give speech on sustainability
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Answer:
The Sustainable Development Goals clearly have an important role to play in setting the framework for action. They set out an alternative vision for the future – a vision around which action can be mobilized. The measurement of the Goals, therefore, will provide the foundation for achieving them and of course the challenge is to produce a framework that works on all levels, whether global, national or local, and for all members of society – governments, businesses, investors, civil society and each and every individual. Goals set at the global level are unlikely to be achieved if they are not reflected in national performance measures and, in turn, at the city, business, investor and community levels. In other words, despite all of the cogs in the machine turning in the right direction, if the gearing between the cogs is not sufficiently coordinated, then the machine will not run smoothly. It may not even run at all.
At the moment, it seems that in many areas we are still “driving blind”. There remain huge gaps in our understanding of the current state of affairs. For instance, in the corporate world, investors wanting to integrate environmental, social and governance issues into their investment decisions are missing most of the information required. As a recent study of listed companies found, only three per cent of the world’s large companies, and a tiny 0.04 per cent of the world’s small companies, disclose to their stakeholders even a basic set of seven social and environmental indicators.
Closing these data gaps and providing the vital information to enable an effective response obviously requires investment.
So Ladies and Gentlemen, this is where the Measure What Matters initiative plays such an important role. By bringing together all the various participants who are addressing different aspects of this important question, we can begin to build an integrated, common framework of reference to enable improvements to be tracked and insight provided to decision-makers. I need hardly say how encouraged I am to hear that real progress is being made by many of you, and that today’s discussions might just help to accelerate the pace of change.
Take, for example, the case of fisheries, a recent study has shown that global fisheries are an underperforming asset – poor fisheries management, based on limited data sets, has led to this situation. But, if managed at sustainable harvest levels, based on robust data and science, global wild fish production could be increased by twenty million tonnes and industry profits could be boosted to the tune of an extra sixty-eight billion dollars per year. Some fisheries are already reaping the rewards of measuring what matters – for example, the U.S and New Zealand fishing industry pay for science and management through a cost recovery system that enables their commercial activity to be based on the best evaluation of the natural asset it depends on. Better collaboration and relationships between fishermen and scientists are also leading to improved management through the input of fishing boat data to catch limits and targets.
Another area of real progress is the adoption of Natural Capital Accounting by governments and businesses around the world.
Well Ladies and Gentlemen, I can only say in conclusion how much I appreciate all your labours thus far, and that you have the full support of my A4S Project in moving forward. I cannot stress enough how important this is (even though some of you have doubtless heard me say this time after time and will probably be heartily sick of it by now!). But I fear the door is closing faster than we think on our opportunity to develop a new economic framework that puts social well-being and Nature’s own ingenious economy back at the heart of our thinking. It is no exaggeration to say that our world really does depend on what you can achieve in the coming years. Your work, Ladies and Gentlemen, will shape decisions that have a material impact on the future well-being of the entire planet and of its people – which is precisely why your leadership and far sightedness matter so much. And however vital statistics are, we cannot afford to let our arguments about who’s the most accurate mean that at the end of the day we just test our world to destruction. So Ladies and Gentlemen, thank you.
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