Sustainability
SUSTAINABLE SOLUTIONS
– safe limits on our environmental impact – that we have already crossed. Soil health, land use, ocean acidification, biodiversity loss, fresh water degradation, and pollution are all critical. These environmental issues cannot be separated from the social challenges we face. The roots of the Covid-19 pandemic lay in our dysfunctional relationship with nature and, along with the Ukraine war, it has hit the poorest the hardest. And when populations struggle, their support for right-wing populism increases, further weakening our collective commitment to sustainability. Against that backdrop, it is tempting for businesses to give up, quietly backslide on net zero and social commitments alike, and hope no-one will notice. Yet it is clear that we cannot sit back and leave governments to find solutions. If we are prepared to tackle the issue head on, the past offers some hope. After all, business has already
helped to save the world once – during the ozone crisis – and that success holds valuable lessons on how we can do so again. By 1974, it was evident that refrigerants were damaging the ozone layer, which protects all life from harmful ultraviolet rays. Over the next decade, that damage became critical. The simple story that many remember is that the world made an agreement – the Montreal Protocol – in 1987, which fixed the problem. But that’s only half true. Politicians are understandably reluctant to introduce regulations that could severely damage their economies. They only signed off on this protocol because firms told them the ozone-damaging chemicals – Chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) in particular – could be replaced by other ones, called Hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs). The problem was that HFCs, while not ozone depleting, are exceptionally powerful contributors to global warming.
TO THE CORE
Meltdown Can business save the planet again?
1. Reducing the use of HFC chemicals in refrigerators was vital to combat global warming. Companies such as McDonalds and Coca-Cola developed an alternative with Greenpeace, then lobbied politicians for new regulation and reaped the benefits. 2. This shows how companies can collaborate to drive change based on their shared values. 3. Companies should embrace the opportunity to scale any innovations that these collaborations produce. If they don’t, their rivals may beat them to it and reap the benefits. 4. A sustainable future depends on systemic change. Companies should try to position themselves to succeed in those new systems rather than focusing solely on immediate benefits.
by Hugh Wilson & Rosina Watson
T his is a The world is facing a daunting list of existential threats. However, these often require long-term focus – something that political leaders have struggled to maintain in the midst of another turbulent year. There has been some progress – for example, China’s emissions have finally flattened and should now start reducing – but the situation has not been helped by President Trump rolling back the sustainability agenda in the US. And climate change is just one of seven ‘planetary boundaries’ particularly stressful time to work in sustainability.
Warwick Business School | wbs.ac.uk
wbs.ac.uk | Warwick Business School
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