The Future of Sustainability: Have Your Say!

Week One - “Global Challenges to Sustainability in the Twenty-First Century”
Comment / Comentario / Commentaire

Jacqueline Cote, World Business Council for Sustainable Development

Moderating team: In response to the third question on involving business leaders in science and technology priorities, Jacqueline Cote identifies business opportunities associated with valuing ecosystem services and encouraging partnerships to achieve “social licenses”.

En respuesta a la tercera pregunta de la semana sobre el involucramiento del sector privado, Jacqueline Cote identifica oportunidades de negocio asociadas con la valoración de los servicios de los ecosistemas y comenta el valor de las alianzas con el sector privado.

----

I would like to comment on Jeffrey McNeely's third question, ie, how do we ensure that business leaders are involved in defining the priorities and applying the new advances in science and technology. I represent the World Business Council for Sustainable Development, a coalition of 190 multinational companies united by a shared commitment to sustainable development.

Although companies benefit from ecosystem services every day, through their buildings, water consumption, production (including use of raw materials) and transportation, they have been slow in understanding the value of these services. An important reason is that these services are rarely valued in the marketplace. Another equally important reason is that companies have not realised the new business opportunities which will emerge as demand grows for more efficient or different ways to manage and use the environment.

Working with business to find market-based approaches to environmental challenges will attract and sustain the attention of business leaders. The issue is not so much conceptual or technical as political, namely to persuade the public and policy-makers that ecosystem services can (or should) be tradable commodities. Business leaders are eager to see a transition from ecosystem management as purely a business cost (risk/impact mitigation) to developing the supply of ecosystem services as profitable business opportunities, such as carbon sequestration, biodiversity offsets or certified commodities.

On the question of how new advances in science and technology could be picked up by companies the key problem is the lack of major incentives for technology innovation and adaptation. Again the issue is not so much technical as political.

My last point on this question is about engagement. Well-managed companies understand that their “social license” to operate (a broader concept than strictly legal permission) depends on satisfying a wide range of different stakeholders. To achieve the necessary consensus, many companies seek to develop collaborative partnerships involving the company, various government bodies, the surrounding community and other stakeholder groups such as NGOs. Businesses must demonstrate that their operations can be managed without damage to the environment and that they can make a positive contribution. This is often best done through partnerships.