Holistic and lasting sustainability

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What is sustainability if not the ability to exist into the future? In this context how sustainable are institutions, organisations, communities and politics and what will the future actually look like?[vc_quotes layout=”accordion” quotes=”%5B%7B%22name%22%3A%22Professor%20Stephen%20Kotkin%22%2C%22job_role%22%3A%22Professor%20of%20History%20and%20International%20Affairs%2C%20Princeton%20University%20(United%20States)%22%2C%22content%22%3A%22Professor%20Kotkin%20received%20his%20PhD%20from%20the%20University%20of%20California%2C%20Berkeley%20in%201988%2C%20and%20has%20been%20a%20professor%20at%20Princeton%20since%201989.%20He%20is%20also%20a%20senior%20fellow%20at%20the%20Hoover%20Institution%20at%20Stanford%20University.%5CnAt%20Princeton%20Professor%20Kotkin%20teaches%20courses%20in%20geopolitics%2C%20modern%20authoritarianism%2C%20global%20history%2C%20and%20Soviet%20Eurasia%2C%20and%20has%20won%20all%20of%20the%20university%E2%80%99s%20teaching%20awards.%20He%20has%20served%20as%20the%20vice%20dean%20of%20Princeton%E2%80%99s%20Woodrow%20Wilson%20School%20of%20Public%20and%20International%20Affairs%2C%20and%20chaired%20the%20editorial%20committee%20of%20Princeton%20University%20Press.%20Outside%20Princeton%2C%20he%20writes%20essays%20and%20reviews%20for%20Foreign%20Affairs%2C%20the%20Wall%20Street%20Journal%2C%20and%20the%20Times%20Literary%20Supplement%2C%20among%20other%20publications%2C%20and%20was%20the%20regular%20book%20reviewer%20for%20the%20New%20York%20Times%20Sunday%20Business%20section%20for%20many%20years.%20%20He%20serves%20as%20an%20invited%20consultant%20to%20defence%20ministries%20and%20intelligence%20agencies%20in%20multiple%20countries.%20%20His%20latest%20book%20is%20Stalin%3A%20Waiting%20for%20Hitler%2C%201929-1941%20(Penguin%2C%202017).%20%20His%20previous%20book%20was%20a%20finalist%20for%20the%20Pulitzer%20Prize.%5Cn%22%2C%22image%22%3A%2233621%22%2C%22linkedin%22%3A%22%22%7D%5D” title=”Speaker” el_class=””][vc_quotes layout=”accordion” quotes=”%5B%7B%22name%22%3A%22Colin%20Tate%22%2C%22job_role%22%3A%22Chief%20executive%2C%20Conexus%20Financial%20(Australia)%22%2C%22content%22%3A%22Tate%20has%20been%20an%20investment%20industry%20media%20publisher%20and%20conference%20producer%20since%201996.%20In%20his%20media%20career%2C%20Tate%20has%20launched%20and%20overseen%20dozens%20of%20print%20and%5Cnelectronic%20publications.%20He%20is%20the%20chief%20executive%20and%20major%20shareholder%20of%20Conexus%20Financial%2C%20which%20was%20formed%20in%202005%2C%20and%20is%20headquartered%20in%20Sydney%2C%20Australia.%5CnThe%20company%20stages%20more%20than%2020%20conferences%20and%20events%20each%20year%20%E2%80%93%5Cnin%20cities%20which%20have%20included%20London%2C%20New%20York%2C%20San%20Francisco%2C%20Los%20Angeles%2C%20Amsterdam%2C%20Beijing%2C%20Sydney%20and%20Melbourne%20%E2%80%93%20and%20publishes%20three%20media%20brands%2C%5Cnincluding%20the%20global%20website%20and%20strategy%20newsletter%20for%20global%5Cninstitutional%20investors%20conexust1f.flywheelstaging.com.%20One%20of%20the%20company%E2%80%99s%20signature%20events%20is%20the%20bi-annual%20Fiduciary%20Investors%20Symposium.%20Conexus%20Financial%E2%80%99s%5Cnevents%20aim%20to%20place%20the%20responsibilities%20of%20investors%20in%20wider%20societal%2C%20and%20political%20contexts%2C%20as%20well%20as%20promote%20the%20long-term%20stability%20of%20markets%20and%20sustainable%5Cnretirement%20incomes.%20Tate%20served%20for%20seven%20years%20on%20the%20board%20of%20Australia%E2%80%99s%20most%20high%20profile%20homeless%20charity%2C%20The%20Wayside%20Chapel%3B%20and%20he%20has%20underwritten%20the%5Cnwelfare%20of%2060%2C000%20people%20in%2028%20villages%20throughout%20Uganda%20via%20The%20Hunger%20Project.%22%2C%22image%22%3A%2233547%22%2C%22linkedin%22%3A%22https%3A%2F%2Fwww.linkedin.com%2Fin%2Famanda-white-101a7515%2F%3ForiginalSubdomain%3Dau%22%7D%5D” title=”Moderator” el_class=””][vc_empty_space height=”10px”]

Key takeaways

• The key to achieving sustainability is always politics.
• Case studies from around the world suggest that sustainability is failing and succeeding simultaneously.
• Apocalyptic portrayals of sustainability only galvanise those who are already galvanised. The rest of the population is left scared and paralysed.
• We need to dial down existential language and talk more calmly about cost/benefit analysis and the expectation of driving superior economic outcomes through sustainable investing.
• Everyone when surveyed says they want to go green. People surveyed also say they want to lose weight. But are these people prepared to take the required actions to hit their targets? Signing a pledge is not enough.
• We should ask ourselves what sustainable globalisation looks like. We do not have global solidarity. People are global citizens only in a small way. Governments are accountable primarily domestically. Policy is national not global. Global politics does not come from politicians it comes from global investors and global corporations. We can’t vote out the global government because it doesn’t exist. Therefore the private sector is at least 75 per cent of the solution.
• We need voluntary compliance to achieve sustainability, not coercion.
• Let us tackle social issues like racial injustice with objective analysis of data not tabloid exaggeration.
• The electric grid that we have is not fit for purpose in the 21st century.
• Sustainability is about the ability to adapt to change and respond to future uncertainties.
• The US election will make a big difference to the future of America. Whilst I can’t be optimistic, I think the pessimism is overdone.