Global perspective Human stories

“Don’t politicize data,” sustainable entrepreneur urges

“Don’t politicize data,” sustainable entrepreneur urges

Download

Eco-friendly innovators need to use clear and un-politicized data to “let people understand” the environmental impact of their actions.

That’s according to Julie Moffitt, cofounder of ForeLight Inc., a biomanufacturer of naturally derived replacements for colours and dyes used in the cosmetic, food and animal feed industries.

Ms Moffitt was at UN Headquarters as a competitor in MIT Solve, a project from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, in which applicants pitched their sustainable innovations to a panel of judges and shared ideas with other applicants.

She says ForeLight’s industrialised photosynthesis technology can reduce the agricultural area needed for growth from 1.3 million square miles, the size of India, to 1.2 thousand square miles, or the size of Rhode Island, a small state in the north-eastern USA.

Ms Moffitt spoke to Lucy Dean about some of the challenges sustainable innovations can face.

Duration: 4'12"

Photo Credit
UN News/Lucy Dean