Sustainability Over the Next Two Decades – Forward? Backward? Something We Just Take For Granted in Running a Company or Investing In One?

Predicting the way forward (that is, defining the future) is always challenging but pundits do try anyway. One of the most often quoted of such predictions is the 1944 forecast for the computer and copier markets with CEO Thomas Watson of IBM projecting…a market of perhaps five computers and as many as 5,000 copying machines!
 
This week we bring you a two-part look at where Sustainability and Corporate Responsibility may be headed over the next 20 years, with 20 business leaders with expertise and experience in sustainability and CR weighing in on Edie.net.

The experts bravely putting forth their views of the future include the John Elkington, well-known author and Co-founder, Volans Ventures; the Director of Sustainability for Carlsberg (Simon Boas-Hoffmeyer); the Managing Director, Energy Services of Renault-Nissan (Francisco Carranza Sierra); Moody’s head of Global CSR, Arlene Isaacs-Lowe; Interface’s Jon Khoo (Innovation Partner); Leonie Schreve, Global Head of Sustainable Finance at ING, Peter Harris, the director of sustainability at UPS…and others.

Among the intriguing perspectives shared in the two-part feature on Edie.net are these brief outtakes:

What is “sustainable” today will be the new normal so we’ll need something transformational.

We are witnessing the design of the future city; it’s an urban design experiment and the future city will need to be cleaner and greener.

The next two decades for sustainability in real estate will be absolutely critical.  The window of opportunity for preventing the worst effects of climate change is fast closing and so meaningful action across all parts of the R.E. value chain is essential.

The sustainability role is going from being executing sustainability-related actions to be a driver of change.  Driving the development through an integration of the sustainability agenda in the different functions of the company…going from doer to change maker.

Companies have always been bottom-line driven but the question now is whether their views will shift from short-term return perspective to long-term sustainability perspective.  The reality is that because of the way we invest, there needs to be a deliberate focus on what the long-term future of a company is going to reveal.

There’s much more for you in the two part feature.  Say – what are your thoughts about the directions of sustainability (forward… back… sideways… really unknown?) for the next 10 or 20 years?  Send us your views and perspectives so we can share them in our newsletter and on the blog!

This is just the introduction of G&A's Sustainability Highlights newsletter this week. Click here to view full issue.