Every year, Ethical Corporation, a magazine, organizes a summit to assess the progress that the corporate world has made on its journey toward sustainability.
This year, I was invited to speak on the question, “Can a large company be sustainable and grow?”
My answer was simple: “It’s possible – but highly unlikely, and I can’t think of one company that comes close.”
To summarize my comments, I went on to say that the question only seems reasonable when we forget what sustainability really means – a holistic, systems-based approach that is as much about equity, justice and well being as it is about the planet.
Unfortunately, we live in a world in which we’ve confused “good” with “less bad.” Most of what passes for corporate responsibility, sustainability, green products and ethical behavior – while often good when seen in a highly compartmentalized framework – is part of a system that is no more, at best, than less bad.
Soda in a smaller can. Toxic cleaners in a recycled plastic container. Biofuels for air transportation. Organic produce flown from 6,000 miles away to reach the market.
We live in a world where:
- We celebrate incremental progress that slows by seconds our crash into the wall that lies ahead.
- Our financial system encourages business to misbehave.
- If companies internalize their negative impacts their financial performance usually suffers.
- We externalize as many costs as possible and business increases its profitability.
This is not to say the progress we’re making doesn’t matter – it’s simply not good enough. It’s not fast enough or deep enough.
Does that mean I’m not hopeful? No.
We have the technology and the ability to solve our most challenging problems. What we lack is the will, the cooperation and a new framework that approaches our social and environmental problems from a systems perspective.
We can transition from unemployment to quality jobs for all; from employment to ownership; competition to cooperation; scarcity to abundance; compartmentalization to systems thinking; from “too much isn’t enough” to “there’s enough for all”; from greed to sharing; and anxiety to well-being.
I have no doubt in my mind that this – and more – is possible. What do you think?
After listening to hundreds of voices of sustainability I keep coming back to Julia Butterfly-Hill words on the disconnected consciousness (bit.ly/earthsayerbutterflyhill)as being fundamental. The hope I see is that many of our business and civic leaders are beginning to make the connection between their lack of consciousness and the disastrous effects on the lives of their own children and grandchildren.Prince Charles (bit.ly/earthsayerprincecharles) makes this point when he takes on climate change deniers. Former managing director of JP Morgan, John Fullerton of the Capital Institute (bit.ly/earthsayerjohnfullerton) addresses it in terms of his own conversion upon witnessing 911. Our indigenous leaders (bit.ly/whatissustainability) reinforce it over and over again. The list goes on. Raising the issue of doing the right thing fast enough as you do and have been doing, is part of the consciousness raising that sustainability advocates need to do at every meeting, in every conversation, and always with leaders. The other point Julia makes is one I am emphasizing all the time – it is not enough to be leaders, but be “healers of our planetary family.” The voices are out there, now it is up to us to make sure they get invited to the table, they are heard on the Web, and we move as fast as we can. In this regard, we need more Jeffrey Hollenders out front, to be better connected to one another as sustainability advocates, and to be heard.
I believe that the young generation of today, more environmentally and socially conscious than any previous ones, will bring the change in values, behavior and business principles which will insure that we do not hit the wall. The contest winners, mentioned by you recently, should give us confidence that the ideal of a sustainable world will be achieved.
Of course, the majority of people living on the planet, but primarily those living in the first-world, must change their aspirations from useless consumption to good living. How do we know what good living is? I think that is a very important conversation to have at all levels of the society, from academic to political to civic. One example, the recently released Better Life Index:
http://www.oecdbetterlifeindex.org/