Sri Lanka can be a breakthrough nation in sustainability: Triple Bottom Line guru

By Shabiya Ali Ahlam
The father of the world-famous Triple Bottom Line strategy, John Elkington yesterday suggested Sri Lanka can be a “breakthrough” nation in sustainability, provided the private sector leads the effort sincerely.
“The CEOs must own sustainability. At present they don’t. They think it is someone else’s responsibility. Firms must make sustainability mainstream and a part of their business,” Elkington told a business leaders’ forum yesterday under the aegis of Dialog Axiata, UN Global Compact Sri Lanka Network and the Daily FT.
His reference to the responsibility of the private sector to lead the initiative was universal as the tendency globally is treat sustainability as a government’s job.
“A government can’t do alone. Businesses must take the initiative as future top line as well as bottom line lie in sustainability,” Elkington said, emphasising the need for internal change agents within organisations.
Making a presentation titled ‘The breakthrough challenge and tomorrow’s business agenda,’ Elkington, internationally-renowned as a sustainability guru, said in sustainability the breakthrough is a future that works for all people and all life, a system change agenda and securing tomorrow’s bottom and top lines.
He said globally 93% of CEOs see sustainability as important to a company’s future but there remains an implementation gap.
It was emphasised that sustainability was not the same as Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) or Creating Shared Value.
Drawing key pointers from his upcoming book ‘The Breakthrough Challenge,’ co-authored with Jochen Zeitz and featuring a foreword from Sir Richard Branson, Elkington shared the ‘10 Steps for Breakthrough Change’. They were: 1. Adopt the right aspirations; 2. Create new corporate structures; 3. Apply true accounting principles; 4. Calculate true returns; 5. Embrace wellbeing; 6. Level the playing field; 7. Pursue full transparency; 8. Redefine education; 9. Learn from nature’s model; and 10. Keep the long run in mind.
Focusing on Sri Lanka despite it being his first visit, Elkington drew parallels between Sri Lanka and Colombia.
“The first thing I have to say is that Sri Lanka, despite its complicated recent history, is very likely well-placed. The game of sustainable development is not yet totally decided. The rules are still being developed. I do think there is an opportunity for Sri Lanka to leapfrog what other people may have been doing in this space.”
Citing an example from recent developments in Colombia in this regard, he said Sri Lanka can learn from the country which was affected with a longer war of 50 years, where currently its excitement, opportunity and possibility are evident through the enthusiasm of its people for the country to be a member of the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) by 2030.
“The sustainability market place is still wide open. There are opportunities for cities, industries and countries to get into the space and present themselves in very powerful new ways,” he said.
Attempting to provide solutions on how the nation can fit a ‘breakthrough’ thinking methodology into its agenda, Elkington presented the country’s scope as ‘Sri Lanka’s three-string pearl necklace’.
He stated the first string should be the pearl of ‘sustainability’ for tourism, the second is the pearl of ‘sustainability living plan’ for the tea and rubber sector, and the third is for the apparel sector to join the Sustainable Apparel Coalition (SAC) and Zero Discharge of Hazardous Chemicals (ZDHC) coalition.
This, Elkington said, should be coupled with solutions for green growth by the ICT industry along with using nanotechnology, which is tomorrow’s technology, and talent management.
“Sri Lanka is already implementing some of those elements with tourism. I wonder if you might think of doing your own version of the sustainable living plan such as that of Unilever and if the apparel space could get involved in new initiatives that are trying to drive the agenda in this space. The question is how you develop the rules for your own talent and technology. This is for me a great agenda. It is not a no-growth area; you have to continue to do new things to move forward,” Elkington told the audience.
For both firms and nations, Elkington shared 10 keys to achieve breakthrough in sustainability. They were: 1. Aim to do the apparently impossible; 2. Be accountable to stakeholders, including future generations; 3. Take the lead – don’t wait for NGOs and governments; 4. Be truly ambitious in terms of People, Planet, Profit; 5. Create high potential partnerships and platforms; 6. Be bold, but seek simple, practical solutions; 7. Redefine what business success will look like; 8. Help build a movement of movements; 9. Provide an authoritative voice for change; and 10. Engage and mobilise young people.
Following the presentation, Elkington was involved in a panel discussion comprising Dialog Axiata Group CEO Dr. Hans Wijayasuriya, UN Global Compact Sri Lanka Network Chairman Dr. Rohan Fernando and Jetwing Group Chairman Hiran Cooray, with Malaysia Blue Ocean Strategy Institute Operations Director and specialist on strategic corporate sustainability and strategic national sustainability Ravi Fernando as the moderator.