Sustainability isn't new or trendy or even very original.
The term may not be familiar to everyone, but the concept
has been around for thousands of years. It's
recognizing that we live and work on a finite planet; that
there are only so many resources to go around and how we use
and share them truly makes a difference. It's only in
the past 150 to 200 years that we have become
un-sustainable by radically increasing our extraction of
fossil fuels and mined minerals while over-harvesting our
natural resources - from forests to fisheries - and
introducing tens of thousands
of
new
non-natural chemicals into the mix. As a
result, we have drastically intensified levels of carbon
dioxide and other greenhouse gases in our atmosphere leading
to the climate change crisis. We have disturbed, and
in some cases even destroyed, those ecological systems that
provide clean air, fresh water, healthy topsoil and other
services that we usually take for granted and don't capture
in our financial analyses. We have polluted our
bodies through the unwitting ingestion of persistent
bio-accumulative toxins (PBTs) leading to illness and
disease. And we have contributed to the creation of a
global environment where some people have access to
everything they could ever want, and more, at the same time
others will
never have access to the very basic
necessities, let alone a deeply satisfying and dignified
life.
We can do better. Learning and applying the principles
of sustainability is how we can honor and restore all that
is beautiful and meaningful on this little planet we call
Earth.
The first rule of business is to remain
“profitable”, but what does that really mean in today’s global environment?
Profitable for shareholders or for society in general? Profitable for the
current quarter or two or for the next ten, twenty or fifty years?
Companies today are being sued for practices that took place
years ago. Lead paint manufacturers have been held
responsible for millions of dollars in cleanup and
mitigation costs.
As Dan Anderson writes in his 2005 book Corporate Survival: The Critical
Importance of Sustainability Risk Management, “The basic
objectives of risk management are to protect the assets of the
corporation and to preserve corporate earnings (profits). I
would suggest that the ultimate objectives of risk management
are to protect ecosystems as capital assets, to preserve their
continuing services; and to maintain fair and equitable social
systems.”
Competitive companies and public entities are demonstrating that
there are advantages and benefits to embracing “sustainable“
policies and practices. Insurers,
reinsurers, bankers, customers and shareholders are not only
paying attention, but are often seeking out organizations with
this broader vision.
The New Stakeholders
What is your company doing today
that could be perceived in the future as socially irresponsible
and/or detrimental to the environment? In addition
to Shareholders and Trustees, all organizations must consider
how their actions will be viewed now and in the future by:
- Customers and employees
- Regulators and NGOs
- "Green" consumers
- Insurers and bankers
- Communities
Sustainability is a Journey
The good news is that many companies and numerous public entities are
already on the road to sustainability. As a result there are
many resources available now to assist you in determining how
sustainability can be implemented in your organization.
These sustainability tools include:
You owe it to yourself and your organization to find out all you can about
the critically important journey to sustainability when considering:
- Climate change and "Peak Oil"
- Competition for limited resources
- Increasing legal liability
- EPA and other regulations
Sustain-NW offers training and
consulting services to
support you on the journey to sustainability.
Backyard bounty ~ photo @ Jill Sughrue 2006
