When I woke up in Johannesburg on November 5th it was to the news that Barack Obama had been elected president of the United States.
We were in South Africa for the WBCSD's Council meeting, and at the opening plenary session later in the day, the talk among delegates was about the historic win and the difficult task ahead of Obama as leader of the world's biggest economy as it struggles with recession.
Obama outlined the challenges ahead in his victory speech: " … two wars, a planet in peril, the worst financial crisis in a century."
Around us, the financial sector is being re-shaped after a dramatic collapse in some parts of it, trust in the market has been eroded, and governments have been making a comeback as regulators and overseers.
In the past few weeks I have often been asked whether companies can still afford to invest in sustainable development. My answer is simple: yes.
Now is not the time to waver. In my view, the need for responsible business engagement in the big issues of our time is urgent.
The potent social and emotional cocktail of high energy and fuel prices, the biofuels debate, agricultural subsidies, deforestation, water stress and environmental degradation have all been proving too difficult for governments to manage on their own. Around the globe, there is a growing realization that the future world will be resource- and carbon-constrained.
Sustainable development has not “fallen off a cliff”. The world's population will continue to grow, China and India will continue to increase their wealth and use of resources, and everything that comes from the Earth will continue to be under pressure. The need for sustainable development has never been more pressing.
We are in this together. The world needs solutions, and business, as the main tool for innovation and implementation, will help provide them. But first we will need to re-build the public's trust in the markets, and in the private sector's ability and willingness to contribute to a sustainable world.
The financial crisis allows us the opportunity to rethink the role of business and to push forward with the policies and developments necessary to move towards a low-carbon economy. It also highlights the need to work towards achieving widespread energy efficiency, which has the dual benefit of saving money and reducing greenhouse gas emissions.
So what must Barack Obama do first to fix the financial crisis afflicting American business and blighting the world? Quite simply, he must lead for the planet as well as his country. Putting the needs of the Earth, on whose resources we depend, at the forefront of political decision-making is an excellent place to start.
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