enterprises and Quest Pharmaceuticals under the medium-scale enterprises category, and also for implementing best management practices and achieving outstanding results in customer and employee satisfaction.

Likewise, Ncell, F1 Soft International and Advanced Poly Clinic bagged Service Excellence Award under-large, small and medium-scale service enterprises category, whereas Nabil Bank bagged FNCCI People Excellence Award 2013.

The prestigious NRN Business Person of the Year was awarded to Upendra Mahato, while Min Bahadur Gurung – the owner of largest local chain Bhat-Bhateni Super Store – bagged the Best Business Person of the Year-2013 award.

The President also awarded Soaltee Group President Emeritus Prabhakar SJB Rana with Lifetime Achievement Award-2013 for his contribution to the business and the economy of the country.
Likewise, the international fame Prabal Gurung recived the Young Achievers Award (male), whereas Nikita Poudel of Gopi Krishna Group and Milee Shrestha bagged Young Achievers Award (female).
“We are here to celebrate the achievement of the Nepali business fraternity,” said FNCCI president Suraj Vaidya during the awards ceremony.

On the occasion, Gham Power Nepal bagged the commendation letter for Employment Satisfaction, Sipradi Trading for Employ Development and Butwal Power Company for Work Plan Development.

The FNCCI has fixed a set of criteria and performance indicators through multiple and scientific parameters for the award,” chairman of the FNCCI´s productivity and quality committee Saurav Jyoti said, on the occasion.

 The award is expected to inspire organisations to make their products competitive by enhancing their quality,” he said, adding that the award is aimed at encouraging business organisations to improve the quality of their management and deliver customer service excellence.

The FNCCI has been celebrating the entrepreneurship by honouring companies with best practices and services, businessmen and young achievers, who have contributed to the country with the National Excellence Award since 2001.

Industrial Promotion Board approves foreign investment in Super Madi hydro, capital injection in Bottlers Nepal

The Industrial Promotion Board (IPB) today approved foreign investment in Super Madi Hydropower Project and Bottlers’ Nepal’s proposal to increase Rs 3 billion capital.
The 44MW-Super Madi hydel project – being developed by Himal Hydro and General Construction – is planning to bring investment from Costal Project Ltd India, whereas Bottlers Nepal (Terai) is planning to increase production capacity of its Chitwan-based plant.

The Bottlers Nepal (Terai) – that has a paid up capital of 121-million – will increase its paid up capital to Rs 3.12 billion. It has Bottlers Nepal as its majority shareholder and remaining share is with the public.  
Bottlers’ Nepal (Balaju) – with 76.16 per cent share of Coca Cola Sabco of South Africa, 22 per cent share of Gurkha Brewery and rest with public – has a paid up capital of Rs 195 million. Bottlers’ Nepal (Terai) and Bottlers’ Nepal (Balaju) both are listed companies at the Nepal Stock Exchange. The shares of Bottlers’ Nepal (Balaju) and Bottlers’ Nepal (Terai) are being traded at around Rs 1,680 and Rs 1,320 per unit, respectively.
Coca-Cola was first introduced into Nepal in 1973, when it was imported from India, but local production began in 1979 only, with the establishment of Bottlers Nepal Ltd (BNL). Coca-Cola Sabco acquired bottling rights from Coca-Cola Company for Nepal in 2004.

The 205^th board meeting chaired by minister for Industry, and Finance Shankar Prasad Koirala, approved the capital increment of the Coca-Cola as it had sought the permission to increase its paid up capital and expand the production. Coke is also planning to buyback share of Gurkha Brewery, and start production of juices in Nepal.
Bottlers Nepal is the manufacturer of Coca-Cola, Fanta and Sprite in Nepal.
Likewise, Kaski-district based run-of-the-river Super Madi hydro that had sought government’s approval to bring foreign investment, has also been approved to bring foreign investment from Costal Project Ltd India, though the amount has not been mentioned.
According to a press release of Industry Ministry, the total capital of Super Madi hydro project is Rs 6.35 billion.
Costal Projects India has a majority share holding of 82.21 per cent in Nepal Jalabidyut Prabardhan Tatha Bikas Ltd, which has 78 per cent stake in Himal Hydro – according to the company – that is planning to develop 44MW Super Madi hydel project.

Coca-Cola tops Global Brands 2012 rankings

Coca Cola topped the best Global Brands 2012 ranking making it to a 13^th in the row, according to the survey of the Interbrand, a brand consulting company owned by the Omnicom Group.
Coca Cola — is valued at $77.8 billion — followed by Apple ($76.5 billion), IBM ($75.5 billion), Google ($69.7 billion), Microsoft ($57.8 billion), GE ($43.6 billion), McDonalds ($40.0) billion), Intel ($39.3 billion), Samsung ($32.8 billion) and Toyota ($30.2 billion) in top 10 the list that is dominated by the technology.
"Coca Cola excels at keeping the brand fresh while maintaining a powerful sense of nostalgia that unites generations of Coke lovers and reinforces consumers’ deep connections to the brand,” the survey stated, estimating its brand value at $77.8 billion, up by eight per cent from the 2011 report. The company is planning to increase its revenue to $200 billion in 2020, from $95 billion in 2008.
Every year Inter Brand assesses the challenges and by surveys the accomplishments of the world’s most valuable brands and carefully rank the top 100. The report ranks what it deems the 100 most valuable brands on criteria that include financial performance, the role the brand plays in influencing the choices made by consumers and the brand’s ability to help its parent’s earnings.
Some eight of the remaining top nine brands changed ranks from last year, Interbrand reported, including Apple, that rose to No 2 from No 8, and Samsung, which rose to No 9 from No 17.
Two brands, also dropped out of the top 10; Disney, which fell to No 13 from No 9 last year, and Hewlett-Packard, which fell to No 15 from No 10.
Year after year Coca-Cola has quantified and confirmed the enormous measurable value of its brand, said the company, adding that its name is more universally recognised than any other across the globe. "Coca-Cola may be 126 years old, but with more than 50 million fans on Facebook, 1.8 billion Coke products consumed daily and 3,500 beverages in its diverse portfolio, said the Coca-Cola Company that has remained a global force to be reckoned with.
Bottlers Nepal Ltd (Balaju) and Bottlers’ Nepal (Terai) Ltd — both listed companies at the Nepal Stock Exchange — are the bottlers of Coca-Cola in Nepal. Bottlers Nepal Ltd (Balaju) has listed 1,948,887-unit shares and Bottlers’ Nepal (Terai) Ltd has listed 1,210,000-unit shares and their shares were traded at Rs 1,680 and Rs 1,018 per unit share last time.

Businesses serious in utilising natural resources: Swan

Big global corporations are coming forward to save the planet as governments are short-lived, according to a polar explorer, an environmental leader and the first person in history to walk unsupported to the North and South Poles, and also an exceptionally gifted and natural communicator, Robert Swan.

These industries and businesses — that are more powerful than governments — have taken the issue of utilising natural resources seriously and are trying to do the right things by helping people use resources like energy, water and recycling intelligently that can save the mother earth, says Swan, who is regarded by many as one of the world’s top motivational speakers.

His experiences from the past 25 years have evolved into an exceptional and dramatic story of success, failure, the ability to learn from one’s mistakes and ultimately, inspiring others to pursue their dreams.

Though the unmanaged natural resources could also ignite conflicts, let's try to be positive on the whole issue, he says, adding that we need to take the right steps in the direction to save energy and water, and making use of solar power that is clean energy.

"Solar panels could be the next big business for India and China," says Swan, who opines that in another 50 years, the oil wells might dry up and people will start thinking of exporting the power of solar energy.

Swan, who thinks that educating and inspiring employees will help companies grow, emphasises on the importance of inspiration, leadership and teamwork.

He thinks that a leader with a vision and a plan, and delivering on that plan can make a difference. "But sustainable development and growth should go hand-in-hand," according to him, "And industries and businesses are trying to take up the mantle in sustainable development."

He is invited by companies around the globe like BP, Coca-Cola, Akzo Nobel, Shell, Credit Suisse, Nokia, Unilever, Philips, HSBC, HP and many more to inspire their new and established employees.

Swan, who is in Nepal for the 'Coca Cola Live Positively' event, has a suggestion for the mountaineers. "Please do not litter the mountains and keep them clean to save earth."

 

Some of his achievements:

• First person in history to walk to both North and South Poles.

• Raised over $45 million for global causes in the past 20 years.

• Spent over two decades inspiring industry, business and commerce to forward their environmental agendas.

• Created global model for taking corporate executives, young leaders and students to Antarctica on leadership sustainability programme.

• Became the first person to live in the Antarctic solely on renewable energy.