Society, Manufacturers and Governments

Sustainable Development

System Level Changes

• Sustainable development requires system – level changes in industry and society

• Achieving sustainable development will depend largely on long-term changes in behaviours of individuals, communities, firms and the public sector

• Government can play a pivotal role in changing attitudes

New Comprehensive Approach

Social Enterprise through Business

• Sustainable development requires close cooperation between manufacturers and governments

• Understanding the competitive environment and ensuring that your business is financially sound are important parts of this

• But business owners and managers are increasingly coming to realise that they also need to take into account the social and environmental impacts of their business

• Taking a sustainable approach to your business development means that the resources you use and the effect you have on the environment and society today do not damage their prospects for future generations

Governments vs. Manufacturers

• Government must lead by action• Reducing our own impact on the

environment• Sustainable procurement, the public sector

buys £150 billion worth of goods and services a year

• Influence and regulation through our energy and trade policy role and contacts with business and consumers

• Partnerships by multi-stakeholders and governments through voluntary initiatives contributing to implementation of Agenda 21, Rio+5 and Johannesburg Plan of Implementation

Governments around the World

• UK

• EU

• Australia

• USA

• Hong Kong - Watch the video linkLook at the above links and consider how each of the governments publish information about Sustainable Development, and how relationships between manufacturers and government can be difficult to achieve because the two parties may have different perspectives on sustainability and timescales.

2015 where will we be? • Planet under pressure

• Follow the link to the BBC and examine each of the area

• Millennium Development Goals• Goal 7: Ensure environmental sustainability• Goal 8: Develop a global partnership for

development • Follow the link to examine the goals and

targets

• Disposable Planet• Consider the news points raised by the BBC in

this article, follow the link

Legislation for Sustainability

• Mainstreaming policies and legislation for sustainable development is the focus currently of most Governments

• Through formalizing and codifying policies and strategies can laws be established

• The enforcement of that legislation will be critical for putting sustainable development strategies into action

Follow this link to China’s Agenda 21 White Paper

Legislation for Sustainability• Difficulties that governments face in introducing

legislation to cover all aspects of sustainability• Three strands of sustainable development –

environment, economy and social• Voluntary compliance versus compulsory

compliance• Leading businesses understand their

responsibilities, but governments have shirked many of theirs, often citing the benefits of voluntary business action over the ‘negative impact’ of government intervention

• Company action has been carried out in the name of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR).• Unfortunately, this term is open to varying

interpretations, which do not generally relate closely enough to sustainable development

Follow this link to Government’s Business Enabling corporate sustainability by Roger Cowe & Jonathon Porritt

Links and Bibliography• http://www.sustainable-development.gov.uk/• http://www.sustainable-development.gov.uk/what/newsletter/current.htm• http://www.sustainable-development.gov.uk/what/priority/pdf/change-

behaviour-model.pdf• http://www.businesslink.gov.uk• http://www.businesslink.gov.uk/bdotg/action/layer?topicId

=1079870761&r.li=1079884185&atom_id=PR000721&r.pp=12&r.pt=startingabusiness&r.s=p

• http://www.businesslink.gov.uk/bdotg/action/layer?topicId=1079870761&r.li=1079884185&atom_id=PR000721&r.pp=12&r.pt=startingabusiness&r.s=p

• http://www.dti.gov.uk/innovation/sustainability/index.html• http://www.environment.gov.au/esd/index.html• http://www.state.gov/g/oes/sus/• http://www.susdev.gov.hk/html/en/sd/index.htm • http://hksdf.org.hk/index.htm• http://ec.europa.eu/enterprise/environment/index_en.htm• http://www.un.org/esa/sustdev/partnerships/partnerships.htm• http://webapps01.un.org/dsd/partnerships/public/partnerships/178.html• http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/in_depth/sci_tech/2004/planet/default.stm• http://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/specials/1112_mdg/• http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/static/in_depth/world/2002/disposable_planet/• http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/business/research/briefings-06/SB06-

75.pdf• http://www.forumforthefuture.org.uk/files/GovernmentsBusiness.pdf• http://www.acca21.org.cn/chnwp3.html