Sustainability starts with ‘S’

We are impeding sustainability progress by ignoring the Social origins and ramifications of “Environmental” issues.

When I was about 10 years old in Kolkata, India, I used to see a lot of homeless people in rags walk the streets and live on the pavement, going from house to house begging for food, clothing, money, even water for a bath. We would get several such visitors and my grandmother would always give them whatever we could. At that early age, I naively believed that such is the world we live in, but I learned in a year or two that these homeless people were refugees who had been displaced in the Bangladesh liberation war in 1971 – a migration crisis where 40 million people were displaced from their homes. It took a long time for a new normal to settle in the Eastern part of India, which shouldered the brunt of the crisis. Fifty odd years later, I started wondering, could we see another such crisis soon – where my birthplace would be overwhelmed with Bangladeshi refugees again? Isn’t that bound to happen when the sea levels rise because of global warming and Bangladeshis have no option but to flee? This got me thinking – what makes a sustainability issue environmental and/or social and is our enthusiasm in making this distinction forcing a false dichotomy and impeding sustainability progress?

What’s going on?

The current narrative regarding sustainability is overly environmental. No doubt, climate change is the single most pressing issue of our time.

However, I was shocked at a recent conference. Many industry experts were familiar with the alphabet soup of acronyms for their industry and for sustainability. They could recite that “ESG” referred to Environmental, Social, and Governance criteria in investments. I heard many great examples of Environmental considerations companies were tracking, and the actions they were taking to improve. But I did not hear many examples of Social and Governance considerations, beyond high-level platitudes and popular aphorisms. Today, I want to turn my attention to the “S” in “Sustainability” and “ESG” and talk about why most, if not all, sustainability issues have a social aspect.

Social factors are considered in ESG analyses not least because they help companies, and their investors, evaluate the business’s impact – both on the society in which it operates and on the stakeholders which it connects to. Data is growing: Perception of positive social responsibility directly and positively influences customer’s affective and continuance commitment. This is what makes those companies attractive to investors. That being said, no issue in today’s world exists in isolation. Most of what we envision as categorical is really spectral in nature. We are impeding sustainability progress by ignoring the social origins and ramifications of “environmental” issues.

Back to climate change – the biggest challenge of our times. Temperatures are rising to untenable levels – something we commonly refer to as “global warming.” But what causes global warming? The IPCC reports state in no uncertain terms that human activity, in the form of consumption of goods and services, is a definite root cause. (Summary for Policymakers, Trend A.1)

But instead of addressing the root cause – which is social in nature, we continue to address the symptoms – which are environmental in nature, and far more abstract for most of us to understand. This is like reaching around your head to touch your nose – and is a clear explanation for why sustainability progress is so slow.

Of course, recently, more frequent and severe weather events (note: Not “natural disasters.” The causes are far from “inevitable.”), rising sea levels, and loss of biodiversity are clear environmental challenges that we face. But those challenges also trigger societal instabilities, governmental frictions, and economic volatility. Furthermore, climate change has effects on the individual scale and even impacts your personal health. Thus, we must consider the social dimension in our decision to allocate resources while conducting business through the sustainability lens.

How does this connect to the larger scope?

Our planet consists of cycles and ecosystems with complexity and individual factors far beyond our current scope of understanding. Seemingly, everything and everyone, from global ocean currents to individual microbes, impact the system.

Humans are not above or outside that system. We live and depend on the planet. Importantly: we also live and depend on each other. We have always been a social animal and our networks have only gotten more complex from nomadic tribes to agricultural communities to the modern mesh of global interconnection. Remember the definition of sustainability includes people. Each generation must preserve resources for future generations. Each specialist must coordinate together with others that they trust to keep the whole system going.  As with the ancient days of barter, today, survival isn’t possible without the support of fellow human beings. Look around for a second: quite likely, your clothes, food, shelter, etc., were all made by fellow human beings and that will continue in the foreseeable future.

This support can result in positive outcomes. Former US Vice President, and founder and chairman of Climate Reality, Al Gore, articulated the value of diversity plainly and passionately at the Skoll World Forum 2023.

Supporting the welfare of fellow human beings also wards off negative externalities: isolation; poverty; hunger; desperation; moral exclusion; violence. We are stronger together than as “others.” Ignoring this reality not only violates the principles of sustainability – but it is also morally wrong. We shouldn’t be afraid to say it. We cannot afford to ignore social issues or place them as “lesser” to environmental or economic issues.

In fact, recognizing the interconnection of issues is recognizing opportunity. I recommend setting aside 16 minutes to hear Hamdi Ulukaya, CEO of Chobani, and Gideon Maltz, the CEO of Tent Partnership for Refugees, discuss, in the context of migration, how humanity and profitability go hand in hand.

Today, we are connected. Our chains of supply and support span across national borders. The products and services we use every day can be traced in loops and whirls all around the globe. Political and economic turbulence in one country affects others. The effects of climate change will undoubtedly result in social friction, as hunger and poverty will increase, among other ills, in affected areas. Whether by avoiding those weather events, escaping geopolitical strife, or being pulled by social ties, millions will migrate – many times – in the coming decades.

Richard Mosse’s art installation “Incoming”, which traced the journeys of refugees and migrants from Syria, Iraq and Afghanistan, as well as Senegal and Somalia, evokes this ethos: changes are incoming fast and hard, and anyone can be displaced. There is a “reciprocal relationship between conflict and environmental change.”

To be sustainable, we need to respect the journeys that others have been on and are going through. We need to understand values outside of our own. We need to have a place available for people, wherever they wind up, for them to be safe, to be able to connect, and to be able to contribute. These aren’t savior policies towards others – this is personal insurance. We can’t predict who will be impacted by the coming changes, or how, so we need to raise the “floor” on how everyone is treated. I think of the saying, “The measure of a society is how it treats the weakest members.”

Returning to Bangladesh

We all depend on water to survive. 96.5% of the existing water on Earth is saline. In the remaining 3.5% that is fresh water, most is in the form of ice, at the poles and in glaciers, and another large percentage is underground; only 1% of total fresh water is available in ecosystems – this is the 0.035% of Earth’s total water available for human consumption. Geographically, where that available water exists, and has existed for centuries, is changing. The distribution of water is moving. Some places have too little water and are experiencing deadly droughts. Other places have too much water. Two-thirds of the world’s largest cities are coastal and face risks related to rising tides. Some places are already underwater, like Bangladesh.

Today, 75% of the country is below sea-level. Another humanitarian, and migration, crisis is developing just like the one I saw in my youth. It is currently the eighth most populous country in the world with 170 million inhabitants and rising sea levels are making traditional ways of life impossible. While Bangladeshis have coped so far with a combination of innovation, flexibility and resilience, climate change is causing more extreme seasonal fluctuations in sea levels. All Bangladeshis are having to adapt to survive and those in rural areas are struggling. By the end of the century, sea levels are expected to rise along the Bangladesh coastline by up to 1.5m – on average; storms and swells will push water higher.

Bangladeshis face a difficult choice: change their way of life or seek work and a home elsewhere. The saltwater intrusion is creating an opportunity for some who are switching to aquaculture, and fishing shrimp instead of farming rice, but it is also leading to conflict. It is difficult to use land in one way if your neighbor is doing the other. Building sea walls and structures to keep the seawater out is causing more problems and divisions than helping. Again in history, millions of people are having to migrate to either avoid disaster or chase opportunity.

Seeing this situation inspires the need to act – in my heart and in my head. The migration of people due to climate change is a global issue that affects us all. Those who are the most displaced are the most vulnerable. This highlights the need for global action to address the social elements of traditionally environmental issues and help vulnerable communities prepare and adapt to their effects.

Another Example

The discussions of “environmental”, “social”, and “governance” issues as distinct categories ignore reality. Impacts and overlaps between categories exist and must be considered in Sustainability. I’ve focused so far on migration as the key example; however, this idea can be seen in more domains.

Take food waste. The US wastes 40% of all food produced. A clear environmental problem on the one hand as millions of acres of land and gigajoules of energy are used up – for nothing. However, this waste occurs throughout the entire supply chain; social norms are a large root cause. Cosmetic standards make growers discard “ugly” food before it even reaches the shelves. Expansive food options and trendy menu items result in us eating, and wanting to eat, out of season and out of region. End-consumers don’t understand (entirely unregulated) food date labels and discard good food. Grocery stores can’t sell that same food because consumers won’t buy it. These are all social norms which are causing massive environmental damage as well as social deprivation as millions still go to bed hungry every night.

What can we do to be socially sustainable?

As Regulators:

Create policies to improve domestic social norms. With food waste as an example, regulate food date labels to not be misleading. With migration, create policies that make it easier for people to migrate safely and legally. This could include laws that provide asylum for people who are fleeing climate change and creating pathways to citizenship for undocumented migrants, who have lost their homes; who have lost everything. Provide financial aid to countries that are affected by climate change and migration: especially to countries that are struggling to cope with droughts, floods, and sea level rise. In 2016 the UN created the Green Climate Fund to particularly address the needs of vulnerable societies.

As Media:

Report on the issue of climate change and its effects, like migration, in a fair and accurate way. This means avoiding sensationalized headlines and stories that focus solely on the negative aspects, instead of things we can do. It also means providing context and background information on issues, so that people can understand the root causes of the visible symptoms. New York Times’ 2015 “The Displaced” did exactly this and painted the migration crises as a wholly human issue – not belonging to one single country.

As Companies:

First, define your company’s purpose. Not a tagline but a real purpose: a reason for existing articulating the value the company provides to humanity. This is a guide-star for executives, employees, and stakeholders to follow. Second, promote responsible consumption rather than trying to maximize sales. Third, provide economic opportunity and support in areas that are experiencing high rates of migration. Lastly, remember your “greatest asset” – your essential components – human beings. This means fair compensation, awareness of identities and needs, and, mostly importantly, empowering people through your business decisions.

I’m not the only one waving this banner! Read Jamie Dimon’s 2022 Letter to Shareholders where he urges companies to monitor the social dimension, to care for all stakeholders, and to consider the long run. The Business Commission to Tackle Inequality also lays out the case for action in their flagship report.

As Employees:

Speak up for your values. Some decision-makers can be set in their ways or drawn to problematic metrics. Find ways to communicate the value of social sustainability – if they won’t listen to the intrinsic value of supporting fellow humans, perhaps they’ll listen to the extrinsic values of cost-savings and opportunity generation. Many companies which initially resisted remote work efforts, now enjoy increased savings from reduced office footprints while the employees enjoy a better work life balance. Band together. Union membership is on the rise. Uniting many voices into one is not only protected by labor laws, but it can also enable the quick, powerful change we need to pivot in today’s world.

As People:

We can vote in elections and vote with our wallets. We can support candidates and companies who share our values and are making an effort to look at problems holistically. We can reduce consumption and educate ourselves about the realities of the world. Mostly importantly, in all areas of life, we must remember: small actions can lead to big differences!  

Thank you for reading!

Research assistance for this blog was provided by Alexander T. de Almeida.

Copyright © CB Bhattacharya, 2023. All rights reserved.

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