Saturday, November 05, 2011

Corporate Sustainability...the new buzzword

I came across this word in the newspaper the other day and it caught my fancy. hmmm...what does it mean...? There was an interview with Mr. So & So where he mentioned that it refers to companies considering all aspects of their business from a social, cultural and economic environment with the main focus being on creating a 'green' strategy...he mentioned that 'CSR' (Corporate Social Responsibility) was just frou-frou (there goes another keyword down the drain!) and he said that 'CS' or Corporate Sustainability was the catch-all word.

So what exactly is CS? According to the Brundtland Commission's Report it means - "development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs". I guess it is high time that we woke up to this truth...given the fact that we have already started paying a heavy price for the mistakes made by our previous two generations...

The first and foremost thing to be done based on the above definition of CS is that basically as corporate's or as individuals we have to become 'less greedy' - easier said than done. People today blinded by their greed want to earn and stash away $$$ by any possible means for themselves and for their future generations...but they forget to realize that who will enjoy all their wealth if there are no humans left alive on this earth???!!!!! 7 BILLION - a staggering number - maybe if medical science had not tampered so much with nature's cycle of life and death - maybe our population would have been at a much more sustainable level today. Don't take me wrong, I am not in favor of people dying early due to epidemics / pandemics (or) probably wouldn't want to have the average age of human being to be just 60...but when we talk about sustainability, all I am saying is that nature has its own laws and man has tampered with those basic laws.

There is a saying which goes 'Mother Earth has enough to satisfy every man's need but not every man's greed' - but 7 billion...just think...how will Mother Earth sustain this number, even if every individual transforms into a 'non-greedy' person!

Also I came across another term called 'Geo-engineering' (Yes, one more branch will be available very soon in all our engineering colleges). Since the problem of global warming is reaching alarming proportions they want to put mirrors in space to deflect sun's light :-O in addition to a host of similar plans including sprinkling salt on clouds to make them absorb the sun's light!!!! There will be numerous side effects to this including around 20 -30 % less rainfall in India......hmmm....and this is just the first one...! Why can't people just plant more trees which is the simplest solution to Global warming...No, wait...trees need space and who has it with 7 billion Homo sapiens occupying the same real estate...I am not sure how far people will go in their technological advancement....looks like they are hell bent on destroying Mother Nature's delicate balance...I think the time is not far off when Earth will look all arid and dry filled with 'man-made junk' as depicted in the movie 'Wall-E'....that will be a very sad day...very sad day for all of us....

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