How To Be A Sustainable Leader

Transcription

1 Copyright Source Text Picture Placeholder Greening the Agro-Food sector: what role for the private sector? OECD/BIAC workshop Richard Perkins, WWF-UK 24 April

2 Structure The Stewardship journey Business case for stewardship Actions by Companies Governments OECD 2

3 Contribution To Sustainability + The Journey To Stewardship Moving Beyond Resource Efficiency Collectively managing ecosystems to secure environmental resources Business engaging government for regulatory change; risk assessment; local stakeholder engagement; Climate-Smart; equitable allocation rights; decoupling; zero/net-positive approaches Legal Compliance Company policies Conservation Philanthropy Donations for nature Reducing Supply Chain Impacts Operating Footprint Reduction Energy, water, waste reduction targets Shifting Consumer Behaviour Choice editing; Scope 4 Thinking Commodity certification; Supplier codes of practices Company Behaviour

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5 A healthy UK diet to cut carbon by 25% by 2020

6 The water efficiency paradox The impact of Resource Conservation Technologies (RCTs) on Pakistan rice and sugarcane wheat cropping systems: The findings show that field scale savings do not necessarily translate into reductions in overall water use for two reasons. First, some of the water saved would have percolated into the groundwater table from where it would later be reused by farmers through pumping. Second, the increased crop water productivity for medium and large scale farms made possible by RCTs has made water use more profitable and hence increased water demand and groundwater depletion through expansion in cropped area. Source: Water Saving Technologies: Myths and Realities Revealed in Pakistan s Rice-Wheat Systems; Mobin-ud-Din Ahmad, Hugh Turral, Ilyas Masih, Mark Giordano and Zubair Masood. IWMI Research Report 108, April,

7 How increased field efficiency can lead to perverse outcomes FLOOD DRIP 16 April,

8 Example Water Stewardship Projects Lake Naivasha 2% - 3% of Kenyan GDP - 10% of FEE Also water supply, wastewater disposal, needs of small-scale agriculture, tourism and wildlife conservation, cattle ranching and grazing, fisheries and power generation. 8

9 Example of collective care Baltic Sea Cod Fishery Question - How do we ensure that if we put money in the bank it will not be taken by someone else? Multi-stakeholder Baltic Sea Regional Advisory Council Developed a multiannual fishing plan to reduce fishing mortality and recover stocks Results - illegal catches from 20k t in 2004 to 5k t in 2007, now near zero. - stock biomass ,000t in the mid 1990s to 368,000t for 2012 Source: 9

10 Business case for collectively securing ecosystem resources Security of supply when volatility is the new normal Predictable returns to capital over full investment lifetime Avoiding the risk of stranded assets due to premature exhaustion of critical resources Reputational consequences for brands of the results of resource failure impacting on stakeholders OECD companies priveleged to hold global brands with consequent responsibilities Cut the fixed cost of conserving ecosystems by acting collectively 10

11 Business case against and the consequent need for action Higher short term returns from maximising throughput over fixed costs Investment chasing high returns with no interest in longer term How do we ensure that if we put money in the bank it will not be taken by someone else? 11

12 Company actions needed Analyse where failure in environmental common property resource management could lead to Operational or Reputational risk Convene multi-stakeholder dialogues for effective governance of environmental common property resources Tackle vested interests that are not in the interests of either nature or business Collectively managing ecosystems through supply chain innovation longer term contracts capital investments supplier/producer engagement questioning the role of the trader in the process moving from transactional to transformative supply chains 12

13 Role of OECD Governments Support companies with supply chain and investment interests to press for the management of environmental common property resources in the best public interest Support the development of dialogues on managing common environmental property resources Shift OECD countries to measurably greener diets Identify where entrenched vested interests are resulting in outcomes which are not in the public interest. 13

14 What OECD can do Help make the case for collaborative action for the sound management of common environmental property resources Awaken finance ministries to the dependency of the economy on sound management of environmental common property resources Ensure transparent reporting of governments are working with business to protect environmental common property resources for all stakeholders Keep the debate away from oversimplified solutions like Water pricing will solve the problem Encourage comparable national reporting of waste reduction and consumption greening 14

15 Summary Well-managed common environmental property resources will secure supply security, investment returns and brand reputation. It is a precondition for successful green growth Companies, governments and civil society have shared risks and therefore a shared interest in good stewardship of environmental common property Consumption changes and waste reduction are also necessary parts of the solution in OECD countries eat more plants, waste less post-production OECD s role is to establish clear and transparent standards for the sound management of the common property resources that business investments and supply chains depend on. 15