[ad_1]
As the alarm bells ring and draw attention towards the climate crisis, governments as well as the business community have been urged to act faster.
“Any delay in concerted anticipatory, global action on mitigation and adaptation will miss a short and rapidly closing window to secure a sustainable and livable future,” reads the Recent global assessmentThe Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change.
Climate action requires business leaders to listen to and learn from each other. That’s part of the work being done at GreenBiz Group’s annual gathering for sustainability practitioners.
There were more than 1,300 attendees. GreenBiz 22In February, there were 10 young professionals and students who participated in the Emerging Leaders Program. This program aims at elevating, cultivating and supporting the next generation Black, Indigenous and People of Color (BIPOC), professionals, and upcoming leaders of sustainable business.
“Finding innovative, sustainable business strategies and creating pathways for success for underrepresented communities is fundamental to who SC Johnson is,” stated Alan VanderMolen (chief communications officer at SC Johnson), who sponsored the event. “We are excited to support the GreenBiz Emerging leaders Scholarship program. This program shares our vision of developing the next generation sustainability leaders.”
GreenBiz 22 asked the Emerging Leaders group, “What do YOU think is missing in conversations about sustainability and corporate action to address the climate crisis?” For their responses, read on.
Connor Donnelly
University of Michigan, MBA/MS Environmental Justice Candidate
“Environmental justice” is backward-facing because it is the repair of past wrongs. Climate justice is forward-facing because it involves centering voices of BIPOC in an inclusive way,” said Jorge Fontanez, CEO of B Lab US & Canada, during GreenBiz 22.
The climate crisis is currently humanity’s greatest obstacle. It is normal to feel discouraged when faced with this enormous emergency. I was still inspired by GreenBiz 22 and feel incredibly energized to fight climate change. [1,300]Business sustainability leaders who attended the conference were actively trying to combat global warming using the power of business.
However, as a current MBA/MS Environmental Justice candidate, it is evident that environmental and climate justice must be integrated more quickly into larger organizations’ actions. JEDI must be a mandatory lens for organizations to integrate into all their activities, rather than separate activities performed periodically. This will ensure that both the climate crises and larger inequalities are adequately addressed.
I learned some important things from GreenBiz 22, which relates to the JEDI Integration.
- “SMARTIE Goals”: Equity and inclusion should be integrated in all organizational efforts. [Editor’s note: SMARTIE stands for Strategic, Measurable, Ambitious, Realistic, Time-bound, Inclusive and Equitable.]
- “You cannot spell ‘Sustainability’ without the S (in ESG).”
- “Your DEI can only be as effective as the relationships you have with your community at the front lines.”
Let’s put these words into action through a comprehensive systems approach!
Jordan McDonald
Columbia University, Master’s student in Sustainability Management. Environmental and Sustainability Engineer at 3M Company.
It is important to discuss ethics and justice in sustainability and corporate actions that address the climate crisis. Black and Brown communities suffer ecological handicaps at a high rate. Therefore, sustainability initiatives must include equity. Humans are just as important as any other component of the natural world and deserve the same attention and investment as the non-human parts. Ethical, justice-related items are moving in the same direction as environmental sustainability. While there have been ongoing efforts within the environmental sustainability groups, the collective recognition from other industries is fresh and is allowing unprecedented change. Both governmental agencies as well as private corporations now have science-based environmental sustainability efforts. A similar trend should be expected for ethics, justice, and justice.
It is not enough to make improvements to the existing system. We need to see systems change.
Idris Ajibade
Master’s Student in Computer Science and Quantitative Methods, Predictive Analytics Concentration, Austin Peay State University
Participation by consumers in the decision-making process regarding sustainability and the impact on climate is an important missing element. Consumers must understand the impact of their choices on the environment, in terms of the materials used to produce them. There is a need for education to inform consumers about why certain products are not available or what compositions will be available to ensure sustainability in the production chain.
We cannot have meaningful engagement at the manufacturing or corporate level without considering the role of consumers in bringing all this to fruition. We also need to show them the long-term impact on our climate and its stability vis-à-vis our sustainability drive.
Wadia Mahzabeen
Resonance Global, Corporate Sustainability Analyst
GreenBiz 22 provided a great opportunity to learn from thought leaders and get new ideas. I was especially inspired by Allbirds Head of Sustainability Hana Kajimura’s keynote address. Most incumbents will find it difficult to match the level of visibility and transparency achieved by the company in its supply chain.
I’m sure a large part of this is due to the size and age of Allbirds as well as the streamlined and simplified nature of the company’s products, which may be difficult to replicate for larger, more established players. This raises a question that I believe is missing in discussions about corporate action to address the climate crisis. Are smaller, agiler companies more likely to achieve sustainable results than the larger players? What are some business models that could replicate this visibility and control in a larger corporation? Localizing supply chains, as well as adopting new models, might be the key to ensuring representation of and prioritization for community needs and a just transition. Reiterating the words of [former Unilever CEO]Paul Polman speaking during his keynote address. I look forward to more conversations about action-oriented strategies to shift the status quo.
Hector Aguirre
MBA Candidate, Sustainability Concentration on Circular Value Chains Bard College
GreenBiz 22 was an amazing opportunity to meet sustainability professionals representing all walks of life and focusing on different areas. It was amazing to hear all the different focus areas and paths many of these professionals have taken, engaging them in conversation was a definite value add to understanding the career path I’d like to continue to forge for myself.
Climate change was an existential threat and the main focus of most conversations. Although the conference itself did a good work at bringing the topic of social equity into the conversation, the wider conversation amongst professionals on conference floor often seemed to miss this important point. The keynote speaker was eventually chosen. [journalist and venture capitalist]Molly Wood spoke out about the harsh reality of having to make tough decisions in order to fulfill many of the climate commitments that countries and corporations have made. The social costs of these decisions are still something that is not fully ingrained in the dialogue.
It is not enough to have more diversity and representation in an organization. This will not ensure that corporations are diversifying brain share and avoiding negative social consequences from their actions. It may not be enough to create work environments where people feel comfortable enough to speak out against social injustices. But, it is important to change the conversation around corporate governance. Creating internal checks and balances that bring the consequences of our actions to the forefront of our minds while working towards a better, more sustainable future is something that should be part of every sustainability practitioner’s daily conversation.
Stephanie Rivas
The Climate Initiative, California Regional Coordinator
As I attended sessions on sustainability and corporate action to address the climate crisis, I saw that corporations were only focusing their efforts on the good. They weren’t addressing the past or current harm they have done to the environment. This was shocking considering that the event had a strong theme that collaboration, communication and transparency are all essential to solving climate crisis. There should be more discussion about the past, current and future harm corporations have done to the land and underserved peoples and how they are working to promote change to stop the planet from being destroyed.
Every conversation also touched on justice, equality, diversity, and inclusion. However, these people were not often from the communities they were speaking on. We need to get more representation of the people and voices these corporations are speaking on behalf of. These community members from BIPOC communities have their knowledge and thoughts — which are just as valuable and necessary in the conversation. We would do well to learn directly from them on how collaborating with a corporation embodied these themes of collaboration, JEDI and transparency — ultimately, showing how corporations can be partners and not enemies in the climate crisis, especially through a just and equitable manner. There are many lessons to learn from corporations’ efforts to rectify their wrongs. Accountability is the first step in gaining trust and building a resilient future.
Isabella Canales Claudio
Master’s Student of Science in Environmental Economics, University of Georgia College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences
DEI is a cornerstone of social sustainability discussions, but DEI policies often fail to take into account the perspectives and knowledge that grassroots organizers and Indigenous leaders when implementing DEI policies. The community knowledge that these leaders have gleaned has been a source for significant innovation and policy changes. Diversity, equity, and inclusion strategies should be developed to account for this source and create a pathway for community organizers and Indigenous leaders to participate in the conception and completion of environmental projects at all levels.
The company that is working with the community should show curiosity. This is a crucial part of any relationship. Asking questions should always come before the determination of what a community may need — oftentimes assumptions are made about how best to help a community navigate environmental change and asking what they need is always the best approach. It is important that you are aware that assumptions can lead the organization to more harm than they anticipated when it comes to the implementation of any change, both internal and external.
DEI at its root is about harm reduction across diverse communities. Organizations must include the perspectives and experiences of grassroots community organizers, as well as indigenous leaders.
There should be more discussion about past and current harm corporations do to the land and underserved community.
Treston Rudder
MBA Candidate, Sustainability, Bard College
Sustainability is today’s ultimate goal for many powerful corporations. GreenBiz22 emphasized this point. However, sustainability should be seen as a milestone in the journey to becoming regenerative. Paul Polman, the keynote speaker at the conference, advocated this. He encouraged business leaders and executives to use systems thinking to achieve net positive goals.
A lot of the current narrative is focused on sustainability and net-zero emissions. This approach does not return us to baseline. Instead, we need to actively regenerate human, natural, and financial capital. A regenerative economy helps to heal the socially damaged and places us on track for future success.
I hope to see more companies creating plans for net positive impacts. And, [that]Future GreenBiz conferences will feature leaders sharing their best practices in regenerative business models.
Sade Bamimore
Associate, ERM
GreenBiz 22 offered valuable insight from business leaders across a range of industries to help them understand the latest corporate sustainability trends. Many sessions discussed how sustainability can be embedded within a company. Sustainability leaders are cross-functional collaborations that work in their organizations towards a common goal: addressing the climate crisis. It is important to make sure that leaders from different functions, such as procurement, HR and IT, are equipped to lead sustainability in their own areas and within their own organizations. I think this goes a step further than traditional employee engagement and considers how employees can be empowered to drive the change in their own departments so that sustainability is not just “10 percent of someone’s job but is 100 percent of everyone’s job,” as was stated in one of the sessions this year. Perhaps this is a way to transform how we see sustainability leaders and build up other employees within organizations. This is an area that I believe is lacking in corporate action, as we seek to mobilize and embed climate action and sustainability today within organizations.
Chi Nguyen
Bachelor of Science, University of Arizona, Environmental Science.
I believe the missing piece in discussions about sustainability and corporate action to address the climate crisis is the lack of clear regulation and standards that could help guide and hold large corporations accountable. We have seen many corporations set goals to go net zero and report every year on their progress. We don’t know where they stand on their climate journey if we don’t look closely enough. Many companies have ambitious targets, such as going net zero or reducing emissions by a specific year. However, many of them don’t go far enough. It is unclear what steps are required to reach these goals, making it appear that they are following the current climate trend. One thing that was mentioned during GreenBiz 22, was what corporations are doing to lower Scope 3 emissions. Scope 3 emissions are caused by customers and suppliers. Although it is great to see this being addressed, I believe this is a serious problem that should be addressed more aggressively.
