World Economic Forum | Peter Schulte

The Democratic Republic of Congo to create the Earth’s largest protected tropical forest reserve

Peter Schulte / January 22, 2025

An area covering the size of France will now be protected through partnerships with communities that integrates conservation and restoration with green economic development. This forms the world’s largest protected forest area and consists of a network of economic hubs built on sustainable agricultural production and powered by renewable energy derived from the hydropower potential of the Congo River. The initiative aims to create 500,000 new jobs and transfer a million tons of food annually to Kinshasa, Africa’s largest city.

Planes in the E.U. will have to be partly powered by sustainable fuel

Peter Schulte / May 16, 2023

By 2025, 2% of fuel offered at EU airports must be sustainable aviation fuels (SAF). This must rise to 6% by 2030, 20% by 2035, and 70% of by 2050.

Women created almost half of all new businesses in the U.S. last year

Peter Schulte / May 9, 2023

5 million businesses were founded in the U.S. in 2022. 47% of those new businesses were founded by women. Before the pandemic, just 29% of American entrepreneurs were women.

Staggering 79% of new cars sold in Norway in 2022 were electric

Peter Schulte / January 13, 2023

There are now more than 600,000 EVs in Norway. In 2017, the country pledged to end the sale of petrol and diesel cars by 2025. The government also has exempted new EVs from purchase tax and sales tax.

Williams-Sonoma, Inc. pledges to plant 6 million trees across the U.S., Brazil, India, and Indonesia

Peter Schulte / March 29, 2022

Through a partnership with the Arbor Day Foundation, Pottery Barn, Pottery Barn Kids and Teen, West Elm, and others will plant one tree for every piece of indoor wood furniture sold.

India’s Cochin International becomes world’s first fully solar-powered airport

Peter Schulte / May 19, 2015

Cochin International, in the state of Kerala, transformed a patch of land previously reserved for cargo handling into a 12-megawatt solar plant. This energy source – now featuring more than 46,000 solar panels – provides all the power the airport needs and even generates surplus for the state. Costing less than $10 million USD, the project likely recouped all development costs within the first five years of operation.