2011 February | FabianPattberg.com

New Sustainable Development research but old problems

February 21, 20116:54 pm

An interesting report by the UNEP with the ambitious title ‘Towards a Green Economy: Pathways to Sustainable Development and Poverty Eradication‘ was published today.

These where some of the main findings:

Investing just 2% of global GDP into ten key sectors can kick-start a transition towards a low-carbon, resource-efficient economy.
Greening the economy not only generates growth, and in particular gains in natural capital, but it also produces a higher growth in GDP and GDP per capita.
A green economy values and invests in natural capital.
A green economy can contribute to poverty alleviation.
In a transition to a green economy, new jobs will be created, which over time exceed the losses in “brown economy” jobs.
Prioritizing government investment and spending in areas that stimulate the greening of economic sectors is on the critical path.
The scale of financing required for a green economy transition is substantial, but an order of magnitude smaller than annual global investment.
The move towards a green economy is happening on a scale and at a speed never seen before.
It is expected to generate as much growth and employment – or more – compared to the current business as usual scenario, and it outperforms economic projections in the medium and long term, while yielding significantly more environmental and social benefits.

My view
This is a good report but when I finished reading it I was yet again reminded of the oh so crucial and all important success factor of sustainable development generally (the important sentence is highlighted in bold):
“The new UNEP report demonstrates that a transition to a green economy is possible by investing 2% of global GDP per year (currently about US 1.3 trillion) between now and 2050 in a green transformation of key sectors, including agriculture, buildings, energy, fisheries, forests, manufacturing, tourism, transport, water and waste management. However, such investments must be spurred by national and international policy reforms. “(This is the link to the PDF document)

This sentence in my view expresses the biggest problem sustainable development is facing today: Investments are still the responsibility of national governments and because this is the case national interests will always come first and NOT global sustainable development goals no matter how promising they look and how much of a ‘no-brainer’ they are.

It seems to be a pretty deadlocked situation in the sustainable development world. At least this is my impression. Is yours different?

Short and sweet CSR / Sustainability commentary

February 19, 20119:08 am

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My life has changed a lot over the past months and I needed to see how my posting routine here on my blog was effected by that change. The biggest issue I have as a result of this life and work change is that I do not have the time to write longer posts three to four times a week.

I therefore made the decision this week to switch to a different posting style from now on. The new new motto from now on will be: Short and sweet. Most of my posts will be as straight to the point and useful as possible from now on. I will have longer posts as well but only when I have a topic and the time to go into more detail.

This should enable me to post more regularly starting next week and still provide some (hopefully) useful information and commentary on CSR / Sustainability topics for you. I will also start a new category for this called: “Short and Sweet“.

Have a good weekend everyone and all comments and opinions are as always very much welcomed!

Picture Credit: http://www.flickr.com/photos/foxypar4/2310095247

Introducing TheEnvironmentSite.org – The largest independent environmental forum

February 16, 201111:57 am

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I guess everyone knows by now that I am very passionate about Sustainability topics. Especially, the opportunity to promote Sustainability topics via social media is a key focus of my current work.

So it comes to no surprise that I jumped at the chance, when a fellow online discussion forum administrator contacted me several months ago asking me whether I would be interested in taking control of TheEnvironmentSite.org.

TheEnvironmentSite.org has been around since 2003 and is the largest independent environmental forum on the web with over 15.000 members from across the globe.

TES (the official abbreviation of the site) has a large active environmental usergroup and is known for it’s great sense of community. I personally have been a member since 2006.

My first step after taking over was to completely revamp the site as it was totally outdated in terms of design and usability. We now have a nice and bright front page with a navigation that is much more intuitive and user-friendly in my view.

The site will from now be part of my larger website network (more interesting news to follow here soon as well) and I hope you will find the resources and discussions of TheEnvironmentSite.org useful. Feedback is, as always very much appreciated.

Where to find TheEnvironmentSite.org on the web:

URL: TheEnvironmentSite.org
Twitter: twitter.com/environmentsite
Facebook: facebook.com/theenvironmentsite

Risk-taking in the CSR / Sustainability business – As bad as every other business sector?

February 10, 20114:09 pm

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We all take certain risks in our personal and business life on a daily basis. Some are minor whereas others effect us and our environment more significantly. Risk taking by companies working in the CSR / Sustainability business sector to gain market share and to increase the profitability is there fore a topic which I thought be make and interesting blog post.

Is the CSR / Sustainability business sector more responsible in taking risky business decisions? Or do you even consider risk not at all a relevant issue for this business sector? Have you ever thought about this relationship?

If not, then you need to see this interesting TED talk by Naomi Klein published last December. She makes the case, that a backup plan needs to be included into each risky decision. Especially if we jeopardize our society and planet by this addiction to risk.

This is the video:

My view
The important aspect in my view is that businesses working in the CSR / Sustainability sector have more than others the duty to raise awareness with their customers/stakeholders about the risk they are potentially taking with regards to CSR / Sustainability actions. In my experience are a lot of CSR / Sustainability decisions also in many ways very risky decisions as they will effect the company in unforeseeable ways in the short and long run. Companies advising these businesses need to be their second pair of eyes in my view when it comes to spotting decisions/actions.

What is your view and opinion about this topic? Do you have anything else to share that could help us understand the meaning and relevance of risk for companies working in the CSR / Sustainability business sector?

Generational Change and Sustainability / CSR

February 6, 20119:28 am

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Let’s jump right into the topic here: My parents and I run our own respective businesses. As they grow older and decide to retire I will be taking over their business and I will combine it with mine. This was my decision and it wasn’t and easy one believe me. But in my view it was the right one to make.

My parents and I have different ways to live our life’s and views that come with it obviously. I am very passionate about Sustainability / CSR whereas my parents are as you would expect not as passionate about this topic.

And here is my main point of todays post:
Generational change could be a huge driver for the Sustainability / CSR in general as it can immensely increase the global acceptance of the work we do and more importantly, the change we create to change business as we know it.
I believe that I am not the only person in this situation at the moment. Generational change in business is happening all the time and generational differences will most likely result in two main changes of the business: 1) a change of the business purpose or 2) a discontinuation of the business altogether.

This is also where I see a huge problem in our current generation taking over the businesses. A lot of people in this situation do not realize what chance this generational change within the business could be used for to make our world a better place.

Imagine the situation where most new directors in these small and medium-sized organizations would include more Sustainability / CSR aspects within their change process as they change the business. How much this could change the very nature of overall business across our globe.

It is good to see that a lot of multinational organizations are embracing Sustainability / CSR but in my view the real change within business will in my view only happen once the small and medium-sized organizations will start to include more Sustainability / CSR elements.

The generational change could be a huge driver for the Sustainability / CSR in my experience and I will be one person using this opportunity.

What do you think about this topic? Have you come across examples of change within a business where the new generation decided to include more elements of Sustainability / CSR when they took over?

Picture Credit: http://www.flickr.com/photos/beneath_blue_skies/343096431

Fabian Pattberg

Monthly Archives - February 2011

Short and sweet CSR / Sustainability commentary