L&D 2020: Shaping change in learning

Society

Environmental Concerns

The increasing energy crisis and looming post-oil future are weighing heavily on society’s mind in 2020. Although we now have several energy alternatives such as hydrogen, hybrids and biofuels, they are still not sufficient to meet the planet’s growing energy demands. Energy’s critical role is shaping many aspects of our lives in the 21st century – from business to global society.

In spite of scientists’ dire warnings at the end of the 20th century, too little has been done too late to prevent the environment from changing further – increased global warming, pollution and threats to biodiversity. But these threats are also presenting new business opportunities, while the ‘clean tech’ market is offering start-up companies financial opportunities to clean up the planet¹.

A new ‘cold war’ is escalating between Russia and the USA as rising prices for natural resources are leading to a full-scale rush to develop the Arctic for oil, gas, nickel, copper, zinc, coal, freshwater, forests and fish. Arctic states are fighting a losing battle in trying to control these commodities and find sustainable ways to share them².

For more than 10 years, ‘blue’ has been the new ‘green’ as water in the 21st century became the twentieth century’s oil equivalent. In spite of increased flooding, global fresh water shortages and drought conditions are spreading in both the developed and developing world. In response, the dry state of California, for example, built 13 desalination plants in 2010 that are now providing around 20 percent of the state’s needs. Desalination is now as main stream as coal fired power stations once were³.

Businesses are continuing to embed sustainability in their governance structures, for example with board-level sustainability expertise and environmental performance targets for CEOs. Many have designated environmental members – a government requirement for mining and timber – and annual sustainability ratings are regularly being used as a benchmark for awarding government contracts⁴.

The environmental lobby is so pervasive that companies must react quickly to consumer concerns about any aspect of their business which could be deemed unethical. To support this increased outward focus, many companies have renamed their networked personnel teams ‘people & society’⁵.

Employees are actively seeking companies whose corporate responsibility stance reflects their own values. Companies have become alert to the rise of these 'ethical employees' who want to work for a greener employer. A survey in January 2020, by recruitment portal ‘Search4Me’, found 85 percent of job seekers actively wanting to work for firms with strong environmental credentials. By the same token, firms such as fossil fuel-reliant industries have become ‘toxic’ employers.

Since 2018, a company’s carbon footprint has also included employee miles – how far people must travel to work and on business – as well as supplier miles. Generous company tax breaks for low carbon footprint organisations have led to more homeworking initiatives and the virtualisation of work. Where people must work physically together, many companies have relocated to city centres and today occupy old shopping malls following a decline in the need for large physical shopping spaces.

Improved communications technologies have also reduced air travel dramatically, as has the increased threat of terrorism. The height of the lethal flu pandemic of 2012 gave homeworking a further boost as people refused to use public transport.

Last year, 2019, BT once again won the ‘Best Green Supply Chain Award’, following a similar win in 2007. Then, the company equipped 13,750 home-workers and 64,000 employees to work from home and office, massively reducing CO2 emissions. In 2007, one million face-to-face meetings were replaced by two million conference calls saving a further 97,628 tonnes of CO2 emissions – a number almost doubled in 2019 due to BT’s expansion through extensive global partnering.

From a strategic perspective, an important trend is the continued ambiguity of energy choice. As energy sources proliferate, complexity increases and adds costs to business. There are still no obvious single solutions, like expanding into new markets and the best options vary by industry and location6. But more than 50 percent of organisations are now using micro-CHP (combined heat and power) stations on their premises to boost energy efficiency⁷.

1. http://www.futureguru.com/10trends.php

2. Thinking about the Arctic's Future: Scenarios for 2040. Lawson W. Brigham, Sep-Oct 2007 (See http://www.wfs.org/forecasts.htm)

3. Technology's Promise: Highlights from the TechCast Project. William E. Halal (See http://www.wfs.org/forecasts.htm)

4. Academy of Management Annual meeting 08/07

5. http://www.pwc.co.uk/pdf/managing_tomorrows.pdf 2008

6. A Timeline for Technology, The Futurist, March/April 2006, World Future Society

7. http://www.strategy-business.com/li/leadingideas/li00059?pg=0 01/08

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