An opportunity to broaden our knowledge
As we know, it was ‘Earth Day’ this Monday, with ‘Earth Week’ running all week. And as expected, this has prompted a wealth of articles and social media posts, some with useful tips and suggestions, others with concerning statistics; some enjoying the beauty of nature, others with an axe to grind.
Without doubt, the awareness that Earth Day and Earth Week bring provides an opportunity to learn, and to broaden our knowledge.
This year, it has prompted us to contemplate the word ‘sustainability’. How do we define sustainability? Most of us tend to link sustainability with the need to be more environmentally responsible and to take care of our planet. But the official definition from the UN includes more than just environmental considerations:
“Sustainable development has been defined as development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs… For sustainable development to be achieved, it is crucial to harmonise three core elements: economic growth, social inclusion, and environmental protection.”
Economic growth and sustainability
An article published by the World Economic Forum highlights four key steps to make economic growth sustainable, a summary follows:
- Investment: capital investments over the next 10-20 years are absolutely key to driving sustainable economic growth. Investments in the right areas, that drive low-carbon transformation, can propel more efficient, cleaner and more inclusive economic growth.
- Innovation: fundamental structural change is required in key systems such as energy, transport, industry, cities and land, requiring a high degree of innovation, determination and investment. Fortunately, AI and technological development should aid this process.
- Policy: in order for investment and innovation to be supported, policies must be re-drafted and regulation changed. This will help to prevent unacceptably steep price hikes and encourage the benefits of a transition to be widely shared.
- Finance: international cooperation on financing the transition is crucial, because whilst many advanced economies have fiscal space or borrowing ability, other countries have high debt and limited resources. Collaboration and sharing of resources has never been so important to promote change on a global scale.
Social inclusion and sustainability
A little-known statistic from the World Bank[1] is that one-third of the world’s population is at risk of exclusion from services, access to markets and participation in cultural and political spaces. Yet when people feel part of a development process and feel that they, and their children and grandchildren, will benefit from it, research shows that they will more readily embrace it. There are some heartening examples of societies working together to overcome challenges and to allocate limited resources carefully.
Environmental protection
Environmental sustainability is important to preserve resources like clean air, water and wildlife for future generations, whilst continuing to meet present needs appropriately. We see and hear about examples of environmental protection quite regularly: continuing efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions; increasing use of energy from renewable sources; adopting sustainable agriculture and food production processes; and raising awareness in areas such as single-use plastics. Ultimately, all these measures are in place so as to conserve and sustainably manage our natural resources, to ensure the ecological balance of the planet and availability of resources for future generations.
At ICC, we acknowledge that there is always more that we could do. We are proud to be members of 1% for the Planet, donating 1% of our annual sales to environmental organisations, and we are signed up to the Gold Standard, striving to always ‘do better’ in the areas of Energy, Transport and Food. And this Earth Week, we pledge to do more to promote social inclusion in sustainability, speaking to our clients and suppliers about the accessibility of interventions and exploring where we can improve.
[1] https://www.worldbank.org/en/topic/socialsustainability/overview
