The writing appears to be on the wall for the 4th Industrial Revolution: we can’t keep doing business the way we’ve been doing it for the past century. In the words of Johan Rockström (Stockholm Resilience Center), “We are hitting the ceiling of the biophysical capacity of planet earth to stay in its current, stable state.”
But any change on a global scale is likely to be complicated, and an ongoing debate in the business landscape revolves around the question of whether companies can successfully embrace sustainability while remaining profitable and delivering for shareholders and investors. How exactly do we add prosperity, innovation and growth into the mix?
Morgan Stanley’s extensive report Decarbonization: The Race to Net Zero (October 2019) underscored the urgency of supporting financially the technologies that mitigate climate change (renewables, electric vehicles, carbon capture and storage (CCS), hydrogen, and biofuels) – claiming it would take $50 trillion of investment over the next ten years.
It seems there are a few different forces at play, and among them is a perception that engaging in sustainability means saying goodbye to profits. But this isn’t necessarily the case.
As we’ve observed when implementing our blockchain based tracking system, productivity gains are significant; some production costs are removed, and brand reputation and reliability are significantly increased when proof of sustainable activity is made visible.
And a quick reminder for anyone who still thinks it’s not worth taking green action: According to the Deutsche Bank report of September 2019, low-income consumers in the US were equally likely to choose sustainable products as those in the middle-income bracket. They put this down to figures from a Eurobarometer report showing a two-thirds increase in individuals’ attitudes towards taking personal responsibility for their part in climate change over the past 12 months.
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Image in this post courtesy Everton Nobrega via Pexels.
