The Challenge : Monetizing the preservation of scarce natural resources

Our 'current reality' is built on a profit paradigm centered on the accumulation of wealth with a leadership model that leverages that wealth to not just control but dominate at all costs including people and especially the source of what supports life, our planet and its resources. 

Many of us look to the 1% to change, because they have accumulated the most in the paradigm that we all bought into. The fact is that it is the 100% of us that to be accountable and needs to change by creating a new model. Many will perceive this as sacrifice. It isn't. It is about accepting and acknowledging that we have all taken didn't belong to us in the first place. We are a resource intensive society. Most everything around us, everything we 'cannot live without' is manufactured, constructed or delivered using natural resources exploited to generate one thing and one thing only, profit. It is the accumulation of which, we use as a measure for ourselves, the wealth that sets us apart from each other. It is 'driven' and educated into the mindset of who we are, no matter where we live or what our circumstance.

We need to create the new economic paradigm in which we monetize the preservation of scarce natural resources. A model that considers much more than ourselves.

The Solution : Believe | Think | Act | Live

In order to change the way we think, we first need to change what we believe, so that we can act the way we'd really like to live. The way we'd like to survive into the future as a planet.

Many organizations say that they have whole departments that deal with Sustainability and Corporate Social Responsibility. Really? Is that what we think it takes, a department? If your organization has one of these 'departments', then I challenge you to challenge yourself and your organization to be accountable and take hold of your own future. Until we change what we believe and the way we think, having a department is in all reality 'green-washing'. It is only a matter of degree and we justify the extent of our organizations green-washing based on how much we and our organizations give back.

In recent conversations with senior corporate staff in highly resource intensive organizations I asked what the people in their departments, in all cases extensive head counts, believed sustainability to be. The answers included, 'I am not exactly sure', 'I don't know' and 'Does it matter?, They are doing their jobs, and helping people'. Each of these organizations is actively doing work in the communities they are active in and beyond in some cases. However, the fact is, each of them is taking far more from these communities than they will ever return or are thinking of returning.

In order for an organization to operate in a sustainable manner, as many lay claim to, we contend that they can't merely have a department that deals with sustainability and social responsibility. These concepts must be weaved into the fabric of what the organization stands for and is. It must be the lynch pin of every decision, for them to be truly sustainable and corporately socially responsible.

While we agree that in the current model most organizations have the mandate to return value to their shareholders, in other words generate profit, if we are thinking about the value being returned to the shareholders, what they are really doing is very short term in that they are returning value today at the real and potential risk of profit at the expense of their shareholders in the future. Current practices focused on the exploitation of natural resources are putting each of us, including those shareholders, at risk. At risk of not being able to survive, in our opinion. This is true, if we have the courage to look at the whole picture, the big picture of our future. In order to provide real value organizations need to look to long term benefit and value. [see Shareholder Value vs CSR] 

The model needs to change from simply profit maximization and wealth accumulation to one of creating environments of sustainability where the corporate and organizational mindset and culture is one of sustainability and social responsibility, where products and services are such that they can be deconstructed and re-used without re-processing to create limited and lessor versions of their previous selves through the addition of even more scarce natural resources. 

Your Comments: Can we do it? Can we achieve, what some might call an idealistic notion? We believe we have put ourselves as a species in a position that we don't have any choice but to change what we believe so that we can think and act in a manner that supports the preservation of life now and into future generations. Let us know what you think. For more information and to find out more about our work and how we can support your organization, please contact us using the information below.

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Manzimvula® is a values-based as a consulting practice and a Certified B Corporation, and specializes in sustainability and corporate responsibility. To stimulate ingenuity and create growth, we work alongside our clients, guiding them through our Purposeful Path to Sustainability Program™ utilizing our Integrative Strategy Approach™ to help them engage their organization at a deeper level to understand mindset and create alignment with core strategies and principles.

For more information please contact us at:

email: info@manzimvula.com