Moving from OUTPUT to OUTCOME

If the number of reports published is a measure to go by, then the topic of sustainability is high on the agenda. In recent weeks and months some impressive work has been published by various parties. I thought it would be nice to give you links to some of the most important documents out there:

• Of course our own Vision 2050 remains a seminal document, describing what a sustainable world in 2050 could look like. This report will soon be followed up by a piece of work that WBCSD has called Changing Pace.

• Resource Revolution by McKinsey describes the challenges we face in order to meet the world’s energy, materials, food and water needs.

• Green Economy by UNEP describes pathways to sustainable development and poverty eradication.

• The Energy Report by WWF and Ecofys outlines a plan on how to move to 100% renewable energy by 2050.

• Towards the Circular Economy by the Ellen Macarthur Foundation presents the economic and business rationale for moving to an economy in which today’s goods are tomorrow’s resources.

• Expect the Unexpected by KPMG describes our ever more complex business environment and global sustainability megaforces. It features a number of future scenarios.

These are all impressive publications in their own right and no doubt, represent just a small proportion of other great pieces of work that are in progress elsewhere. 

If you read all these documents it is amazing how much brain power we have already mobilized on the topic of what needs to happen for the world to move towards sustainability, and the role business and its leaders can and should play in this radical transformation.

From time to time, however, we ought to remind ourselves that publications alone are not enough. We do not need more diagnosis or analysis. But we do need to mobilize action, and focus on making these actions scalable. And we need to place the sense of urgency where it should be: on finding and implementing solutions. It would be nice to think that this will be the outcome of RIO+20.

We need to move from output to outcome....

Comments

[Neeltje Du Plessis]

Thank you for these helpful links. At the University of Pretoria's faculty for Economic and Business Science, we have been aware of the Vision 2050 document for some time now, and we try to incorporate that awareness in the courses that we teach. I believe that long term success lies with the next generation of business leaders. My students are all sceptic to start with when confronted by the Vision document, then you can see how they start accepting it as a vision which they can subscribe to.
Would it be possible to include a Role for Education in your workplan which can look at the role of educaters - from primary schools to tertiary institutions - to encourage the youth to accept this vision as their responsibility?
Neeltje du Plessis
Lecturer: Communication Management
University of Pretoria, South Africa