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I am not sure we are ready for a sustainable business process, but Kevin Wilhelm, the CEO of Sustainable Business Consulting Group a consulting company here in Seattle will be speaking on this subject and plugging his new book on the Return on Sustainability. The question I have, and one that will hopefully be answered at his meeting is can we really do this. Or is “green business” or “sustainable business” really just a marketing trick/ploy riding on a fad. Is this something we are going to commit to, or is it something we are going to flash in the pan over?
I really am a skeptic when it comes to sustainable business, especially since we have very little track record on this one. I do not think that modern capital systems or businesses are truly set up to do this, and much of the marketing I have seen on this are more geared as a market differentiator trying to get new customers. There has been a poor showing or lack of commitment by business to make “green” or “sustainable” part and truly part of their business processes. This is why I am a skeptic, I have seen it used but not carried through, and if anything that hurts the green/sustainable business movement more than anything else.
Kevin Wilhelm though has penned a book on the idea (click here to see it) and since this is coming from a Seattle CEO who works in this industry and has built a consulting business around it, the hope is that this is more than a flash in pan. We all know the big crunch is coming, the question is can bio-fuels and recycling really do the things we need them to do, and can companies really make a profit when tons of recyclable material are sitting on docks for shipping because no one wants them. That is one of the reasons that I am a skeptic, we mean well, but our follow through has been pretty poor so far.
Kevin is giving a fee free speech on how companies can address the green business process and still survive and make a profit on the 20th of July. You can sign up for the meeting by clicking here. Admission is free, and he will be doing book signing to go along with that. You can purchase his book at the speech or at Amazon right here. In all this ought to be interesting, the question is, can he change my mind, when I am a confirmed and happy skeptic of the whole green business process.
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Whenever possible, I try explain to colleagues, students, or whoever is listening why Sustainable Business (and living) cannot be a fad, or a trend, or a flash in the pan but must become our new way of living if we want the planet to be able to sustain most of its current forms of life into the 22nd century.
Yes, it is that serious. Your kid’s grandchildren may face a grim future if we don’t get this under control today.
There is (pre)historical precedent to teach us what happens to life forms when average global temperatures increase six degrees and beyond. Lots of species die off. And that’s when things changed over tens of thousands of years where many species were able to adapt. However, today we are changing things to the same extent in a few decades. Much of what is alive today will not be able to adapt and will be wiped out. That includes the rainforests around the world and much of what is alive in the oceans – both of which are a key factor in regaining the balance of CO2.
Humans can adapt but we cannot survive without food and water and in a few decades, we will be perilously close to running out of both. If we render much of the currently arable farmland useless (because global temperatures turn it into deserts) and we eliminate the snowcaps in the mountains (which eliminates a key source of water for farmland and humans) then we may face serious social unrest as vast sections of the world will no longer be able to find food or water. Ironically, areas such as New York, Florida, and regions of the world where most humans live will actually have plenty of (salt) water as ocean levels are expected to rise over 213 feet if the ice caps in Greenland and Antarctica melt (which, at current rates, is projected to happen sometime in the 22nd century.
And that’s the optimistic view. The pessimist’s view questions whether human kind will survive at all much beyond the end of this century, certainly beyond the end of the next.
So, we had better hope that this sustainability thing is more than a flash in the pan. The G8 has committed to not letting average global temperatures rise 2 degrees above where they were in pre-industrial times. To date, we have bumped them 0.8. That gives us 1.2 to go. If we exceed 2, we could kick off a chain reaction that will be out of our control and this is likely to lead to catastrophic results. So, to keep us below a 2 degree increase, we need to act now and it needs to be much more than a fad.
I suspect that all this talk of sustainability and “green” anything is more hype than anything else. That’s not to say I don’t see such ideals as foolish or otherwise unworthy, though. It’s obviously in man’s best interest to keep his environment clean and manage his resources in order to ensure his future and I don’t think anyone would argue with that.
It’s just that, with all the talk of global warming and climate change, the stark fanaticism of believers in the media isn’t too far from Chicken Little. Are they right? Are they wrong? Research, data, expert testimony either way makes no difference. So long as they continue to preach fire, brimstone, and falling skies (especially in 100 years’ time or more), the corporate world is going to see that they’ve got time to continue with business as usual. Change is expensive and, in these economic times, people are cutting back on spending.
Right now, “green” this and “green” that are hot. Everyone’s talking about hybrid cars like they’re the salvation of the planet. Nevermind that you’d have to drive almost 200,000 miles in any one of them to actually break even. The bulk of “green” terminology is being used to try and make the market feel better about spending their money.
I don’t doubt there are true sustainability or green movements in business today. I don’t doubt there is a need for everyone to keep their environments clean and better manage what they’ve got. I don’t doubt any of that. I *do* however, doubt that the majority of the sustainability/green campaigns out there in the market are as effective as they are hyped.