Andy Doran, senior manager, sustainability & recycling development, Novelis Europe, says that as of 19 August the human race will run the rest of the year on a global deficit with regards to the natural resources it uses CIWM Journal Online Exclusive
Whilst we have all been enjoying a well-earned summer vacation, it may have escaped your notice that our planet has not.
In fact, far from being recharged, our planet is exhausted, something confirmed by Earth Overshoot Day, which this year fell on 19 August. This marks the annual tipping point when mankind has used more natural resources than the planet is able to produce in a 12 month period. We run the rest of the year in a global deficit.
We all seem to have learned some of the basics of banking since the financial crash of 2008, with a common approach being to implement a period of austerity to bring things back into balance. On a planetary level however, the environmental crash is being seen less immediately in the form of extreme weather events or longer-term changes to the climate.
Impacts that are often being experienced by people with no responsibility for the parlous state of the earth’s credit/debit position in the first place. Therein lays the challenge for the ongoing global climate negotiations.
“I firmly believe that the leadership we need is now beginning to emerge in the businesses of tomorrow be they in the Dow Jones Sustainability Index or elsewhere. Businesses still need to generate turnover and income, but the businesses of tomorrow are emerging that can do that with less social and environmental impact”
Solutions, of course, require the global equivalent of austerity; namely sustainable consumption, which no matter how necessary does not seem politically palatable to the parties of the day. In fact, for many areas of our everyday activities, there is as yet no agreement on what “sustainable consumption” might mean. So is it action or the leadership that is lacking?
It seems to me that the time is ripe for business leaders to confront these challenges and embrace the opportunities that 21st century global trends and pressures present.
The economic crisis is still being felt in many Governments as the “haircut” to cover previous public (and some private) largesse requires still more severe action. But in many instances business has recovered, is looking for those more sustainable business models and the mandate to lead.
But sustainability leaders need to be and in many instances are cut from a different cloth. They are people that are able to create a long-term and clear vision for change, be inclusive and innovative in their approach to leadership and be determined not give up.
We sometimes, quite rightly, ridicule our political leaders for their short-term ideals and even now we seem to be still preoccupied with the frequency of bin collection (or lord give me strength), but the reality is that many facets of sustainability leadership transcend politics.
I firmly believe that the leadership we need is now beginning to emerge in the businesses of tomorrow be they in the Dow Jones Sustainability Index or elsewhere. Businesses still need to generate turnover and income, but the businesses of tomorrow are emerging that can do that with less social and environmental impact.
So as we gather for our annual regroupment in Birmingham (www.rwm.co.uk) in case you haven’t booked), look to yourself, look to your colleagues and peers but above all don’t look away.
The mythologised circular economy is here and within reach but we all need to do our own bit, however small, to be an effective leader and change agent for sustainability within our own organisations. That in my book will be true sustainability leadership.
Andy Doran is Sustainability and Recycling Development Manager at Novelis Europe, the aluminium flat rolled products company, and was the inaugural Chair of the Resource Association in the UK. He is also an RWM Ambassador.
