On 19 April, Associate Professor at Massey University of New Zealand, Dr Gabriel Eweje, visited UIC to give a talk on business sustainability.
Dr Eweje began his presentation by talking about something we all know and hate – traffic jams. Besides being inconvenient, he highlighted that they actually cause much bigger problems, namely pollution. Being around vehicle emissions for long periods of time has also been proven to be detrimental to human health, as well as the health of the planet.
Next, Dr Eweje talked about the problem of deforestation, and how it is affecting us globally. These examples led him into a discussion on two schools of thought regarding climate change. People either believe that climate change is due to human outputs, or that it is simply a natural cycle, and the earth will renew itself in time. Science has now proven that although some elements of the latter are true, the human damage done in the last several hundred years has rapidly accelerated the process to unprecedented levels.
Natural disasters, at least their recent frequency and intensity, affect everyone, disproportionately so those of lower social standing with fewer resources. With this point, Dr Eweje linked climate change to social issues and business, saying that industrialization began this rapid use and abuse of resources. This then brings to the table a paradox for businesses. They were formed to earn a profit, yet businesses now need to try to be sustainable as well. Do these two things mix?
Dr Eweje sees the biggest problem in sustainable business being that we don’t plan ahead. As a result, businesses and individuals produce a lot of waste. However, a trend in sustainability these days is ‘circular economy’ which means doing more with less. An example would be a company recycling a product to re-use it for another product.
Businesses used to be threatened by the idea of having to implement sustainability into their business models, however, recently business climate has changed as the public have begun to side more with the climate scientists. There is a rising public interest in the environment, and so businesses are more inclined to incorporate sustainability into their business models. Corporate social responsibility is evolving with the recent interest in sustainability coming from consumers. If a product is marketed as more environmentally friendly, it often correlates with increased sales.
Other trends in sustainability Dr Eweje highlighted include aligning with the United Nation Sustainable Development Goals, ocean plastics, plastic bags, and drinking straws. Dr Eweje highlighted how important ‘creative innovation’ in the business environment is to solving these problems. He also discusses the importance of technology, and its global reach, indicating that it could be a major catalyst for reducing the gap between rich and poor. Sustainable development is becoming more and more relevant with not only corporations, but all stakeholders. Now is the time to act.
Reporter: Samantha Burns
Photographer: Ben Wen
Editors: Samuel Burgess, Deen He
(from MPRO)
