The Business Case for Sustainable Development

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The Business Case for Sustainable Development
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Agenda
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Agenda
Challenges and opportunities ten years after Rio
The role of the media
Conclusion
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Changing context and models
Changing context
New models
WBCSD and its activities
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WBCSD

• 160 international companies, 30 countries, 20
  major industrial sectors
• united by a shared commitment to Sustainable
  Development (SD)
• formed in 1995 (merger of BCSD/Geneva and
  WICE/Paris)
• providing business leadership as a catalyst for
  change toward sustainable development, and
  promoting the role of eco-efficiency, innovation
  and corporate social responsibility.

WBCSD and its activities
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Geographic location
WBCSD
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Global outreach - Our Regional Network
WBCSD and its activities
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Leadership using our influence

• Leading role in making the business case for
  Sustainable Development
• Participation in policy development
• Demonstration of best practices
• Partner of significant intergovernmental
  organizations
• Recognized as business voice on SD issues by NGOs
  (Greenpeace, WWF, IUCN,)
• Reputation as a catalyst for change built on
  independence and credibility approach

WBCSD
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WBCSD program overview
Member Projects Mining and Minerals Electric
Utilities Forestry Mobility Cement Financial
Sector
Council Projects Sustainable Livelihoods The
Business Connection
Sustainability through Digital
Opportunities Sustainability Reporting Innovation
and Technology Climate and Energy Access to Water
Biodiversity
Education Training Stakeholder
Dialogues Learning by Sharing Scenarios
Advocacy Projects External Relations Communication
s
WBCSD
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Agenda
The WBCSD and its activities
Challenges and opportunities ten years after Rio
Shared responsibility
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World Summit on Sustainable Development

• Aug 26 - Sept 4 2002 in Johannesburg
• 2001 regional reviews of progress against
  Agenda 21
• 2002 3 PrepComs and stakeholder dialogues to
  define agenda

Challenges and opportunities
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Topics and issues

• Making Globalization Work for Sustainable
  Development
• Poverty Eradication and Sustainable Livelihoods
• Changing Unsustainable Patterns of Consumption
  and Production
• Promoting Health through Sustainable Development
• Access to Energy and Energy Efficiency

• Sustainable Management of Ecosystems and
  Biodiversity
• Managing the Worlds Freshwater Resources
• Finance and Technology Transfer
• Sustainable Development Initiatives for Africa
• Strengthening the System of International
  Governance for Sustainable Development

Challenges and opportunities
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The Business Case for Sustainable Development

• In the run-up to the 2002 World Summit on
  Sustainable Development members of the WBCSD are
  offering new views for a sustainable future
• The business case is an entrepreneurial position
  looking at the point at which business can be
  more competitive by being more sustainability-driv
  en

Challenges and opportunities
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Building blocks of the Business Case

• The market
• The right frame
• Eco-efficiency
• Corporate social responsibility
• Learning to change

• Shifting from dialogue to partnerships
• Informing and providing consumer choice
• Innovation
• Reflecting the worth of the earth
• Making markets work for all

Challenges and opportunities
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The market

• Ten ways by which the market can help us toward
  sustainable development
• It encourages efficient use of resources
• It delivers the most cost-effective solutions
• It offers freedom of choice
• It encourages competition
• It fosters innovation
• It spurs human creativity
• It offers flexibility
• It promotes transparency of information
• It helps wealth creation
• It opens up new opportunities for improving
  quality of life

Challenges and opportunities
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Improve Market Framework Conditions

• Governments have a responsibility in setting up
  the right framework conditions for business to
  operate sustainably

Business creates wealth when
Example

• Law rules
• Transparent accounting standards are observed
• Safe social context is guaranteed
• But is hampered by
• Monopolies, corruption and perverse subsidies

• 1.5 trillion USD are spent every year to
  subsidize activities that cause significant
  resource damages or over-use

Keys to success
WSSD
Challenges and opportunities
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Eco-Efficiency
A management strategy that links environmental
and financial performance, thus creating more
value with less impact
Challenges and opportunities
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Corporate Social Responsibility
Corporate social responsibility is the
commitment of business to contribute to
sustainable economic development, working with
employees, their families, the local community
and society at large to improve their quality of
life. It includes human rights, employee
rights, environmental protection, supplier
relations, monitoring and stakeholder rights
Challenges and opportunities
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Corporate Social Responsibility

• A coherent corporate social responsibility
  strategy, based on integrity, sound values, and a
  long-term approach, offers clear business
  benefits to companies and a positive contribution
  to the well-being of society.
• There are a number of current initiatives
  including the Global Compact, the global
  corporate citizenship statement of the World
  Economic Forum and others such as the
  International Business Leaders Forum whose
  projects are dedicated to assisting companies
  meet their CSR challenges.

Challenges and opportunities
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Learning to change

• Sustainable development requires radical change
  throughout the corporation
• This can be achieved through
• Leadership
• Employee empowerment
• Management systems
• Stakeholder engagement and performance indicators

Challenges and opportunities
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From Stakeholder Dialogues to
Partnerships for Progress

• Move beyond talking to one another toacting
  together
• Partnerships with stakeholders enhance the
  credibility and effectiveness of the results
• Partnerships for progress offer business,
  government and civil society new solutions to
  common concerns

Challenges and opportunities
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From Stakeholder Dialogues to
Partnerships for Progress
GAVI (Global Alliance for Vaccines
Immunizations)

• Alliance of Aventis, other vaccines industries,
  WHO, World Bank, governments of developing and
  OECD countries
• Overcomes market and intergovernmental failures
• 40-70 million children have access to vaccines
  through GAVI

Challenges and opportunities
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Provide and inform consumer choice
Triple win

• Improving quality of life for consumers
• Reducing environmental and social impacts
• Increasing the market share of sustainability-mind
  ed companies

Challenges and opportunities
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Innovation

• Innovation can enable companies to create wealth
  in ways that reflect changing concerns and values
• Technological social innovation improves
  quality of life
• Innovation process must take into account public
  interests or else it may be rejected by society

Abbs Distributed Energy Generation Program

• Alternative energy solutions to support remote
  and rural communities
• Today, 30 of all new installed electric capacity
  is 10MW and below
• Distributed generation is expected to create USD
  1billion for ABB by 2005, rising to USD 2.5
  billion by 2010

Challenges and opportunities
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Establish the Worth of Earth

• Markets need accurate and timely price signals to
  avoid wasting resources and missing future
  opportunities
• Markets must reflect true costs of
• environmental goods and services
• social impacts

• STEPS
• (Shell Tradable Emissions Permit System)
• Cap and trade system for GHGs
• 3 million tons of CO2 have been traded at an
  everage price of USD 3/tCO2
• Reduced emissions in 1 year by half a million
  tonne over 1998 levels

Challenges and opportunities
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Make the Market Work for everyone

• More opportunities and better quality of life for
  the poorest to provide better
• Healthcare
• Water
• Housing
• Nutrition
• Electricity
• Education

Challenges and opportunities
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WSSD preparations and plans
WBCSD awareness building
BASD www.basd-action.net
Others

• Physical exhibition
• Umbutu Village
• Youth events
• Ecomove

• Business the Rio Decade
• The Business Case
• Tomorrows markets
• Workbook Walking the talk

• Lekgotla the Business Day (Sept. 1)
• Millennium partnerships Virtual exhibit project
• Lasting legacy

Challenges and opportunities
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Agenda
The WBCSD and its activities
Challenges and opportunities ten years after Rio
Shared responsibility
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Shared Responsibility

• Financial Markets
• Understand the importance of SD for long term
  financial return and use that knowledge when
  allocating and pricing capital and risks.

Business must
Governments

• Innovate
• Market safe and sustainable products and services
• Adopt high ethical standards

• Work with society to set priorities
• Establish market framework conditions to promote
  environmental, social and economic sustainability

Conclusion
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Shared Responsibility

• Media
• Understand CSR and SD agendas
• Demonstrate the importance of sustainable
  development and how the different stakeholders
  are part of the solution

NGOs and Citizen Initiatives
Consumers and Citizens

• Provide sound advice to the different stakeholders

• Use information available in the market
• Make choices that meet needs and aspirations
  sustainably

Conclusion
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Conclusion

• A lot of action by business but more to be done
• Shared responsibility between business,
  governments, NGOs and citizen initiatives,
  consumers, financial markets and the media
• World Summit 2002 a challenge to accelerate
  progress of the triple bottom line
• For more information www.wbcsd.org

Conclusion
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www.wbcsd.org
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dedicated to making a difference