BUS604: Innovation and Sustainability

Businesses don't have to lead the shift to a sustainable global economy. There are two alternatives. They can do more of the same, so today's slow shuffle towards sustainability continues, two steps forward, one or more steps back. Or they can delay the shift because of apparent advantages to them in the status quo. 

But neither option has a long-term future. The environmental and climate science is clear: so are the growing costs of inaction. People and most governments want faster progress. 

Delaying a better world is wrong, and decent board members, employees, consumers, and investors want to do the right thing. And if progress is too slow, there may be no viable world to do business in. 

If social and environmental indicators don't improve in the next 5-15 years, what's most likely is a strengthening popular backlash against business and increasingly drastic regulatory responses from governments. First movers who have already aligned their resource use and workforce management with the Global Goals will have a 5-15 year advantage on the sustainable playing field. The faster a critical mass of company leaders decide to line up their business objectives with the Global Goals and make their sectors more sustainable, the more business there will be for everyone in a more predictable, prosperous, peaceful world.

Some of us on the Commission run or serve smaller businesses and all of us have vendor and supply chains that include medium and small enterprises. We recognise that many of the 380 million new jobs that achieving the Global Goals will create, will be in businesses of this scale. Their strategies are critical to progress towards sustainable markets and value chains. Progress could be delayed if they don't get enough support. In particular, they need access to affordable finance to make sustainable investments that make a positive social and environmental impact as well as a decent return. 

Over the coming months, members of the Commission plan to give our support to all those business leaders who, like us, want better business in a better world. It is time to change the game.