The challenges of sustainability

Sustainable logistics and sustainable supply chains have always been on my radar and part of my focus. Considering that most companies are moving towards more sustainable business practices, their supply chains and the management of those aiming at a more sustainable cradle-to-grave business model, will be increasingly important and gain more focus going forward.

I came across a great study from Deutsche Post DHL, pin-pointing important aspects and thoughts on sustainability in general, but also more specifically the challenges and opportunities for the logistics sector going forward. I wanted to share some of the aspects where they think that the pursuit of sustainability is especially challenged as well as adding some thoughts that I have on the topic.

As we all know, being unsustainable is often seen as more convienient and cost efficient than being sustainable - but why is that? In the study from Deutsche Post, four points are mentioned - I will share them together with my comments but also two other points on why it is so hard to really make the idea of sustainability come through.

1) Measurability - sustainability is, by definition, the combination of economic, environmental and social aspects. However, none of these can easily be measured in the same unit (if at all). Economic parameters are easily measured in GDP, renevue growth or returns to investors but when we come to intangibles like the environment or the well-beeing of employees it is becoming much harder. There is a clear need for quantification here (many of these aspect are possible to measure in qualitative ways, but much harder to put down in numbers, and even harder to transefer into monetary terms). Carbon pricing is one thing, the Stern report which is putting a price on climate change is another - but a unified and standardized way of measuring environmental and social impact is certainly needed and called for.

2) Dissynchronicity - unsustainable behaviour is often rewarded instantly, and the disadvantages or damage connected to the behaviour is visible only years later. Climate change is the evident example here; fossil fuels gives us cheap (okey, relatively cheap these days) energy immediately whereas the negative effects are still disputed (at least in the US) and will only be visible in the more distant future.

3) Perception of reality and probability - this is highly connected to the previous point; the reality of using unsustainable solutions is seen as positive and profitable; the likelyhood of negative consequences is seen as low or non-existing. Nuclear power is a good example here - the reality is that nuclear power is a reliable, cheap (well, at least with governmental support) and low-carbon energy source. Everybody knows that there is a probability for accidents, radioactive leakage and production of nuclear weapons - but this is seen as so minor that the postive sides of the reality is over-shadowing the potential risks.

4) Assymetric distribution of benefits and change - unsustainable behaviour is normally positively impacting a small group of people, who at the same time are more or less untouched by the negative impact of their actions. However, the future change and impact of this behaviour will ultimately impact another group of people, usually much larger and with less power. If you look at climate change - this is true as most fossil fuels are used in the developed world whereas most impact will hit developing countires.

... and my own additons to this list (I know there are many other challenges but I think that we have captured the most important points in the four bullets above together with my two additions below) ...

5) Disconnection between intention and implementation - there has been a shift over the last decade where increasingly more companies have developed sustainability policies for different parts of their businesses. However, one main challenge still remains, which is the implementation of these policies. There is a big gap between action and intention, that can only be closed if policies and guidelines are structured in a way that makes sense in everyday work for the 'normal' employee.

6) The contradiction between economic growth and environmental sustainability - a cultural shift is still needed to overcome the notion that increased environmental sustainability would lead to decreased economic growth. If implemented correctly, there are no Limits to Growth; they only need to be engineered in a sustainable way. The truth is that most environmental sustainability initiatives now are powered by the same argument - that it will decrease costs.

I do realize that we still have a long way to go - and I also know that I explicitly have said that I do not want to discuss the problems but the solutions; however, I thought that a summary of the problem would enable us all to move forward towards a more solution oriented sustainability discussion. The six points outlined above are all structural issues requiring structural solutions. The unsustainable world order cannot be broken by single players - what we need is a combination of corporations, legislators and investors to put pressure on finding sustainable solutions as well as learning how to identifiy feasible ways forward together with best practice examples.

I will not put any judgement or pre-mature thoughts into the fact that we again have super summer weather in Zurich (after one month of rain and autumn weather), but I think that we all should just see this as small warning signs; which means that we should go out, enjoy the sun, meet some friends and discuss how we can make this world a better place - one step at a time.

Stop running for the bus - about finding sustainable solutions (instead of unsustainable problems)

The world is spinning, everything is constantly changing and life is a marathon where everybody is too busy with catching up. Catching up the bus that is about to leave, catching up with people that you are not even sure that you like, catching up with your blog writing that you haven't done for a (too) long time. Markets are crashing, countries are close to default and companies are doing their best to keep their head over the surface; trying to catch a bit of that last oxygen left in the air.

So why should anybody have time to care about sustainability? If you always are running for the bus - how will you ever manage to make a consious decision as a consumer? And if you are running a company gasping for breath - why should you even consider putting a side a budget for a flashy sustainability report with nice pictures of kids running on meadows? Basic needs will always come first; if you don't even have access to fresh water, your main concern will never be how many grams of carbs are in your salad.

I say - turn it around; this is the time to care about sustainability - all aspects of the concept. Never have we been closer to actually jeopardizing the possibilities of future generations then now. The financial system is more fragile than ever, the natural environment is put under pressure that we do not even know the consequences of and facebook has replaced most human interaction.

I am not saying that sustainability is something that you can just implement and start considering, not as a company and not as an individual. Sustainability will never be about nice reporting, cool commercials or big words. It will not be about who can describe and discuss the problems and it will not be about gradual improvement. In the end it will all be about solution providers, it will be about those who can run a country, a company, a household while looking for solutions and not for problems. Don't read me wrong - I think disclosure and discussions about material problems is one part of finding the solution; but it is for sure not the solution.

The sustainability discussion has been circulating around formulating the problem for way to long and that needs to be turned around. A little more action, a little less conversation - please. The world is like a cancer patient where the doctor has spent years on finding the cause and the exact nature of the tumor but still didn't give once single dose of radiation. We need to take a leap of faith, we need to dare - we need to accept that we will be wrong and that it is a part of the learning process. There is not one solution - it has been said many times before - but there is a big portfolio of possible solutions and we must try our way through all the possible combinations before we find the winning hand.

I want to write about the solutions, I want to write about technology that will be changing the future. I want the discussion to be optimistic and I want the summer to come back to Zurich. Remember, if you miss the bus - there will allways be a new one and while you are waiting, you can look up into the sky and feel the sun on your face.