Sustainability?

So as part of my "reboot" of my blog here, I would like to talk about some of the new concepts that I have learnt throughout the journey of my career so far. Today, I would like to talk about this concept of "sustainability" that has been getting more and more attention globally. I have been gradually been exposed to this concept for the past 5 years now and I have seen more and more organisations starting to look at it with a more serious tone.So what is this concept called sustainability? And how does it impact organisations?

Out of all the many definitions that you get all over, the definition I like to use is the definition from the Bruntland Report in 1987, which defines Sustainable Development as development that meets the "needs of the present, without compromising the needs of the future". Think of it as taking a long term, holistic view. There are finite resources in our planet today, energy, fuel, food, forest and all. So if we were to use it all up today, how can people in the future survive.

And this is relevant to corporates as well. If they are taking a long term view of their businesses, they would need to start looking at these sort of issues in a more serious manner. For example, energy and resource scarcity. How resilient if your business when it comes to the increasing prices of energy. The only way for energy prices is up, and if you don't take actions to buffer yourselves from the increasing energy prices, there will come a point in time where energy prices will reach levels which make it... unsustainable. And energy is only one of the key issues under this whole umbrella called sustainability.

Some people are calling it consultant spiel, which air brushes older concepts to make it look more sexy. Companies are saying that they have been looking at it anyway, even though it is not called "sustainability". Well enough, but whatever you call it, you would still need to start thinking of these sort of issues, so that you are well prepared to meeet the ever changing scenario in the future.

On a personal level, awareness of these issues have also made me think about the type of lifestyle choices I make. With oil prices on the rise, and government subsidies I was worried whether I would be able to afford paying for fuel prices in the future. With all the new energy efficient engines, and hybrid engines, I decided to downsize my car from a thirsty fuel guzzling 3 liter car to a smaller, fuel sipping 1.5 liter car. And my fuel expenses have gone drastically down, which leaves me with more spare cash to spend save. So it does make sense then, financially. But there's less excitement though! :)