Better business begins with awareness
A reflection from the Sustainable Development Impact Summit 2020
Author: Alain Bejjani — CEO, Majid Al Futtaim — Holding
It’s one of the most telling anecdotes I’ve heard in the last decade. When asked where milk comes from, a little boy living in the UAE confidently replied: “Carrefour!”
While it is cute and the brand recognition is definitely great for us, it’s also problematic. This is not an uncommon story in this day and age, not only for a part of the world unused to seeing cows in pasture or dairies but also for generations far removed from understanding an economic system that grows more complex every day. Losing sight of that system’s increasing interdependence and interconnectedness is, in my opinion, a significant problem particularly as we strive for a more sustainable world.
If, for example, every child and adult were aware of the farm to fork process, we would all pay more attention to the health, wellbeing and sustainability of that process and everyone involved. I believe that would hold true for everything we produce and consume.
As I reflect on the recently concluded World Economic Forum’s Sustainable Development Impact Summit 2020, and the incredible volume of expertise and insights shared there, I’m confident that greater awareness could be a game changer.
Consider the circular economy. In simple words, this is essentially reducing and reusing primary resources and reducing waste — moving from our ‘take, make, waste’ linear model to a ‘reduce, re-use, recycle’ model specifically adapted for business and industry. According to SDI panellists, the world is currently only 8.6% circular. In other words, less than 9% of the 92 billion tonnes of minerals, fossil fuels, metals and biomass that we take from our planet every year are re-used, although we are capable of almost total circularity.
The benefits of such a regenerative system are myriad, and span both current and future needs. Not only does a circular economy generate innovation, growth and jobs, it also improves our future prospects. Half of carbon emissions, after all, come from the extraction and processing of natural resources.
Speeding the circular economy along requires macroeconomic integration and innovation but crucially microeconomic awareness and engagement at every level of business and from all consumers.
One of the most compelling comments made during the SDI20 on this issue came from panellist Aubrey Choi, Chief Marketing Officer and Chief Sustainability Officer of Morgan Stanley. Even within companies, she explained, this is not the remit of leaders and sustainability workers alone. “One of the most important things we can do is make sure that every single person has the ability to be part of (the) change,” she said. “Every single seat around the boardroom, every single job at the corporation, even someone in finance or marketing, has a piece of (the circular economy) innovation lifecycle. It’s not about any one of us but every one of us doing it together.”
Another critical insight came from the Making Net Zero Possible panel, from Jesper Brodin, CEO of the Ingka Group/IKEA. IKEA has committed to becoming planet positive by 2030, and Brodin admits that this will take hard work, a leap of faith, tremendous engineering and more. But, he added: “This shouldn’t be seen as a sacrifice; this is the new business model of the world. Sustainability is not against our business but the other way around.”
IKEA consumers and co-workers expect the company to act and take leadership in this area, Brodin added. And as more consumers see how they can play a role in sustainability through their choice as consumers and by voting with their wallets and commitments, business will be under increasing pressure to act and lead. And it is also good for business: Brodin said IKEA grew by more than 6% last year while reducing emissions by 4%.
I am proud that we at Majid Al Futtaim can already count ourselves among the most progressive and sustainability minded companies of the MENA region. We are working towards sustainability at every level of our operations, from working with farmers in our supply chains to integrating live installations of bees in our recently opened Food Central at City Centre Deira as a daily reminder of the importance of farms, farmers and the natural world.
We do this because that is what leaders do — they lead. When we walk the talk, we create change, showcase newer and better ways of doing things, and shape markets.
But there is more to do. No one organisation, family, individual, government or NGO can achieve this on their own. All these elements of awareness and action require a cascade of the sustainability mentality — it needs to live at every level of a company and community.
For many of us in the MENA region, this is a conversation that is only just beginning. I look forward to continuing it. And I particularly look forward to the day when the child who is asked where milk comes from can just as confidently share his knowledge of an entirely happy and healthy supply chain, from cow to farmer to factory to game-changing store. Hopefully, it’s not far away.
