天美传媒

The planetary degradation of climate change is worsening at a time when a number of powerful nations are selfishly pursuing their own goals. Given the lack of persuasive, coordinated leadership by governments, businesses have no choice but to step up and help fight for systemic sustainable change.

Guest speakers from seven business sectors found common ground with that message at the annual conference held this week at 天美传媒 Barcelona. The event, organized entirely by students of the , welcomed game changers from the realms of impact investing, sustainable cities, education, sustainable food, clean oceans, energy and power, and the circular economy for two days of speeches, panels and workshops about how paradigms can shift and how attendees themselves could drive change.

Filling a void

鈥淣ormally, we rely on governments to put these frameworks in place, but unfortunately we don鈥檛 have the luxury right now,鈥� said Paul Polman, the co-author of 篓Net Positive篓 and former CEO of Unilever. 鈥淭hey鈥檝e become populist, nationalist and xenophobic while the problems have become more global.鈥�

Businesses have the power to 鈥渄e-risk鈥� sustainability processes stalled or otherwise jeopardized by ineffective governments, but only if they do the difficult work of reevaluating their own longstanding priorities. Specifically, they would have to retreat from the theory introduced in 1970 by Milton Friedman that a business鈥檚 primary responsibility is to its shareholders and increasing profits.

鈥淎mericans became myopically focused on Friedman鈥檚 shareholder model,鈥� Polman said. 鈥淎nd, yes, a lot of people have done very well. But we鈥檝e seen the devastating effect on the private sector. We have half the number of publicly聽traded companies now than we did then. And a typical CEO tenure has gone from 10, 12 or 40 years to a current average of 4.5 years, which leads to a lack of accountability.鈥�

There has been much lip service paid in recent years to moving business to a stakeholder, or purposeful, model. Yet Polman conceded that even companies that have set sustainability goals are, in truth, 鈥渒icking the can down the road.鈥�

The increasingly calamitous effects of climate change may hasten the response. So too could a pronounced generational shift on valuing socially responsible business.

鈥淭he Great Resignation is really a serious issue,鈥� Polman said. 篓We鈥檙e living in a world where 15% to 30% of the workforce is engaged. If companies don鈥檛 make these values come alive, truly, many millennials and Gen-Zers won鈥檛 work there anymore.

Every company has a Greta Thunberg in it and they鈥檙e speaking up.鈥�

Your personal 鈥渨hy鈥�

Dorothy Shaver, who delivered the keynote speech of the event鈥檚 Sustainable Food vertical, has made a point of speaking up throughout her career, which has brought her to her current role as Global Sustainability Lead at Unilever.

It鈥檚 a position she considers her calling, but at a company she was at first reluctant to join.

鈥淚 was once anti-Unilever,鈥� Shaver said. 鈥淚t was a brand I refused to promote when I was working as a clinical dietician at a long-term care facility.鈥�

At that facility, Shaver鈥檚 bold proposal to move patients away from supplements and antidepressants and toward nutritious foods drastically reduced the number of cases of unhealthy weight change and depression among patients.

An offer at Unilever in New York followed. Shaver at first found herself drowning in Excel spreadsheets at the sort of multinational company seemingly at odds with her ambition of making positive social change. But Polman, then the CEO, had instituted a pioneering sustainability plan at the company that helped changed her mind.

What鈥檚 more, Shaver realized that 鈥�if you worked through these huge global brands you could shift where food was going. And we麓d have a chance to feed the world in an equal and sustainable way.鈥�

She was also guided by what she calls her 鈥減ersonal 鈥榳hy,鈥欌�� the compass that should guide each of our decisions, no matter how ambitious or unexpected they may be. For Shaver that overarching 鈥渨hy鈥� was nothing less than transforming the food system and thereby 鈥�unlocking human and planetary sustainability that is crucial to succession, life, happiness and equality.鈥�

鈥淕o back to your 鈥榳hy鈥� every time,鈥� she advised attendees. 鈥淎nd make sure you can support it. You鈥檙e not going to be able to do this alone. You need an ecosystem of friends, an ecosystem of enemies and an ecosystem of people who will question you.鈥�

The game-changing global sustainability lead then offered some surprising parting words: 鈥�I hope in the future there are no positions that include the word sustainability. We need to move far past sustaining to replenishing and regenerating. And it should be at the core of every single role.鈥�