that everything we do is helping to have a positive impact .
In fact , that is where I think the meaning of sustainability is headed – it is going to be about not having a negative impact at a minimum , moving towards having a positive impact . And what negative and positive impact means will be defined by those stakeholders who ultimately determine your value . This pace and context of change is what really excites and motivates me .
Q . WHAT ARE CURRENTLY THE BIGGEST CHALLENGES AND OPPORTUNITIES ?
» The opportunity is the transition which needs to happen in a way which achieves a valuable positive outcome all round as per my earlier comment about the “ new sustainability ”. The challenges and the opportunities are intrinsically woven together .
I think we need to be mindful of where organisations are right now and the need for them to be able to transition in a commercially and financially viable way . Simply brandishing the stick will not necessarily bring about the desired outcome – we could very well end up with stranded assets but for a different reason .
Most organisations are focused predominantly on what they need to do and what they need to do is broadly a combination of what they need to do to comply with regulation , what they need to do to enable the continued engagement of their stakeholders on the same or improved terms of business and what they need to do in order to protect their business or value . Most businesses are focused on the first thing they need to do .
There is a job to do in terms of helping businesses understand the likely future requirements of key stakeholders and begin planning for this now as well as understanding how their business will likely be more vulnerable to sustainability risk and missed value at some point in the future . The big challenge is identifying when this change in stakeholder engagement and future risk and value parameters will really begin to impact business in terms of the bottom line or share price .
But I think the accepted thinking on this is that when it happens it will happen quickly and many organisations are simply not prepared for this dynamic shift . It is difficult persuading those with financial accountability to take action
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