Abandon sustainable development? My rant on the Economist debate.

Oohh… way to make my blood boil.

Check out the Economist debate on “This house believes that sustainable development is unsustainable”.

Whew, a lot of thoughts on the Proposer, Mr. David Victor’s  Opening Remarks.

Yes, the term “sustainable development” needs work.

It has been universally accepted because no one can say that looking after our grandkids’s kids is a bad thing – yet what does that mean in practice? That’s where the term becomes empty and becomes everything for everyone.

Is it possible to live sustainably? Not really (we are far from it) although Cuba seems to be the only one who’s got a fair shot at it. (Map the Human Development Index and Ecological Footprint index and you’re left with one little communist country.)

Technology (on its own) will not save us.

Mr. Victor is optimistic that we can be saved through our own ingenuity. When we look at the trends (that giant 90 degree angle), we are unprecedented in our population.  In other words, our checks and balances haven’t been checked for a while (where do we expect this curve to go?!?). Even if we “innovated” our way out of the energy crisis with renewables – our lifestyles still won’t last on this consumption wheel.  Mr. Victor’s salt example is of but one resource. We’re in a different ball game now.

That being said, technology + societal change will at least give us a better shot at coping (not necessarily to be sustainable just yet, but at least less unsustainable;).  We can’t look at innovation as being purely technological (invention-based) either. It means process/market/service and thinking-based innovation – we need to change our mindset. And it’s worth asking the question: is all innovation good? The short answer is no. What can produce value in the short term, doesn’t always transcribe for the long run (disposables anyone?) and not all economy-boosting innovations are even good for the present social/environmental needs.

Returning to those kids of our kids

Mr. Viktor’s second point is that we (in the sustainable development camp) have only focused on the harms that we will pass down to our kid’s kids and not the benefits. I have one quick response. We leave them nothing if we don’t leave them with energy, space and biodiversity.

And those damned policy makers…

His third point is on policy (I’m writing a paper on this exact topic so happen to feel rather intelligent in my grounding right now …). Extracting resources to further economic growth today with hopes that the consequences will be beneficial to future generations is careless and dangerous to say the least.

Smart regulation and policy making means that we need to figure out where we want to go – together with all of the decision makers. If governments really put meat (or hearty veggies;) on the meaning of sustainable development, it means policy makers from all sides need to agree on a future state and start transitioning the economy, directing innovations towards creating that sustainable future. This doesn’t mean that governments should choose which innovations – it just means that they need to create the environment where the market will move into this direction.

Human ingenuity on its own has done us tremendous favours – but let’s not forget that it has also led us to the tragedy of the commons…

Renewables shwpenewables.

And sorry, Mr. Victor – your attacks on renewable energies don’t reverberate with your “let’s innovate out of this conundrum!” Mining to the last drop without aiming for new sources is ridonculous.  And the comment on windpower being an eyesore leads me to discount much of what you have to say – MIT/Harvard grad or not. Lets look at alternatives through full life cycles & costs please. Being “frugal” with a limited resource still leads you to a dead end in the end.

Economy + Environment … and oh yeah, Society.

True, sustainable development tends to leave out the social side (he’s right to ask where’s the human rights, dignity or fairness in this talk?) Sticking the ‘human side’ back into economics and realizing that it isn’t just about money models will help with this. But, I have to say one thing that it often left out of the international development debate – ending poverty can’t be the end goal either.  Sustainable international development … now there’s a whole other paradox.

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Mr. Victor ends “the last two decades have yielded an empty debate. Intellectually and politically, sustainable development is not sustainable and has become dangerous. It should be abandoned.

Abandoning the concept of sustainable development is abandoning this planet as we know it.

I say, the last two decades have yielded an empty debate. Intellectually and politically, sustainable development has not been sustainable and has become dangerous in its inertia. It should be attacked head-on.

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Until then… cover up when you sneeze come this Fall. Our “check” on the population might just be around the corner…

Perhaps not the most optimistic ending for a post but it may just wake us out of our immunity fantasy.

Needed: the next “pulp and paper” industry

Instead of going straight to the comments, thought i’d post my response to Jay’s comment regarding my last post in a fresh new post.

Yes, pulp and paper – as in “pulp+paper” is a dying industry because the market is no longer growing partly due to our tech habits which not necessarily a bad thing…

Those who own the logging rights will still be there… the trees aren’t going anywhere (or let’s hope not – and let’s use this renewable wisely) – but the end product has to change. The capital investment is already there – a sunk cost for most.

Half of the log is energy – the other half is proving to work well with the nano industry making nanocrystalline cellulose which could be our “new plastic” and a biodegradable new building block material. All I mean, is that there are options with the end product.  It’s in the vested interest of all of the players along the chain to keep these mills open – not just as “pulp+paper” mills.

This can be done with much of the same capital investments – their recovery boilers have been making bio energy for over 50 years… the technology is around 70% efficient (natural gas at 80%) – the technology is there.

And if some investments are written off in this case, just remember that the worse case is that they are ALL written off.  Also, by changing their end product focus they would also keep much of the same producer/supplier network  – giving some hope to these dying communities.  Making this shift will take time, energy.. and money of course. Black liquor is a tricky substance, NCC isn’t ready yet etc. But remember…

Canada will always have trees and those green things will come in handy again once, ah, our tar sands wear out. But once these mills shut down, they’re gone – along with the network and skill that supports it.

We’ll be hitting ourselves if we lose this sector.

Here’s hoping.

Some views on the pulp and paper boondoggle

Wrote this as I waited to get on to the ferry at Turku and didn’t have a chance to go online til now… Was going to be “Why the silence on the p&p boondoggle” , but the “silence” broke the first page of G&M yesterday.

Oh, well, better late than never…

Do Canadians understand the extent of the problem in the forest industry?  Enough about the car bailout, the pulp and paper industry has a right to complain and stick out their hand for government funding.

I usually take the anti bailout stance – what fails, fails. Done. Let the market determine. GM et al. didn’t do their job keeping up with the time etc.

But what’s happening in the pulp and paper industry is unnerving and it’s pathetic at how little lip service they’re getting. I was happy to see that it was in the Globe on Friday. But it still didn’t get down to the point.

WHY THE PULP AND PAPER INDUSTRY?

As someone who cares about the environment, people (i.e. new readers) may wonder why I support this industry seeing as though they have often wrecked havoc on our forests, polluted our air, etc. But, I see a different view on the pulp and paper industry. I, for one, don’t see it as a sunset industry. If they changed their vision to being a biomass industry they might just get themselves out of tunnel vision. They’re not about pulp products and paper products… they could be about energy. They could be about new biodegradable plastic, they could be…. (Read my views on it here.) – and this here requires us to invest heavily in R&D.

Black liquor is not a known word in the popular lexicon. But this green fuel (about half the log in the paper process) is one of the original biofuels made from waste product.  I believe it’s the fifth biggest fuel in the world. (sorry no links on this – sitting beside an expert on it though right now;)

WHAT’S HAPPENING?

The U.S. is subsidizing companies to promote greener fuels for transportation (i.e. blending biofuels with fossil fuels). Sounds good enough. But this also worked the other way around. Pulp and paper companies were then allowed to add fossil fuels to their original green fuels (black liquor) to get hold of the subsidy. Talk about a boondoggle….(that’s a good Bloomberg article)

What does this do to Canadian pulp and paper companies? Essentially destroys them. The p&p companies in the US are getting subsidized to the point of $250 000/day (for a 1000 ton mill a day). Let’s put this into perspective. International Paper got $330 million after taxes in Q1 of 2009… that would have been enough to keep the mills afloat in this downturn. Looking from an international paper company perspective, which company would be shut down – one in Canada or one in US?  The Canadian one of course,  the one with no subsidy. Who was looking out for these mills in Canada that just shut down? The managers operating mills in Canada are kind of muzzled since their sister mills are reaping in the benefits over the border (meaning Corporate of course won’t make a stink).

This subsidy has devastated one of the largest export industries in Canada. Mills are shutting down right left and centre, leaving billions of dollars in investments idle, useful infrastructure in limbo, and productive/knowledgeable workers (not only mill workers, but the entire network and community that surrounds it – what about the contract workers without pensions?) – in the dust. Once shut down, it’s hard to get these mills and these people back up again.

It’s frustrating.  Canada is resource rich on a renewable fuel (i.e. we have plenty of trees) As Harper pours billions of dollars into the oil and gas industry (clearly a limited time only investment), we’re letting a possible answer to our energy crisis slip between our fingers because we think it’s a sunset industry.

Enough silence. Time to get mad.

The Chinese Hummer

I was just about to post something yesterday when I saw that GM was letting go of its Hummer. It would be good riddance. I hate those things – they were meant for the army, not for city roads.

But now, I see it’s moving over to China as the Hummer is the ultimate status symbol for the middle class.

How scary is this?

I know that China is about to take centre stage in the global economy and although that’s worrisome for us, I’m worried for their own sake.  If this is the direction they’re taking their wealth, I don’t think they’ll be in the limelight for too long before their own collapse.  They’re in a little different position that us..  over 1 billion people living our lifestyles and idolizing the Hummer? Just wait. It won’t be long.

The “hugging” police in high school?

Morning in nytimes “For teenagers, Hello means “how about a hug?“

I think it’s rather nice. So what if kids just stay in the hallway and hug? It seems some people have issues with it:

“And schools from Hillsdale, N.J., to Bend, Ore., wary in a litigious era about sexual harassment or improper touching — or citing hallway clogging and late arrivals to class — have banned hugging or imposed a three-second rule.”

Wow.  I think US schools have more to worry about than students jovially hugging one another. Hugging’s a natural “feel good”.

When school shooting and bullying are increasingly in the news, just let the young American culture embrace the hug:)

Fred R. Conrad/The New York Times

Student leadership in high school: a trip down NWOSSSA lane

Oh high school…

The sound of the lockers, the smell of the caf, the drama in the girls washrooms, the geeks, the jocks, the cool group, the football and cheerleaders… it was all there. I love telling my European friends that “yep, it’s not exactly what you see on TV but pretty much.” They’re just dumbfounded and love pouring through my yearbook – complete with “Jane, I’m writing in your crack!” on the back page full of signatures and precious stories.

I didn’t realize it then, but I can see now how the independence and leadership training played such an important factor in my life. (I taught English at a high school in France and saw a completely different picture).

If I was to be classified, I was the girl who ran around the school, did the morning announcements, part of students’ council and part of NWOSSSA - the North Western Ontario Secondary School Students Association.

I went to my first NWOSSSA leadership conference in Grade 9 and worked my way up until I was head of events for the 2003 conference (dream dare do!). This is no small conference – it’s a three day long event with over 300 students and a budget of almost 50k. Not bad experience for an 18 year old.

What I loved most about it was the feeling that you got when you left these conferences. It’s a high you just can’t describe. Not only do the walls between jocks, geeks, drama kids fall (an incredible experience to see on its own), but it was incredibly fun, emotional and above all, inspirational. You felt like you could move on from high school and do anything you wanted. You were just about to embark on your journey of life and the world was at your fingertips. The games you played weren’t simply games – they taught you about the fundamentals of leadership and before you knew it, you were debriefing how you acted in a game, realizing your strengths and weaknesses and what to do to be a better leader.

It’s something you’ll never forget.

Though, there are times when I do forget.

I forget what it means to lead from behind, to let others do work (even if you think you know what’s best), to remember that it’s the journey, not the destination. In high school it seemed like a breeze, now I’m beginning to see where I slip.

As I likely begin my PhD journey I feel as though I need to revisit those NWOSSSA leadership manuals and take a good look at what seemed so second nature in high school.

My parents come to Finland next week and my dusty old leadership manuals are coming as per my special request. They’ll be good for me as I venture on to my newest project, starting and leading the Central Finland Net Impact chapter – an organization to change the world through business. Never lost the drive for leadership though, and sustainability in business seems to be my theme in life – and where leadership is needed most!

It’s been nice pouring over the good old NWOSSSA days. I can say I spent thousands of hours with that organization, not paid but one of the most purposeful jobs of my life, and the memories last a lifetime.

The 2009 leadership conference is next week and I’m even getting excited for the new delegates to see what it’s all about.

Good luck and enjoy the hug-tolls

For some oldies check out the pics and more.

new trailer from the buried life

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Needed: business school reform

As a business graduate, I’m a strong advocate for business school reform.

I left Carleton University feeling as though I didn’t have a balanced enough education for social/environmental issues (and the International Business had much more than the regular B.Comm!!!) This was one of the main reasons for coming to Finland. (And one of the main reasons I have been upset with Carleton’s management).

Business schools have an important role in society. Most of the people who run (ran) Wall Street are MBA graduates or at least come from this discipline. New York Times had a great article “Is it Time to Retrain B-schools?“

“It is so obvious that something big has failed,” said Ángel Cabrera, dean of the Thunderbird School of Global Management in Glendale, Ariz. “We can look the other way, but come on. The C.E.O.’s of those companies, those are people we used to brag about. We cannot say, ‘Well, it wasn’t our fault’ when there is such a systemic, widespread failure of leadership.”

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There are also calls to make management a profession like law or medicine, with a code of conduct, a certification examination and continuing education.(see my post on where’s the iron ring for business graduates?)

Of course there’s a link with what’s being taught in the classroom and what’s going on (and what went on) in the markets.

This is why I get pretty passionate about changing things around here.

WHAT I WANT TO SEE: interdisciplinary business education

A. bring non-business students into the mix to get different perspectives on business issues. (Business students usually become managers and likely, their team will be pretty diverse with engineers, technicians, arts people etc. By getting people to work together in the classroom, they’ll have a hand at dealing with diverse perspectives -  which usually lead to better results – and limits the ‘profit, profit, profit’ mentality.)

B. teach business students to fully understand environmental & social problems. Without this understanding, we can’t expect them to incorporate them into their business strategies or create new problems to solve these issues.  Global and local problems need to be solved and school is a place to learn them.

WHAT I’M CURRENTLY DOING : Setting up a Net Impact Chapter & working with Global Venture Lab

This year, I’ve worked with people at JYU to set up a Central Finland Net Impact Chapter.

Net Impact is a “is a global network of leaders who are changing the world through business.” They have 254 chapters in 25 countries… that’s over 10 000 MBA students and professionals working toward this goal.

We’re still just getting started but there’s a lot of want and will to make this happen.  Things that we want to focus on right now:

1. getting an Environmental Manager on campus (ridiculous that we don’t have one – there are savings to be achieved!)

2. networking with businesses, other schools, faculty in the region to promote sustainable business

3. events & perhaps a little more…

We’ll see how it goes (starting up a club is always hard when people are really busy – and it’s good learning experience for me too in remembering those high school leadership conferences – leadership in practice is  pretty tricky and I’m learning what I need to work on for my own skills!) but hopefully we’ll get this thing lifted and see some real results.

Working for GVL – we work with students outside of the business schools (arts & science based) and teach them basic business skills and get them involved with companies to learn the complex tricks of the trade.

Ok, but now.. back to Net Impact & Global Venture Lab work:)

Serious news. MTV is changing its tune & The Buried Life is surfacing

Wow. Just wow.

I wrote my plea for MTV last year.

You have incredible powers to make change happen. To tell people to give a damn.  To make people feel. To instill better values as a society.

Please, use your power and creativity to smarten up our generation… not dumb us down.

And now…

From the NYT FRONT PAGE,

“Meet MTV for the era of Obama. After years of celebrating wealth, celebrity and the vapid excesses of youth, MTV is trying to gloss its escapist entertainment with a veneer of positive social messages.“

And who’s going to be the flagship show?

The Buried Life.

These four guys “travel the globe in a purple transit bus to complete a list of ‘100 things to do before you die’ and to help and encourage others to go after their own lists.” I’ve watched some of their episodes online as my close friend here is good friends with the guys from his days at McGill.  Extremely cool and moving.

I’ve said this before, but many people (especially in MTV’s target age category) are stuck in a rut.

“What to do with my life?” “Where do I fit?” “Is this it?”

I just had 2 friends tell me they were living the quarterlife crisis.  Not for all cases, but MTV’s escapism efforts into the land of riches, bitches and idolizing the materialistic and shallow lifestyles has surely only exasperated the movement of “feeling nothing”.

I don’t expect MTV to completely shift overnight and they won’t, but I welcome this moral & strategic shift like a breath of fresh spring air:)

For all those (no matter what age) wonder “is this it?”  Stay tuned for the Buried Life airing (tentatively) on MTV on July 20th worldwide. And, while waiting, take a look at their website and why not start your own list… Makes me realize, why I haven’t made one yet? Note to self, start one today:)

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Pictures from North Korea

This one on Foreign Policy caught my eye this morning.

Renowned documentary photographer Tomas van Houtryve entered North Korea by posing as a businessman looking to open a chocolate factory. Despite 24-hour surveillance by North Korean minders, he took arresting photographs of Pyongyang and its people-images rarely captured and even more rarely distributed in the West. They show stark glimmers of everyday life in the world’s last gulag.

The pictures and stories beneath eerily revoke my imaginations of what 1984 would be like…