We need strong leaders to deliver the action required for a
more sustainable future. The existing
collection of politicians and business leaders has been unsuccessful in turning
the desire for sustainability into swift action and there is now a lag in how
long it will take to set in place the necessary prevention, adaptation and mitigation
measures to cope with the inevitable changes in the climate. The 2012 report from the World Bank on
climate change, “Turn Down the Heat.
Why a 4 degree centigrade warmer world must be avoided”1, is
a call to action in order to avoid the potentially catastrophic effects of
climate change. Inundation of coastal
areas, greater insecurity in food production due to drought and loss of
productive land and more frequent, catastrophic weather events are predicted. These are likely to impact harshly on the most
vulnerable people across the world.
The fortunate, resource rich, globally powerful minority
have the systems and reserves in place to limit and mitigate climate disasters
and changes. The most serious effects of
climate change are likely to impact severely on poor, vulnerable communities
and individuals. To mitigate this there needs
to be a new wave of leaders who can drive forward long term, global policies
with sustainability at their core. So
where can we turn for the qualities needed to halt the progression towards a
rise of more than 2 degrees in global temperature? Where will the technologies
and innovation come from to deal with the consequences of the changes to the
climate already set in motion?
The world may be full of potential sustainability leaders, but
we are likely to be looking for them in the wrong places. The people who have the insight we need are probably
not currently in positions of power or influence. Many people with the knowledge to improve
environmental performance and increase corporate responsibility are working
with the people and landscapes they wish to protect, far away from the
corporate corridors of power. So how do
we change that, find inspirational sustainability leaders and get them into the
positions where they can influence decision making?
Partly it will be driven from the bottom up. It is no coincidence that the organisations
which have been quicker to adopt sustainability are those who deal with
consumer products or are publically listed.
There has been a consumer driven response from large firms to be seen to
behave in a sustainable and ethical way.
But for those organisations who are not consumer led, where will the
impetus come from to take the required action?
It is hard to visualise where the necessary strength of conviction,
passion and drive will come from, particularly considering the wide range of
global societal attitudes which influence business decision and policy making. However, the current growing areas of entrepreneurial
and innovative idea creation may hold some of the answers.
Developing nations are looking to the wealthy, powerful
countries to benefit from the business models they have traditionally
used. However, if those models are
unsustainable it is necessary to advocate a new business approach. As emerging economies develop their research
and development skills, embark on their own business growth path and build
their levels of global influence they are bringing a new set of values and
influences with them. There is a huge
opportunity from working with these developing economies to ensure their
businesses grow in a way which builds sustainability, equality, accountability
and transparency into the very core of their culture. By working with senior executives from
emerging areas of economic growth it may be possible to develop and try
different business models, with sustainability enshrined from their conception.
But it is not only emerging economies which are providing a
new type of entrepreneur. There has also
been a huge rise in the number of people from existing business backgrounds working
from home and creating their own businesses which fit around the needs of their
family or community. These businesses
are often significantly less carbon intensive, attuned to social needs and able
to quickly adapt to new technological innovation. People who have left the workplace to care
for young children or older relatives are often highly educated, innovative and
skilled individuals. They are also often
highly aware of the needs of the next generation and the pressures placed on the
globe by resource hungry economies. They
are providing one of the few growth areas for entrepreneurial activity in a depressed
economic climate. They are also
developing new business models which ensure their skills are not lost from the
market place through using technology to work flexibly and remotely while they
care for the most vulnerable in our society.
There are also an increasing number of social entrepreneurs
from across the spectrum of business and society. From philanthropic projects in wealthy economic
hubs, to business start-ups for women in rural poverty there are a huge range
of enterprises which are developing across the world aiming to help communities
on the ground and empower the most vulnerable people, rather than to simply
generate wealth for their owners.
For existing business leaders there is a need to harness the
benefits of a more sustainable business model.
One suggestion is to have more diversity on the board of companies. If businesses recruited people onto their
board who are from disadvantaged groups, social campaigns or from developing
economies they would have far wider insight into their business’ impacts, a
more innovative view of their progress and an opportunity to give some business
experience to people who could use those skills for the benefit of their own
enterprises and communities. This
enables a positive cycle of improving skills and developing new leaders for
business and wider society.
The skills needed for the leaders of a sustainable future
are not necessarily those which have been associated with leaders in the
past. It will require people who are
good at listening, mediators, those with passion and an awareness of the issues
facing those remote from positions of authority, with knowledge of life for the
underprivileged and disempowered. It
will also require the ability to build cross party consensus and commitment to
cooperative working, to enable longer term decision making and planning (beyond
an election cycle or financial reporting period) and a more holistic viewpoint
based not on a narrow political, social or business outlook.
By using these skills and looking for leaders outside of the
traditional avenues, there may be a way to build the knowledge and creative
thinking which can find a sustainable path forward. These leaders will need to change hearts and
minds, bridge social barriers and build consensus led action to limit the worst
of the climate’s effects on the most vulnerable people in the world. The current economic crisis offers an
opportunity to take some risks and try out new ways of working yet many
companies are suggesting that they are too busy focusing on basic business
needs in a harsh economy. Those are the
businesses which will miss out on opportunities and innovation, particularly
once the economy begins to recover. The
organisations which are bold and step forward with innovation and new ways of
working will be the ones to benefit. Change
or die.
1 – “Turn
Down the Heat. Why a 4 degree centigrade warmer world must be avoided”, A
Report for the World Bank by the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research
and Climate Analytics, November 2012
