From boom to gloom – now let’s avoid the doom!

Throughout 2008, we have seen a gradual shift from sustainability at the beginning of the year to a clear focus on survivability by the end. Two Tomorrows group director Jason Perks hopes that in 2009 global business will see the two as mutually supportive rather than mutually exclusive

Throughout 2008, we have seen a gradual shift from sustainability at the beginning of the year to a clear focus on survivability by the end. My overriding hope for 2009 is that global business will see the two as mutually supportive, rather than mutually exclusive.

Issues such as transparency and a new framework for global financial governance actually show that survivability is dependent on instilling the fundamentals of sustainability. And now, we have a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to make a really significant step change in the financial markets and therefore create key drivers for more sustainable company decision-making in future.

Over the last 20 years or so, sustainability has progressed from an unknown concept to a boardroom buzzword no large multinational CEO dare ignore. Indeed, most large companies now say something about their desire to be sustainable, and many, but not all, have taken some serious action.

The challenge lies in how companies can progress to find real solutions to societies' major problems like climate change, poverty, greener infrastructure. According to the 2008 Accountability Rating, those companies that are getting this right, such as Vodafone and General Electric, demonstrate that it can be hugely profitable and beneficial for the wider economy, and not just in richer nations, but those that most need to develop to survive and thrive.

Twenty years ago that was almost unimaginable.

Fast forward to the US election of Barack Obama - no one dared hope there would be a black presidential candidate, never mind his actually taking his place in the White House. This has raised huge hopes internationally and, just as the challenge is on for Obama, so it is for corporate CEOs to deliver on their promises.

The test won't just be whether sustainability commitments are stuck to over the next 12 months or so, but whether real change is achieved over the next few years. This means being truly realistic about where we are now and where we need to get to, making those changes year on year, and working to ensure that the society and frameworks that govern them promote those changes and don't undermine them.

The concerted, collective global efforts we have seen to prop up the banks and credit markets show this can be done. My fear is that it will take an eco-credit crunch for similar action to happen within the sustainability arena. Our job is to make sure that, as a society, we heed the clear and unequivocal warnings before we get to the crunch. We have moved from boom to gloom, let's avoid moving to doom.

Perhaps we may be able to pull some positives out of the worrying situation that we all now find ourselves in. People's new found skepticism of the economic process will provide an opportunity for us all to rethink and re-evaluate what really matters in the world.

Let's also hope that, even with the threat of recession, the UK government doesn't just stick to its climate change targets and ensure their implementation, but meets its commitments on child poverty and raises the bar on other social and environmental issues.

Can sustainability help corporations survive? It doesn't buy any special treatment, but many companies are now not just recognising and mitigating risks, they are also looking at how they can evolve existing products and services, or create new ones, to address major social and environmental challenges and turn them into business benefits.

Jason Perks is Group Director of Two Tomorrows Group Ltd and Managing Director of Sd3 (Asia) Ltd.

Reproduced with the kind permission of Sustainable Business.