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Business in the Community
BUSINESS IN THE COMMUNITY IRELAND
Collective Action Will Drive Systemic Change
Individual excellence will not enable the systemic change we require; businesses must work together to realise sustainability goals, says Tomás Sercovich, CEO, Business in the Community Ireland
The pandemic shed a light on the major challenges we face in society, and it is evident that the journey towards sustainability will be increasingly more demanding, more relevant and more connected to the success of any business.
The challenge ahead for businesses goes beyond integrating sustainability across their operations. If we are going to realise a low carbon, net zero emissions economy and an inclusive society, businesses must understand that their success is dependent on major transformation happening in our economy and society. While we say that the pandemic will only be defeated when we are all vaccinated, the same analogy applies to sustainability: unless the vast majority of the business community engages in a journey towards sustainability, individual excellence will not enable the systemic change we require.
For business, collective action is not a natural approach. CEOs don’t see themselves as activists of change. Systemic change is about working together across industries and supply chains, on solving common issues. In line with the fundamental principle of the Sustainable Development Goals to ‘leave no one behind’, collective action needs to become the new defi nition of a sustainable business.
ARTICULATING ACTION In answer to the question of how to articulate collective action, we at Business in the Community Ireland developed the Low Carbon Pledge in 2018 and earlier this year we launched ELEVATE, the inclusive Workplace Pledge. These pledges have common elements that drive systemic change on our need to transit to a low carbon economy and on the imperative of
Tomás Sercovich, CEO, Business in the Community Ireland
creating inclusive workplaces that are refl ective of the diversity of our society.
The key principles of these pledges are: leadership—CEOs drive the agenda and are visible champions of the pledges); commitment—signatory companies share an ambition, whether it is a net-zero emissions economy or more inclusive workplaces, the pledges are public commitments; accountability— companies commit to measure, set targets and report collectively on their progress on diversity and emissions. By reporting collectively on progress, we enable a systemic view rather than an individual one; action—companies report on numbers as well as concrete actions on both pledges. Companies share best practice and through peer learning they fi nd solutions to the hardest to solve challenges; advocacy— signatories commit to working with industry peers, across their supply chains and collectively to infl uence civil society, government and other stakeholders to bring about change.
CALL TO ACTION We use the collective voice of business to raise the standards on what defi nes a sustainable business. While there can be concerns that pledges are greenwashing, collective initiatives that follow these principles can ensure that action is meaningful.
As we celebrate sustainable business, let’s ensure that we continue to build more collective actions by business to make sustainability the key driver of change in our economy and society.
