The leak/release of the Rio+20 draft agenda has set of many discussions about outcomes for this anniversary summit (read the agenda all here). Of course there will be a lot of head bashing, technical work done by delegates. Fine. That is their job. But the real route to effectiveness is going to be around global narratives, rekindling the notion of the planet for normal people, perception and all that. I have a nightmare in my head that the ‘Our Common Future’ definition of sustainability of:
“…development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.”
will be heard ad infinitum in the media etcetc, gaining traction and becoming the go-to narrative setting piece.
This (pathbreaking at its time) definition which began life incomplete, morphed to become a welcome tool for mediocre boardrooms to trot out in their unending pursuit of incremental non-gains…leading on to weak action, wanton destruction in the pursuit of near-term profits, the endless talk about embedding sustainability into business and a fatal erosion of trust between business and society – instead of the start of a radical restructuring of our how we create wealth and get out of the mess we are in (exhibit a-z: destroyed societies across the world , sclerotic politics, fatter fat cats, insert your favourite example of declinism here__________). Read More…
This is summary of a report soon to be published by Brazilintel exploring at a few of the issues related to the consumption conundrum and Brazil’s new middle classes. Figuring out what we need to do to create a type of prosperity that will fit the emerging global demand scenario must be a priority for businesses and governments of the emerging world.
This report started life as a paper at last year’s EABIS Colloquium in St. Petersberg where a few ideas were tested and debated.
The report’s toolkit explores a number of techniques from service design to collaborative consumption and open innovation that leading companies are using to reconfigure how they operate to fit a rebalancing planet.
If you are interested in finding out more about the report do get in touch.
have a look at the slides on flickr and feel free to use
Collaborative consumption has a huge role to play in shifting attitudes to owning more ‘stuff’ and showing up those who talk about sustainable consumption and shifting more units in the same breath.
Corporate efforts so far have mainly dealt with work around reducing waste, reducing resource use in production, raising labour standards, promoting certification standards and adding socioeconomic benefits to products and services. All good but, at its heart sustainable consumption must mean buy/use less stuff. Read More…
There is no contest in a footrace between a well-oiled, just-in-time-schooled car maker, looking to shift as many units as possible in a new market, and a decision-by-committee megacity administration trying to put in place an urban infrastructure fit for the 21st century. Handily, the auto maker also gets to socialise the losses (more gridlocked roads, fuel dependency, air pollution, deterioration of public space etc) and move on. Read More…
The wonderful project/site/portal from this Sao Paulo group combines good storytelling with loads of info and a simple idea to inspire people to make (mega)city life more liveable. Read More…
Off to see Clay Shirky talk tonight about his new book Cognitive Surplus: Creativity and Generosity in a Connected Age. Lots of ideas about human potential in the 21st Century and living in a world that is moving to being less about consuming and more about doing.
I’ll be intrigued to find out how far down this road he thinks we are. Does the Foxxcon assembly line worker in Shenzen or the Mcjobber in the suburbs of Sao Paulo get to be part of this creative rebalancing? Or are they just allowed to be the last targets for growth hungry legacy companies of the 20th Century and an easily forgotten part of our own personal supply chains? Read More…
This is my 5 minute presentation at Ignite London on Brazil @ Ignite London. For those note familiar with the format of Ignite, you get 20 slides which change every 15 seconds. Apart from the odd misspeak it all went quite smoothly though I didn’t get to talk about Manaus. I tried to give a quick run down (without the economics) of why Brazil is centre stage in a rebalancing world. Read More…
This Comment explores Brazil’s growing importance in the international environmental arena. It examines what Brazil will be taking to COP-15, a close look at deforestation, REDD and corporate commitments to environmental sustainability and asking whether Brazil will seize this chance to take the lead in its role as a bridge between the developed and developing world. Read More…
