(Published in Business Day – 10 December 2024)
What threat to humanity can ordinary businesses help prevent or mitigate?
I don’t think most of us could avert nuclear war, mitigate the next pandemic, prevent intelligent robots from taking over, or shield us from rogue asteroids or solar flares.
But there is one threat we can all contribute to addressing, and that is climate change. Despite many unknowns, we do already know that human activity is warming the globe and that this will have drastic consequences on all species, including us.
First the bad news. As you are probably already very aware, it really is bad. Increased temperatures may devastate food production, extend the range of illnesses, swamp coastal cities, threaten the lives of workers without air-conditioning. Millions, possibly even billions of people may die from global warming. Ouch.
Then the good news. Humanity is beginning to wake up. Most people are rightly disappointed by the COP process, but at least world leaders are talking. Imagine if governments didn’t bother. At a time when self-interest is rampant, might is right, and negotiation from strength is the preferred diplomatic tactic, here is a process based on the belief that nations can work together to avert a global tragedy (as we did briefly for COVID), and on the just notion that developed countries, who benefited from their polluting coal-powered industrial revolution, should pay to mitigate the effect on developing countries who didn’t.
That’s the kind of collaborative thinking humanity will need loads more of if our species is to survive. It’s in everyone’s long-term interests, but in the short term it isn’t. It makes COP a crucial battle ground in a wider war of values. The optimist in me hopes this will bring humanity back to respecting higher values than selfishness.
What can individual businesses do?
There is absolutely no value in becoming discouraged. Take charge of the conversation. Bring climate into company planning and as an item in team meetings. Cover both what the business can do collectively and what individuals can do privately. Don’t leave it up to a small group of enthusiasts who may be ignored by the rest. Avoid it becoming a party-political debate, but position it as a shared concern for our species.
Train and educate your team so climate is not treated as a peripheral issue. Every employee should understand how a changing climate affects the business and ultimately their livelihoods.
Do extend the discussion to your suppliers and to your customers. Transparency in this can generate trust – the foundation of successful business.
Regulations are coming sooner than many think, especially for businesses dependent on European customers. But don’t wait for regulations; work towards carbon neutrality now. We don’t have time to dawdle.
As the costs of clean energy and other measures fall, climate responsibility will often make economic sense. But at times you will have to trade off short term returns against long term sustainability and social responsibility. So you will want a board resolution that defines the principles and limits on which to make these decisions. This raises the fundamental question of why you are in business. How can your business fulfil its purpose and generate profit without harming society and the environment in which it operates?
A positive mindset is critically important. Those who deny climate change live in the past. They may seem powerful at the moment, but as the rest of us join together in effective action, they will rapidly become irrelevant. I hope they will join the rest of us, but in the meantime, don’t even lose sleep over them.
Thanks to Aimée Girdwood for ideas incorporated in this.
Jonathan Cook chairs Thornhill Associates.