Are we really at the Sustainability / CSR tipping point Mr Ban Ki-moon?

June 25, 201012:04 pm

I have been watching parts of the first day of the UN Global Compact Leadership Summit via the webcast yesterday.

The key message from the speakers and sessions (especially UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon) I was able to follow was, that we are now at a tipping point of the Sustainability / CSR practice across the globe. We just need renewed commitment by all parties involved to make this world a better place with regards to Sustainability / CSR and responsible business practice.

But are we really? Or are we just fooling ourselves to make us feel better?

I am an optimist and promoter of Sustainability / CSR by heart but we need to see the current global political reality here. I agree that we are at crucial phase of the Sustainability / CSR field but are we actually at a tipping point towards a more responsible business practice? Or are we actually making steps back at the moment with the BP oil spill crisis, failure of the Copenhagen Climate Change Summit, etc?

Here is why I think we are actually making one step forward and three steps back at the moment: We are being told by our political leaders that we need to consider the current situation of our economies first of all. Governments are not really looking to invest in supporting a more responsible business practice and a more sustainable energy future with the financial austerity measures nearly every economy is now looking to implement. It is now about keeping the global economic growth going as they will tell us (an argument which I do not agree with, but this is a topic for a different post).

I bet that this will also be the main message of the upcoming G8 and following G20 summits in Canada. It will be about financial austerity and not the promotion of a more responsible business practice and investment in a more sustainable energy future.

Taking this all into account, is it then really fair to say that we at a tipping point towards a more sustainable future and responsible business practice?

I am not so sure. I certainly hope we are but looking at the current global political developments I doubt that Sustainability / CSR is at the top of the agenda of global leaders.

This is what I think. But what do you think?

Picture Credit as per creative commons: http://www.flickr.com/photos/toddography/12034661/

http://www.scipiobiofuels.com Matt

Shhhhhh We're making it happen. But need to stay below the radar for another few months. I 've been working a plan for almost 3 years. Be assured, but be quiet for now. Soon it will be OK to smile again.

http://www.scipiobiofuels.com
http://www.facebook.com/people/Mike-Brady/694915012 Mike Brady

From my standpoint, the UN Global Compact is not only ineffective, it is complicit in covering up corporate malpractice so that companies can continue to get away with it – and the Global Compact can continue to rake in sponsorship for its talking shops.

I am informed by my experience of submitting a report to the UN Global Compact Office on behalf of the Nestlé Critics – experts on Nestlé business practices. We called for Nestlé to be excluded under the Integrity Measures for egregious violations of the Global Compact Principles and bringing the initiative into disrepute.

The Global Compact Office refused to investigate the evidence submitted, saying it had no mandate or resources to do so and its role is to promote 'dialogue'. We have been in 'dialogue' ourselves with Nestlé for many years – and it defends its violations. What we need is a mechanism for enforcing the principles and, failing that, at least not giving companies that violate them kudos by posting their reports, taking part in joint launches and having Nestlé as a patron sponsor of the current UN Global Compact meeting.

My particular concern is Nestlé's marketing of breastmilk substitutes. Nestlé is currently promoting its baby milks with claims that they reduce diarrhoea and 'protect' babies, yet they know babies fed on them are more likely to become sick than breastfed babies and, in conditions of poverty, more likely to die.

So the UN Global Compact is doing nothing other than give Nestlé status before the world, which Nestlé exploits to undermine the public campaigns that do aim to hold it to account. Anyone who wants to take the action the Global Compact refuses to take, can send an email to Nestlé via our site:
http://info.babymilkaction.org/pressrelease/pre…
http://www.lifeworth.com/consult Jem Bendell

Im here at the Summit and I agree with your question, because:
- ungc organisers are talking about systemic change (but pop lit terms i.e. “tipping point”
- they havent got any systems change experts involved and so the discussions are a bit vapid
- the biz execs seem a bit too relaxed and certainly not that passionately engaged in the scale and urgency of the global challenges we face; my sense is many dont know what they dont know (on matters of sustainable development and systems change); which is the greatest barrier to learning.
- so there is work to be done to make the new commitment to systemic change more than empty talk

Ill blog on this at http://www.lifeworth.com and write about it in a forthcoming section of the Journal of Corporate Citizenship. See my current call for a new focus for the compact at the ungc critics blog.

Jem Bendell
http://www.fabianpattberg.com FabianPattberg

Thanks for the comments Jem and Mike.

@Jem: Would be great if you could let us know the link to your blog article once it is finished.
@Mike: Very interesting view. I am not of the same opinion but can see where you are coming from. But isn’t it also useful to have such an organisation as the UNGC to be in some kind of mediator role between stakeholders? AN an organisation to help promote responsible business practice?
http://www.fabianpattberg.com FabianPattberg

Thanks for the comments Jem and Mike.
@Jem: Would be great if you could let us know the link to your blog article once it is finished.
@Mike: Very interesting view. I am not of the same opinion but can see where you are coming from. But isn't it also useful to have such an organisation as the UNGC to be in some kind of mediator role between stakeholders? And to have an organisation to help promote responsible business practice?
Jem Bendell

The blog I mentioned Id do on this subject is now online.. From Global Compact to Global Impact… http://www.lifeworth.com/consult/2010/08/from-g…
http://www.fabianpattberg.com FabianPattberg

Hi Jem. Thanks for the link. I will have a look.