Abstract
Contrary to popular belief and the optimism generated by the ambitious global targets set by the Conference of the Parties 21 (COP 21) and the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), the implementation of corporate sustainability programs has been slow at best, sloppy and ineffective at worst. Less than a third of global companies have developed clear business cases or supported value propositions for their approaches to sustainability [1]. With many initiatives stuck in storytelling (i.e. good stories but little action) or cherry-picking (i.e. some actions but with limited objectives) mode, the need for the executive level to start thinking about transformation toward a more sustainable business model is rising as rapidly as the levels of carbon dioxide in our atmosphere. As reference, according to the UN weather agency, CO2 levels are at their highest in the last 650,000 years, and so are the average temperatures, with the world’s nine warmest years all having occurred since 2005, and the five warmest since 2010 [2]. Companies and executives need to develop a new sense of urgency when it comes to sustainability, moving it from the realm of compliance to that of a key driver of performance and innovation, which requires imbedding it deeply into their core strategies. And crossing the chasm [3] in this case, that is, getting wider acceptance and implementation of this new reality in the higher circles of management, requires education, new skills, competences and tools.
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Notes
- 1.
The 2015 United Nations Climate Change Conference, COP 21 or CMP 11, was held in Paris, France, from November 30 to December 12, 2015. It was the 21st yearly session of the Conference of the Parties (COP) to the 1992 United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) and the 11th session of the Conference of the Parties (CMP) to the 1997 Kyoto Protocol. The Conference negotiated the Paris Agreement, a global agreement on the reduction of climate change.
- 2.
The Sustainable Development Goals (SDG’s) are a collection of 17 global goals set by the United Nations, with some 169 targets, covering a broad range of social and economic development issues such as poverty, hunger, health, education, climate change, gender equality, water, sanitation, energy, environment and social justice. The SDGs are also known as “Transforming our World: The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development” or the “2030 Agenda” in short.
- 3.
For example, in boosting VDSL2 bit rates with vectoring. Very-high-bit-rate digital subscriber line (VDSL) and very-high-bit-rate digital subscriber line 2 (VDSL2) are digital subscriber line (DSL) technologies providing data transmission faster than asymmetric digital subscriber line (ADSL). Source: Wikipedia.
- 4.
ESG criteria is a set of standards for a company’s operations that socially conscious investors use to screen potential investments for their environmental, social and governance practices. Source: Investopedia.
- 5.
The S&P Global BMI (Broad Market Index), which comprises the S&P Developed BMI and S&P Emerging BMI, is a comprehensive, rules-based index measuring global stock market performance. It represents the only global index suite with a transparent, modular structure that has been fully float adjusted since its inception in 1989. Source: S&P Dow Jones Indices.
- 6.
The Bloomberg Terminal is a computer software system provided by the financial data vendor Bloomberg L.P. that enables professionals in the financial service sector and other industries to access the Bloomberg Professional service through which users can monitor and analyze real-time financial market data and place trades on the electronic trading platform. Source: Wikipedia.
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Leleux, B., van der Kaaij, J. (2019). Introduction. In: Winning Sustainability Strategies. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-97445-3_1
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