FT was kind enough to invite me to a conference yesterday on Sustainable Development (as the once-in-a-decade gathering for Rio+20 is coming up this summer). I would offer these reactions "as the stupid generalist."
- There were a lot of mentions of "Green Economy" -- it would seem that "Sustainable Development" is much more palatable to the mainstream as the Green movement has many negative connotations of extremists and confused scientific conclusions.
- Japan, EU, Brazil and others seem way ahead of other major economies on this. These and the other 130 countries that will attend Rio+20 really need to hand over the leadership AND responsibility to the U.S. and China -- to rapidly plan and implement (and trust that nationalist perspectives will not impinge on directions good and fair for all people). It is interesting that it has required German/French leadership to take-on the European crisis. Perhaps this year, the World will consider that environmental matters have reached crisis proportions -- and will accept a leadership structure that will accelerate solutions.
- The private sector discussion seemed to focus on a very academic discussion of how to internalize the externalities associated with various economic activities. I guess carbon credit is the one most discussed. On the other hand, nations argue along the old [have/have not] developed/developing lines. The private sector would seem to need to acknowledge that internalizing externalities is a highly REGRESSIVE endeavor: (a) older, industrial sectors that are less profitable would be asked to shoulder the environmental burden, while the GOOGs and AAPLs of the world will bear little cost; and (b) of course, the poorer nations also would bear a far more disproportional load.
- There seems to be perfunctory discussion of a super fund to provide for proactive and remediation efforts. Rather than a carbon credit or tax/fees that are only proportional to the carbon production of a company -- it should also be RELATIVE TO THE PROFITABILITY OF THE COMPANY. In value-added terms, a company that makes more profits should pay more, just as the polluters should pay more.
- And for leadership on the private sector side -- these "too big to fail" multi-national banks (perhaps with the energy companies) should perhaps take on the leadership and responsibility for the global environment. It certainly cannot be handled by myriad business lobbies and the millions of SMEs.
