What comes next for sustainability?

Who will drive sustainability in the future? Government, community or business? This thought-piece suggests that supporting business transformation to more sustainable practices may be our best hope. If we look at the avenues for change that exist in the world – those ways in which large scale change can occur to reduce our impact on the world and less privileged sectors of our society – change is occurring.

Consider the impact of the three major sectors in our society which can drive the improved sustainability – government, the community, and business:

1. Government
We held our breath in 2009 for a world-changing outcome at Copenhagen, which sadly did not come. Cancun in 2010 was better – there is now a clear pathway to assist developing nations to create their own low carbon development plans. However, a global accord with agreed targets seems to be politically difficult to achieve. This is perhaps unsurprising when the mechanism of consensus rewards those who object with concessions.

At a national level, some democratic nations have struggled to implement national schemes (most especially the US and Australia) and the recent ascent of ultra-conservatives suggests progress will be limited in the future. Others, for example China, have instituted initiatives which will carry their nations forward with competitive advantages for several generations. They have done this by instituting political initiatives that support their business sectors.

At a local level, we must take our hats off to the Local Governments who, with the assistance of ICLEI, have done their best to reduce emissions and increase sustainability with limited funding. A concern going forwards in an economically constrained world is the extent to which local government can continue to implement ever-more-expensive initiatives now that the low-cost quick wins have already been achieved.

2. The community
Not-for-profit organizations have long led the thinking on green/social concerns. However, in tight economic conditions, funding is becoming more difficult. A transformation is also evident in the way that NFPs work. The new generation of sustainability NFP leaders is beginning to emerge who can bridge the two gaps in thinking that the world has struggled with for decades:
a. between economics and environment/society, and b. between practical action and visionary ideals

How quickly this generation can drive a more creative and collaborative approach may determine how well the NFP sector contributes to sustainability in the future.

Micro community groups are another interesting development over the last decade. With the power of email and the various internet grouping capabilities and motivated by strong messages such as Al Gore’s “An Inconvenient Truth”, we have seen the emergence of small groups of like-minded individuals coming together to influence their spheres. I have met a number of members of these – however not so many in recent years suggesting their popularity or the enthusiasm behind them may have waned. I would appreciate the thoughts of others on this.

3. Business
As companies have grown to control more and more of the worlds natural assets, resources and human capital, the corporation has become very powerful. There are companies with turnover bigger than the GDP of many nations, and within the nations much of the land and the time of most of the population are employed by companies.

We have seen that business can make money while improving sustainability (please refer to other parts of this blog). Further, in tight economic times, companies will be looking ever-harder for economic improvements, adding greater attraction to sustainability.

In summary, I suggest that business is the best placed to lead sustainability for the foreseeable future. And those nations where the central government has already driving sustainability, they are doing so to support business.

Is the challenge for us in Western nations to help our businesses to adopt a more profitable, sustainable approach? Will this create the greatest environmental and social returns for the investment of our time? My assertion is that it will. I would like to hear your thoughts.

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