Sustainability in Practice
An excerpt from the book Sustainability in Practice by Jan Peter Bergkvist
It’s ten minutes past 9 a.m. in Nice, France and I’ve just had an excellent French breakfast. Spring has arrived and a clear sky shines over an azure blue Mediterranean sea at the horizon. A few lonely fishing boats are already out there and the first tourist has gone for a cold swim in the waters below.
Three years ago France and southern Europe were hit by a heat wave and over 10,000 people died. This was one of several examples of an unnatural change of our weather that can be referred to as man-made climate change, phenomena now acknowledged as reality for people in general, as well as for media and decision makers of all types. This change has suddenly raised the awareness of and fear for the non-sustainable use of fossil fuels in almost every activity in our society.
More importantly, it has also clarified for us that the current level of fossil CO2 and other green house gases, is not the main challenge. The fact is that we have built a society that, over time, systematically increases the fossil emissions day by day. This greenhouse effect with its disastrous results – is a main challenge but it is not the only one!
The bad news is that man is a “one topic creature.” Global efforts to understand, agree and act to address climate change has been on top of the agenda.
Global warming has been on everybody’s lips and all serious scientists today agree that we need to halt the increase of today’s global average temperature to a level no higher than around 2.4 degrees Celsius in order to survive. This is an objective that our politicians will struggle hard to achieve.
The frightening fact that shows that Mother Nature is fragile and complex is the recent research documenting that global “dimming” (man-made pollution helping to keep temperature down) actually may have hidden 1 degree Celsius of the global warming already caused. This would mean that we are already 20 years behind all the current political objectives being negotiated!
NOW! The bad news is that man is a “one topic creature.” Global efforts to understand, agree and act to address climate change has been on top of the agenda. Meanwhile, the spread of non-bio degradable chemicals, the destruction of our ecosystems (our lungs and larder) and the compromised ability for all people on earth to fulfill their needs has not abated.
AND not only that, all those issues are exponentially increasing in the system we call the ‘developed world’. This system, in which we all as human beings, executives, politicians, employees, academics and media are a part, requires that we must be prepared to care for it together.
BUT the good news is that we want to survive and we want our kids to survive. The main reason that the majority of us on this planet make thousands of non-sustainable decisions every day in our lives is not that we are mean or stupid or want our children to get cancer or see the Maldives disappear. The reason is purely a lack of knowledge and understanding of what a sustainable world, society, company, family or individual looks like.
This is why it is so encouraging to work with sustainability. Sustainable practices provide executives in companies everywhere the opportunity to realize that they can contribute to a better world and guarantee the delivery of a higher value, not only to mankind in the long term but also to the share holders and customers today.
Join Jan Peter Bergkvist for Sustainability in Practice, a session at the 2010 Meeting and Events Conference. Register now.
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