Economic turmoil a blessing in disguise for sustainability?
11 februari 2008
Because it will encourage investors to analyse risk and reward more thoroughly again before taking investment decisions.
In the past we have warned for a sustainability bubble and made a comparison with the internet. The internet only became a success after the bubble burst. That cost a lot of time and money. Sustainable development is too important to allow a repeat of this scenario. The turmoil in the economy can contribute to avoiding the “inconvenient truth” of a sustainability bubble.
Two principal causes were fuelling the threat of a sustainability bubble. Lots of big words were being bandied about, particularly in relation to climate change, and a booming economy means that big money is available in abundance. The combination of big words and big money is dangerous. The way we abuse nature and resources is rightly causing widespread concern. However, the ample funding that was being opened up by economic growth entailed the risk that proposed solutions were not assessed with sufficient discipline and rigour and consequently proved less efficient and effective than initially hoped. It sometimes seemed as if the perception of doing something was felt to be more important than the actual results.
Uncertainties in the economy and markets are a wake up call.
It helps investors not to get carried away by grandiose schemes, but concentrate on realistic achievable goals. The debate about climate change and the best solutions to this problem will continue to rage long into the future. But our best near-term hope is to focus on tangible challenges that can be translated into direct action. Wasting energy is expensive; every country, company and household has a direct interest in saving energy. The advantages are immediate and evident, both in your wallet and for nature. Reducing our dependence on energy from Russia and the Middle East is also a concrete objective that justifies investments in alternative energy sources.
Secondly, investments will again be guided by reason rather than emotion. Investments in sustainable solutions must yield a normal commercial return. Even in times of economic prosperity budgets are limited and investing in unprofitable projects means that better alternatives are left lying on the shelf. That benefits no one, neither ourselves nor future generations.
Thirdly, it will stimulate government and companies to continue to test long-term utopian scenarios in the wider public debate. Grand ideas and visions are necessary to force breakthroughs. But dissenting voices also need to be heard and weighed up. There was a risk that these were being stifled in the climate debate where everyone was expected to nod and agree. Blind acceptance leads by definition to suboptimal solutions: only a frank, no-holds-barred dialogue with critical stakeholders can prevent tunnel vision.
In sum: the economic turbulence will improve the quality of decision making. Maybe this is an important ingredient for boosting the economy again?
Deel dit artikel via :
Reacties op deze blog
Er zijn geen reacties op deze blog