Continuing on from my last post about other frameworks that are leading the way to changes in business philosophies and practice towards sustainability. Just to show how difficult it can be in our current business paradigm, authors Esty & Winston (Green to Gold, 2009), wrote about the problems with ethical businesses trying to go green in what is still a black-brown business world. One of the major problems is that many consumers lack purchaser commitment in that they are not yet ready to use their purses to truly be enthusiastically green consumers. A big message for businesses trying to be green is that ‘Truth Matters,’ meaning no greenwashing and being able to survive as a ‘wave-rider’ – having a strategy to ride atop the front wave of the sustainability revolution for the long-run while consumers recognize their power in this change.
While the corporate system still rewards psychotic behavior (e.g. obscene CEO pay, and profit at all costs), the good news is that there are a large and growing number of ethical business leaders leading this sustainability revolution wave. For example, during the 1992 Rio conference, a sector on business created a council for business and sustainable development. This merged in 1995 with the World Industry Council on the Environment to create the World Business Council for Sustainable Development (WBCSD). WBCSD’s mission statement is, “…to provide business leadership as a catalyst for change toward sustainable development, and to support the business license to operate, innovate and grow in a world increasingly shaped by sustainable development issues.” Notable is that WBCSD represents members come from at least 35 countries and 20 major industrial sectors, such as cement, electricity utilities, forest products, mining and minerals, transportation and tire manufacturing. WBCSD also has collaborations with 57 national and regional business councils. This is encouraging but we’re talking about some major resource extraction industries in this list. For instance, a mining company will still have to dig holes or extract ore by other means. Questions for mining executives in the near future become does the company mine with the best available technology, restrict its invasive activities when they would irreparably harm an ecosystem, and do they fully reclaim areas to their pre-mined condition, regardless of monetary cost?
One major hurdle is that a lot of mining occurs in developing countries that are struggling to build their economies in our current economic system, and they seem willing to accept environmental degradation to do so. While we might say that using sustainable practices ought to be easier for them (since they don’t have to get past old practices to begin with), using traditional mining companies means quicker profits for the mining companies and the country. It doesn’t help that developing countries see sustainability as a rich peoples’ problem. In the USA, Van Jones, who works with poorer communities to promote sustainability, has an unusual message: Let’s create green jobs, rather than wait for green technological solutions.
Van Jones (2008) developed ‘The Fourth Quadrant’ as his model of business for sustainability. The model has two axes, a vertical one separating gray problems from green solutions and a horizontal one denoting rich and poor. In the gray half of the model, he has example environmental problems as noticed by wealthy people, such as polar bear extinction and saving whales, whereas poor people are more concerned with local pollution. On the green solutions side, Jones places wealthy solutions such as solar panels and hybrid cars, but poor people cannot afford these solutions, and so their solutions to environmental problems are seen as a need for green jobs and a decrease in environmental injustices. Van Jones insists that sustainability is more achievable if we develop a ‘Green Collar Economy,’ creating jobs to attack the environmental problems of the poor, which are really issues of environmental justice. This mirrors closely the ideas of Julian Agyeman, founder of the ‘JUST sustainability’ concept. He calls this ‘Eco-equity, where we embrace social and ecological interdependency and decide that we need each other to work cooperatively. In this scenario, the wealthy can still afford green technological solutions, yet, the poor become the creators and managers of the new green economy. Simply put, Jones believes that making a professional green collar job economy with workers enjoying union benefits is a ‘green economic path out of poverty.’ Whether it is installing or replacing double-pane glass to weatherproof a home or install bamboo flooring, you’re beginning down a path to a career that is sustainable on both personal and social levels. Jobs like these are the first step on the ladder towards small business ownership, entrepreneurship and empowerment.
‘Corporate Sustainability Reporting (CSRt)’ is one way for everyone to see if a business is walking the talk or greenwashing. Not just what they report, but comparing what they say with what you can find out about what they do in the field. Many companies do not report the negative stuff that happens because of their corporate procedures, but business news reports do cover all the bad stuff they would rather you not know about. The CSRt came about in the 1980s when companies found their negative corporate images were a cause of lost profits. During this time, greenwashing first becomes highly noticeable, especially within the chemical industry. The move to CSRt was led by some European companies at first that were made their profit portfolios open to public scrutiny. The Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) is now the world’s de facto standard in sustainability reporting guidelines. A sustainability report to GRI standards is public, usually annual, and provides data and analysis concerning economic, environmental and social impacts. The GRI goal is to have all organizations report their sustainability (or lack thereof) as readily as they do their finances. The best of these reports include third-party validation through external audits.
Quite possibly the most influential change agent on the planet is the business sector. Undoubtedly, business must be part of any dialogue on sustainable development. Their ability to influence notwithstanding, businesses will not make what consumers will not buy. So, the sovereign consuming public plays the pivotal role in the whole process of a transition to sustainability. We’re not at the break point of keeping all businesses honest yet, but the increasing drive of green consumers that support green businesses is forcing all companies either go green or start to fail. Whether this will this happen sooner rather that later is something only we the consumer can decide! We can control them, not the other way around, although they would have you be disempowered so they continue to call the shots. Educated consumers with sustainability at the core of their values is an incredible force for quick change.
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