Sustainability as an All-American Value

8/6/2019 Sustainability as an All-American Value

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Sustainability as an All-American ValueLeveraging the values from the nations founding fathers ask they keys to rebuilding

economic vitality

by Björn Fischer and John Friedman

There is a powerful misperception by many

people that efforts to implement sustainability

represent massive shifts and upending of

business models. Often a successful and

powerful strategy is to encourage people to

back to the documents on which the company

was founded, including letters and even books

by their founders. Many times these provide

the underpinning to their efforts to ensure a

durable business model in the present and for

the future. Overcoming this challenge (thats

not who we are) is an excellent first step

because it provides the needed justification and

incentive to develop new models that build a

transition and bridge that connect their past

with their desired future.

The American model became a world model

and the United States became a world leader.

Over the last few decades, this identification

with its own core values seems to have been

outsourced along with the manufacturing of

goods produced overseas and imported back to

our economy, with a different flavor and lack of

identification. It seems that we have been too

obsessed with consumption, convenience and

comfort, while our consciousness, our

conclusions and our concepts somehow did not

catch up with the rest of the world.

Increasingly, this reduced our self-

consciousness and ideas on how we define and

create new paths in efforts to rebuild trust,

confidence and leadership and we still are

seeking the unity needed to collaborate across

political ideologies and among societal classes.

The challenge in front of us rests with our

combined ability to create a unified vision that

forms the basis (again) for leadership in the

political, economic, social and environmental

realms. This is after all sustainability at its core

it is about long-term maintenance of well being.

Or to rephrase the frequently quoted

Brundlandt definition, it is about finding a

pathway that within a world of limited natural

resources to develop sustainable development

mechanisms that meet the needs of the present

without compromising the ability of future

generations to meet their own needs. In fact,

there are two compelling reasons to act now.

Firstly, in order for us to better and more fully

meet the current needs of a wider spectrum of

society. And, second while only future will

provide us the proof, by then it may be too late

to change the course of action. This exercise

offers a model for American companies as a

whole. This country can look to its foundational

documents and its beginnings to discover why

sustainability, despite the perceptions, is very

much an American value.

Courage America was founded on courage. It

was courage that sent the pilgrims in the tiny

Mayflower across the vast ocean on a quest for

a better life in an unknown land. It was courage

that compelled 56 men to defiantly sign their

names to the Declaration of Independence,

declaring in the name, and by the authority of

the good people of these colonies, solemnly

publish and declare, that these united colonies

are, and of right ought to be free and

independent states. That courage doubtless

accompanied Lewis and Clark set off into

unknown and hostile territory. That is why it is

ironic when people talk about being so far



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behind that they question whether or not they

can catch up with German engineering,

Japanese production and the competitive edge

of the Chinese. Fear of the unknown - or even

the known - has never been the American way.

Creation care Despite the insistence on a

separation of church and state, America was

founded by men of faith who invoked a Creator

when declaring the independence of the

colonies, beginning with the assertion that

people are endowed by their Creator with

certain unalienable rights and concluding by

invoking a firm reliance on the protection of

Divine Providence Clearly, then, the principle

of having a direct and close connection, andresponsibility to the creation of a higher being is

not a hard association to make. They invoked

the highest power by appealing to the

Supreme Judge of the world for the rectitude of

our intentions when they declared these

united colonies are, and of right ought to be

free and independent states.

Certainly those who made their primary living

off the land like George Washington, ThomasJefferson and many others, understood and

respected the importance of caring for the

environment. George Washington took pains to

plant native trees some of which still live

today on his Mount Vernon estate. Despite

the seemingly endless munificence of the new

continent, he also experimented with the use of

living hedges, or dense thorny shrubs, to keep

animals from destroying plants as a way to

conserve timber.

Ingenuity Anticipating and meeting future

demands. The ingenuity of the founding fathers

is evident in the creation a bicameral legislature

the great compromise that reflected the

duality of states and individuals rights to

representative government, the creation of

three branches of government with their checks

and balances to ensure that the president

would never become a king.

Hard work and Determination and more

than a little assistance by the Native Americans brought the Pilgrims through their first,

horrific winter on the North American shore.

Determination, more than skill, brought soldiers

through the frozen nights in Valley Forge and

kept the Star Spangled Banner aloft over Fort

McHenry. Thomas Paine declared We have it in

our power to begin the world over again. And

change the world America set out to do, and

did. Determination and hard work drove the

western expansion over the towering RockyMountains to the golden shores of California.

Determination and hard work were the

running theme in the popular books of Horatio

Alger, whos fiction offered the formula of

pluck, luck and determination to millions of

young readers.

Diversity Both of Americas most fundamental

foundational documents the Declaration of

Independence and the Constitution reflect anunderstanding of the power of diversity and

including multiple perspectives. The Declaration

is headed In Congress meaning that the

document reflected the combined wisdom,

passion, ideas and perspectives of a group of

people. The Constitution begins with the

powerful phrase We the people of the United

States deriving its basis from the combined

will of the people within the country. Thomas

Jefferson, in his writings about the role of representative government stated All, too, will

bear in mind this sacred principle, that though

the will of the majority is in all cases to prevail,

that will to be rightful must be reasonable; that

the minority possess their equal rights, which

equal law must protect, and to violate would be



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oppression. The founders recognized, as

progressive companies have, that bringing to

bear a wealth of opinions and differing

perspectives is the key to competitive

advantage. Diversity is key, but participatory

action is more powerful than just being a multi-

ethnic melting pot more so, opinion minorities

need to gain better access to be heard which

has to be strengthened within the corporate

culture of America.

Moral authority An army of principles can

penetrate where an army of soldiers cannot,

said Thomas Paine. The lofty idealism that a

country could find justification based on the will

of a higher power is not new in our nationalmindset. In the very beginning the founders

cited divine inspiration for their desire to create

a separate nation. The Declaration of

Independence boldly asserts that there is no

need to justify their actions to man (even a

King) We hold these truths to be self-evident,

that all men are created equalthat they are

endowed by their creator with certain

unalienable rights Certainly the moral

authority was on full display when Washington

resigned his commission as commander and

chief, thereby relinquishing his command over

the armed forces that he had led in the

revolutionary war in an act which solidified the

moral principles behind the revolution and

leading the astonished King George III to

recognize Washington as the greatest

character of the age.

Shared fate - The concept of a shared fate wasvery much on the mind of the founding fathers

as they set about to declare independence from

the British Crown. Benjamin Franklin, as he

prepared to sign his name the document stating

that the colonies ought to be free declared "We

must, indeed, all hang together, or most

assuredly we shall all hang separately." The

document famously concludes with the

powerful statement that "And for the support

of this declaration, with a firm reliance on the

protection of Divine Providence, we mutually

pledge to each other our lives, our fortunes and

our sacred honor."

Long term vision After the United States

earned its independence, the founders again

convened to draft the Constitution of the

United States. This document remains the

seminal founding document for the nation.

When our president takes the oath of office, he

(or she) swears to preserve, protect and defend

it (rather than the nation). And this documentmakes it clear that the purpose of our nation is

not only for the benefit of our current citizens.

Indeed the preamble states that the purpose of

the document is to secure the blessings of

liberty to ourselves and our posterity, do ordain

and establish this Constitution for the United

States of America.

Pioneering spirit Wagons moving westward

toward California, the farmers and rancherswho eked a hardscrabble existence out of the

western wilderness are not far removed from

the settlers who landed at Plymouth or

Jamestown. That same grit was behind Thomas

Edison as he worked to perfect the

incandescent light bulb through countless

failures. America remains the only nation to

have sent citizens to another planetary object

where they planted the American flag, not to

stake territory but merely to mark theirpresence.

In short, we have a strong argument that the

very foundation of America is rooted in ideas

and principles that support the sustainability

mindset and efforts. Thus we have to come

back to fulfill the first principle of our



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constitution and our democracy - to serve our

people and to provide a vision and leadership

which serves as a catalyst for change.

Björn D. Fischer

Björn D. Fischer is a senior economist (M.Sc. International Management & Sustainable Economics) and

analyst with more than 17 years experience in the private and non-profit sector. Björn advises Fortune

500 companies and other leading organizations from the private, public and non-profit sector on climate

change strategies, including climate neutral services, emissions trading, market infrastructure, carbon

fund investments and its markets. Björn is widely recognized as an expert in carbon offset standard

initiatives, climate change policy, emission brokering & trading, project based investments and emission

credit transactions within U.S. and international carbon markets. His additional expertise includes

environmental liability management, energy management, greenhouse gas assessments within an

increasingly strict regulatory environment around issues such as safety and product stewardship.

Bjorn has been acting Vice President Carbon Asset Management for FirstCarbon Solutions since 2009.

Previously, Bjorn served as Managing Director for First Climate LLC. He successfully launched the

company in 2007 in Washington DC as a subsidiary of the globally expanding First Climate Group, a

leading carbon asset manager.

John Friedman

John Friedman has more than 20 years' experience in internal and external communications and a

decade in the area of corporate responsibility and sustainability. His background includes developing

and implementing effective and award-winning programs that maximize stakeholder engagement,

community relations, organizational development, change management, and strategic philanthropy.

Recognized by Fast Company's Brandfog blog as a thought leader in CSR, Johns insights on sustainabilitystrategy have appeared in the Huffington Post, Forbes.com, Vaultcareers and are a regular feature on

Sustainable Life Media. John authored "The New PR" outlining how companies must modify the way

they communicate to meet stakeholders' changing expectations and has provided several chapters

appearing in PR News' "Best Practices in Corporate Social Responsibility and Green PR." He is also a

cofounder and serves on the board of directors for the Sustainable Business Network of Washington (SB

NOW).

© 2011

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Sustainability as an All-American Value