Sustainability Today and

being a pioneer in your

own right
Getting the big picture. Understanding that Economic Sustainability is still missing. Know where to Act

This working paper is a preliminary presentation circulated in a Seshie Richard Ahedor

limited number of copies and hosted privately on Scribd website at Change Agent and thought thinker on Sustainability
http://www.scribd.com/rickyci to stimulate discussion and critical
comment.
NO ONE IS FLOURISHING RIGHT NOW
SUSTAINABILITY

ECONOMY IS MUCH TO BLAME

ACT ON WHAT’S MISSING

No one is flourishing right now: Key Dynamics

Web of Life ongoing Over population Financial Engineering

Total Natural Events Consumption of Novelty & Production of novelty

Positional Consumption
Predator-Prey Chain Failure of holistic accounting from GDP
Loss of Values
Regenerative and assimilative Skills vs. Skills compensation curve
capacities of the ecosystem… Education
Asset Allocation, Ownership,
Governance, Human Rights, Maximization and Re-allocation
and Belief Systems
Global + Economic Diplomacy…
Country Race for Supremacy…
No one is flourishing right now: Outcomes
Depletion of Natural Resources
Accelerated Decline or Loss of
Biodiversity
Degradation of the Environment
Climate Change
Degradation of Social Capital
Social Unrest
Total Social Service missing;
especially in developing
countries
Degradation of Economic Base
Capital
Wealth for the few, Poverty for
the many
Other Perverse Effects of Growth
as functional for Economic
Stability (unemployment, de-
growth effects)
 Environmental
Predator-Prey
Unsustainability
The Ecosystem of Unsustainability Chain Total Natural
Events-
Degradation of Regenerative &/or
the Environment assimilative capacities
of the ecosystem
Web of Life
Failure of holistic Depletion of
Over population ongoing
accounting from GDP Natural Resources
and macro-economics Other
Accelerated Loss of Natural/Human
Biodiversity Events
Degradation of
Economic Base Capital Climate
Consumption Change
of Novelty
Restless Desire of the Pursuit of
Empty self Unsustainable Economic
Unsustainability Legend
Positional Economic Success
Consumption Restless Starts here
Drives (economic aspects)
Barriers and Other Negative Effects of Drives (social aspects)
induces Opportunities Growth as functional
in Education Drives (environmental aspects)
for Economic Stability
Production Results into
of Novelty Profit Motive Points to/comes from Block
Skills vs. Skills
Restless Innovation of remuneration curve Driven by one or all items
the Entrepreneur Wealth
Financial comprises for the few, Block
Asset Allocation, Poverty for the many
Engineering Ownership, Restless Drivers not given or
Maximization & Total Social Service partially given
Re-allocation missing in countries

Country Race Global + Economic

Social
for Supremacy Diplomacy
Unsustainability
Weak Governance,
Human Rights denial Social Unrest
and Belief System

Accelerated
Loss of Values Degradation of Human &
Social Capital
Implications of Unsustainability:
Realities lived by milllions are just real
Economy
40% of the world’s wealth is
owned by 1% of the population
while the poorest 50% can
claim just 1% of the wealth.
Wal-Mart annual turnover is
equivalent to the GDP of 161
state-nations.
The commodity price ‘bubble’,
the credit crisis and the ensuing
recession were part of a systemic
failure in the current economic
paradigm. Meanwhile, a
staggering $7 trillion of public
money used as a temporary fix,
rewarded those responsible for
the crisis at the expense of the
taxpayer.
Social
The world now produces
enough food for everyone, but
over 850 million people still
face chronic hunger every day.
1 billion people are illiterate
and about 100 million children
within emerging economies
are not enrolled in primary
education.
13 million deaths were caused by
intra-state conflict that occurred
between 1994 and 2003. Conflicts
motivated by control of natural
resources, social inequity…
Environmental
Our current resource use already
exceeds the regenerative capacity
of the planet by 30%.
60% of ecosystem services,
such as fresh water and climate
regulation, are being degraded
or used unsustainably.
Worldwide, more than 7,000
major disasters have been
recorded since 1970,
causing at least $2 trillion in
damage and killing at least 2.5
million people.
NO ONE IS FLOURISHING RIGHT NOW

SUSTAINABILITY

ECONOMY IS MUCH TO BLAME AND MISSING

ACT ON WHAT’S MISSING

‘The possibility that humans can flourish, achieve
greater social cohesion, find higher levels of
wellbeing and still reduce their material impact
on the environment is an intriguing one.’
Excerpt from Prosperity without growth? SDC 2009, p.38.
When Sustainability comes into play as an umbrella and
unifying term for everything flourishing

Social Sustainability = Social Cohesion and

Personal Wellbeing

Economic Sustainability Environmental

= Sustainability
=
Economic Stability and Environmental Integrity
Prosperity and Quality

When Sustainability can be regarded as the human

comprehension of flourishing
NO ONE IS FLOURISHING RIGHT NOW

SUSTAINABILITY

ECONOMY IS MUCH TO BLAME

ACT ON WHAT’S MISSING

What are the Human Constructions out there?
Is it the Environment?
We humans already have lot of trouble to decide where our species originate from, so getting the complexity
enabling the web of life is a request beyond what our current knowledge can capture; nor did we design the
ecosystem. The truth is that we wish to bring the unpredictable back to the unpredictable & the useful.
Scientific disciplines are no longer so helpful to predict the climate, species migration and other natural events;
We now realize natural resources are infinite and we were sure we would live as long as the planet goes round
but we are now anxious with the next generation natural events emerging.

Is it the Community?
During the survival age, we discovered that a sense of togetherness can make us stronger.
We discovered fire and agriculture; we settled down and build our societies according to different mental
and later governance models.
Whether we raise our children, care for our families, attend schools, churches, fan clubs or live in the same
neighborhood; that sense of togetherness has proved resilient to the intrinsic nature of the human being.
Through communities, we strive to fully participate in the life of the society.

Is it the Economy?
Economy has inhabitated all civilizations and the so-called Modern economy is less than three centuries old.
At the heart of the market economy, the over-simplified concept of exchange looks basically sound:
I exchange your labour for income; you exchange your income for goods and services I produce.
Missing from this picture are aggregates such as savings, buildings and machinery; actors such as the public
sector, the foreign sector and the financial sector. We have since introduced e-money and virtual currency;
sophisticated different financial products and services; impose reserves; rate who is credit-worthy or not;
structured global trade and much more. No wonder we have a Nobel Prize in Economics.
Clearly, the Economy is a human construction.

A healthy dose of integrity may be required from the die-hards; but a simple look at the Ecosystem of
Unsustainability captures how free-market capitalism; our current model of economic success is fundamentally
flawed and is root to Unsustainability everywhere:

•The want for novelty or the appeal for status through positional consumption push individuals to loosen values and
morals; eroding trust – which in turn is essential for doing business.

•Population increase or decrease is also a matter of economy. In certain developed countries, getting more babies
done may ensure they pay for an aging population facing increased social and healthcare costs; when in developing
countries, exporting the consumption-driven economic model based on natural resource pressure and carbon
emissions to the billions aspiring and the millions yet to born may prove an engine of growth far from saturated
markets that may require just more than a planet.

•Country race for supremacy and financial engineering restrict the ability for ‘smaller’ countries to borrow on
international markets, leave commodity prices at the volatility of markets, push for FDI at high discount rate, loosen
legislation and tax structure, brings aid to maintain social infrastructure status quo, is silent to weak governance –
follows i’m not shy capital flight and external debt servicing which leaves countries under permanent social unrest
or even to bankrupted or failed states as is the case of many african countries.

•The default assumption is that – financial crises aside – growth will continue indefinitely.
Consumption Growth is unsustainable – at least in its current form. Burgeoning resource consumption and rising
environmental costs are compounding profound disparities in social wellbeing.
‘De-growth’ is unstable – at least under present conditions. Declining consumer demand leads to rising
unemployment, falling competitiveness and a spiral of recession.

So we should wonder if the benefits of our current economic model outweight these trade-offs and defficiencies?
If harmdoing there is; are we doing anything to fix the economy? ensure flourishing?
Are we providing any credible answers beyond bail-outs and concept-washing?
What are the solutions out there?
Economic Sustainability Social Sustainability •Environmental Sustainability
•Stakeholder Engagement •Social Legislation •Renewable Energy
•Inclusive Business Models •Corporate Giving •Carbon Capture and Sequestration
•Shared Innovation (e.g;. Creative •State Provision of Social Wage, Services and •Carbon Conversion
Commons, free open source software) Infrastructure •Clean Coal
•Socially Responsible Investment •Citizen Sector Provision of Social Services and •Nuclear Energy
•Social Investments Infrastructure •Micro generation of electricity + Smart
•Fair trade •Strengthening Governance (Public/Corporate) Infrastructure
•Climate Risk Insurance •Business Standards and Certifications •Other Clean Technologies
•Micro Finance •Entry-job Requirements •Cap-and-trade System
•Macro-Economics for Sustainability •Insurance •Environmental Taxation
•Wage Structure and policy •Development Aid •Environmental Legislation
•Tax Structure and policy •Philanthropy •Green-led supply (cradle to cradle solutions,
•Economically-motivated Community- •Social Innovation recycle-reuse-lease, biomimicry, organic food…)
groups (SHGs, cooperatives) •Public-Private Partnership s(PsPPs…) •and Green lifestyle
•Economically-motivated Migration •Measuring (holistic) Prosperity •Sale of de-materialized services
•Women as Wage Earners •Reproductive Health •Efficiency (energy, resource, technological)
•Intentional Communities •Policies to stabilise population growth •Ecosystem maintenance and protection
•Voluntary Simplicity •Stress Management •Ecosystem and soils Restoration
•Not-for-profit/low profit corporation •Telework •Afforestation
•Online and Distance-Learning Education •Green Building
•Free Education •Re-introduction of Endangered Species
•Private Universities •Livestock Reduction
•Child Girl Education •Genetically Modified Organisms (GMO)
•Education on Ethics, Morals & Etiquette •Worldwide Seeds Reservoir
•Employers flexibility and employee’ incentives •Green Tourism
Notes – 1. This listing cover key traditional and recent solutions but do not pretend to cover all the solutions
•Shared watersheds
for Sustainability. •Water Desalination
2. Solutions were classified as economic, social or environmental based on the bottom line impact where it is •Rainwater storm water and domestic gray
the most evident; and regardless of the stakeholder (government, private sector, citizen…) spurring the water
solution.
3. A solution classified as economic may impact social and/or environmental sustainability and vice-versa. •Water-free sanitation
4. Well-known terms covering one or more solutions include: low-carbon economy, decoupling, corporate •Land Productivity
citizenship, carbon neutrality, biosequestration, climate mitigation, climate adaptation, alternative hedonism, •State-to-State Land Rent
work-life balance.
 The Impact-Profit* Matrix: Assessing environmental solutions

IMPACT

Transformational
Sale of de-materialized Carbon conversion???
services??? Carbon capture and
sequestration???
Renewable Energy
Other Clean
Ecosystem and soils Ecosystem maintenance Technologies
Restoration Legend
and protection??
Efficiency Carbon Emissions
Afforestation?? Micro gen. of electricity
Substantial Environmental Taxation Pressure on Natural
+ Smart inf.
Capital
Environmental
Legislation Green-led supply Both
Green Building Nuclear Energy Cap-and-trade system? ? Impact unknown
Livestock Reduction ?? Profit unknown
Re-introduction of ??? Both unknown
Endangered Species? Green Tourism
Area of obvious
competitive advantage

Clean Coal

Incremental ECONOMIC PROFIT

None- Moderate High
Low *Profit means short-term or immediate corporate profit
 The Impact-Profit Matrix: Assessing environmental solutions

IMPACT

Transformational

GMO?

Water Desalination?

Legend
Rainwater, storm water
Shared watersheds
and domestic gray water use Food and Climate
Substantial Efficiency
Water-free sanitation Water-stress
Land Productivity ? Impact unknown
?? Profit unknown
??? Both unknown
State-to-State Land Rent
Area of obvious
competitive advantage

Worldwide Seeds Reservoir

Incremental ECONOMIC PROFIT

None- Moderate High
Low
 The Impact-Profit Matrix: Assessing social solutions

IMPACT

Transformational

Social Innovation Inclusive Business Models

Legend
Free Education
Child Girl Education Reproductive Health Total Social
State Provision / Strengthening Public Governance/Measuring Prosperity Infrastructure missing
Social Legislation Social Investments Barriers and Opportunities
Citizen Sector Provision Socially Responsible in Education
Substantial Online and Distance-Learning Investment
Policies to stabilise Overpopulation
Education
population growth Public-Private Partnerships Degradation of Human &
Telework Insurance Social Capital incl. Work-
Employers flexibility & employees incentives life imbalance
Private Universities
Stress Management
? Impact unknown
Philanthropy
?? Profit unknown
Education on Ethics, Morals & Etiquette
Corporate Culture and Governance ??? Both unknown
Area of obvious
Corporate Giving
Development Aid competitive advantage

Business Standards and Certifications

Entry-job Requirements
Incremental ECONOMIC PROFIT
None- Moderate High
Low
 The Impact-Profit Matrix: Assessing economic solutions

Transformational

Shared Innovation
Inclusive Business Models

Legend

Macro-Economics for Wealth Distribution

Sustainability Pursuit of
Wage; Tax Structure and policy Unsustainable
Women as Wage Earners Social Investing??? Economic Success
Substantial Socially Responsible
Economically-motivated Migration Micro Finance Both Wealth and Pursuit
Investment
Economically-motivated
Consumption of Novelty
Community-groups
Fair trade ? Impact unknown
Stakeholder Engagement
?? Profit unknown
Not-for-profit/low profit corporation?
Philanthropy ??? Both unknown
Voluntary Simplicity Area of obvious
Corporate Giving competitive advantage

Intentional Communities
Climate Risk Insurance
Incremental ECONOMIC PROFIT
None- Moderate High
Low
 Economy is root to Unsustainability everywhere…let’s have a
critical regard of economic solutions spurheaded by the
economic community itself.
Transformational

Shared Innovation
Inclusive Business Models

Legend

Macro-Economics for Wealth Distribution

Sustainability Pursuit of
Wage; Tax Structure and policy Unsustainable
Women as Wage Earners Social Investing??? Economic Success
Substantial Socially Responsible
Economically-motivated Migration Investment Both Wealth and Pursuit
Economically-motivated Micro Finance
Consumption of Novelty
Community-groups
Stakeholder Engagement Fair trade ? Impact unknown
?? Profit unknown
Not-for-profit/low profit corporation?
Philanthropy ??? Both unknown

Voluntary Simplicity Area of obvious

Corporate Giving competitive advantage

Intentional Communities
Climate Risk Insurance

Incremental ECONOMIC PROFIT

None- Moderate High
Low
Climate Risk Insurance

The nature of Insurance is about risk and compensation.

As much as 80% of the global economic damage from natural events is not remedied
through insurance but has to be borne by the victims or alleviated with ad hoc disaster
relief; but the insurance industry is keener to address the environmental challenge.

Climate Risk Insurance may convey this message to Businesses: ‘Whatever harm the
environment can do, we would cover your back.’
Instead of confronting the environmental challenge; Businesses can opt to pay a
premium and pursue business as usual (so degrading the economic base capital).

True, the insurance industry may remove the fear factor and prevent some
environmental damage - yet not the potential of environmental harm.
Corporate Giving

Skip the stress-test of greenwashing; Corporate Giving is a business response to society

on earning the right to continue operating “the largest legal accumulation of wealth in
history.”
Total corporate donations stood at $14 billion in 2008 in the U.S. when the business
ecosystem of a single company such as Microsoft is worth over a trillion.

Giving is absolutely vital in the face of an urgent threat; it does make a difference.
Yet; Corporate Giving is highly volatile (both in monetary value and year-on-year loyalty
to causes & partners), addresses the manifestations of poverty instead of the root
causes that comes from within the economic system.
Strategic philanthropy promises better prospects.

But to take Giving on a standalone basis is no route to shared economic prosperity.

Stakeholder Engagement

Involves how a corporation responds to the expectations of its stakeholders :

shareholders, owners, investors, employees, suppliers, clients, consumers.
Or in few words: keep them under check, busy or happy.
It includes examples such as hiring people from economically distressed communities;
providing training and development opportunities for lower-wage employees;
purchasing from minority-owned suppliers; providing the necessary information,
education, and training to suppliers and clients to ensure that a product or service can
be effectively and safely used.
Stakeholders expectations often conflict and the premium of consideration still goes to
investors, shareholders at the possible detriment of more inclusive and just choices.

Again, this is making a difference but not transforming the unsustainable economic
landscape.
Socially Responsible Investment
The SRI concept uncovers a dual nature: one should be socially responsible and one should be a
responsible investor.
One should be socially responsible is about one using their holdings to effect positive social change.
Values-based social investors decide or not to invest in a company (e.g. prohibit tobacco) based on
their beliefs and moral ground. This practice is largely un-welcomed into mainstream investing.
One should be a responsible investor speaks to investors who are uncomfortable with moral
judgments but consider the broader integration of social and environmental aspects of corporate
performance to judge of a company long-term value with carbon accounting increasingly perceived as
an element of mainstream investing .
Shareholder activism is also delivering some promise on modeling responsible corporate governance.

1 in 10 dollars is said to go to SRI funds. SRI empowers asset owners to have their say on the kind of
responsible behavior they want companies to exert; yet significant challenges remain:
Reconciling fiduciary responsibility with the need for social & environmental screening
Make Markets to send the right signals to punish or reward responsible companies
Strenghtening the governance model of SRI rating firms as their clients are the ones’ they rate or
rethinking the actors
Fill the gap for improved accounting in terms of pricing extra-financial risk, comparison against
screened benchmarks and linking the materiality of ESG issues to company valuation.

Again, SRI impact is substantial but not transformational.

Social Investing / The not-for-profit or low-profit corporation
It is ironic to see what is happening.

On one side, a certain number of NGOs (or civil society) are ‘fed up’ with consuming, restrictive and
highly volatile philanthropy so they have called for flexible mainstream capital. Those NGOs are
‘evolving’ into social enterprises that offer a social return on investment as well as a financial return.
A range of investment vehicles from the purely social to the purely commercial including not only
grants, forgivable loans but also patient loans, equity, equity-like, social venture funds…is now coined
as social or impact investing.
The trade off: Mainstream capital can accelerate the scaling-up of profitable social services and bring in
sound business practices VS. the risk of “mission drift”, “value drift”, tightened room for independence,
social enterprises can make soft targets for a takeover by conventional investors once they grow to a
certain scale and profitability (e.g. Body Shop, Ben & Jerry’s).
The example of Micro-credit labeled as a pioneering case of social enterprise can speak to us.
From a mere 0 to 5% interest rate in the early beginning, MFIs today charge between 8-15% at full
market return as expectations from new investors brought in high interest rates for the ‘poor’ clients.

On the other side, ‘conscious’ business entrepreneurs are setting up not-for-profit or low profit
corporations, which surplus is re-invested solely in the business. Obviously; access to capital and the
ability to re-invest are seriously limited so does the prospect to sustain the business.

Nonetheless, a great deal of hybrid legal structure and hybrid financing is emerging and the horizon
unveils a big question mark.
Inclusive Business Models
Inclusive Business Models are business models that include the poor in ways that are
profitable and promote human development.
Dismissing the use of non-core activities such as corporate giving or stakeholder
engagement; inclusive business models regard the poor as economic participants and
look to engage them as producers, consumers or suppliers.
Examples include Amanco (Mexico) integrated irrigation solutions for small-scale farmers
or Tiviski Dairy (Mauritania) camel dairy sourcing from nomadic herders.

The key here is Innovation applied to the business model and challenges are more of a
technical nature. There is wide agreement that several inclusive business models have
benefited the poor. However, the potential for misuse has been exerted with cases of
micro packaged/highly priced personal care items or simply selling low-quality products.

Inclusive Business Models cannot apply to the whole spectrum of the industry & services
sector given the fact basic not sophisticated services constitute the immediate need for
poor and profit margins/brand promise/…. would dismiss poor as ‘viable’ clients.
Rare examples of inclusive + clean business models exist - as businesses which focus on
‘green’ products and services include a premium in the mainstream business model with
few room to engage the poor. The notable exception would be the cleantech sector.
NO ONE IS FLOURISHING RIGHT NOW

SUSTAINABILITY

ECONOMY IS MUCH TO BLAME

ACT ON WHAT’S MISSING

 ‘Prosperity for the few founded on ecological destruction and
persistent social injustice is no foundation for a civilised society.
Are ever-increasing incomes for the already-rich really
a legitimate focus for our continued hopes and expectations?’
Excerpt from Prosperity without growth? SDC 2009, p.7.
Many dynamics in the Ecosystem of Unsustainability remain to be
properly addressed: they are either not addressed through the
glasses of Sustainability with the wider interdependence view not
factored in OR are seen as delivering their narrower focus so are
left unquestioned OR are not materiality issues.

We have circled those dynamics and it’s up to you how you

engage your fertile imagination, your heart and hands to bring to
life geniune initiatives for a world with meaningful flourishing.
 Environmental
Predator-Prey
Unsustainability
The Ecosystem of Unsustainability Chain

Degradation of Regenerative &/or

the Environment assimilative capacities
of the ecosystem
Failure of holistic Depletion of
Over population Natural Resources
accounting from GDP
and macro-economics Other
Accelerated Loss of Natural/Human
Biodiversity Events
Degradation of
Economic Base Capital Climate
Consumption Change
of Novelty
Restless Desire of the Pursuit of
Empty self Unsustainable Economic
Positional Economic Success Unsustainability
Consumption

Barriers and Other Negative Effects of

Opportunities Growth as functional
in Education for Economic Stability
Production
of Novelty Profit Motive
Skills vs. Skills
Restless Innovation of remuneration curve
the Entrepreneur Wealth
Financial for the few,
Asset Allocation, Poverty for the many
Engineering Ownership,
Maximization & Total Social Service
Re-allocation missing in countries

Country Race Global + Economic

Social
for Supremacy Diplomacy
Unsustainability
Weak Governance,
Human Rights denial Social Unrest
and Belief System

Accelerated
Loss of Values Degradation of Human &
Social Capital
Inspire yourself from those new Pioneers and ACT!

Tim Jackson Prosperity without Growth Leading the thinking behind

prosperity without growth
models in developed
countries and the sale of
dematerialized services
Woody Tasch Slow the Money Bringing money back down
to earth

Janine Benyus The Biomimicry Institute Imitate Nature’s solutions to

serve human challenges

Shai Reshef University of the People The world’s first free Global
University
 Sustainability Amimi Ad infinitum
(Sustainability at heart to infinity).