Inclusiveness and Sustainability: the Changes that are our only Option for Livelihood in the Future
Humans live in peace with nature in a sustainable society, conserving resources for future generations to ensure social fairness and high quality of life for all. We find tremendous reinforcing as well as counteracting cycles among the three goals we have in mind: growth, sustainability, and inclusiveness. So, while many people may share the same ambition, there is a very difficult question lurking in the dark: How do we go about forging a future that delivers growth, sustainability, and inclusion together?
Experts suggest a conceptual model that may provide the best opportunity for changemakers across industries, governments, and societies to discover a solution that sustains. It all starts with this: we believe the end is important and, in actuality, the means to an end is what we may call quintessential. Growth, sustainability, and inclusivity are closely intertwined and cannot be viewed as alternatives.
Consider this: how can we acquire wealth and well-being if there is no growth, or how can we pay for the required economic adjustments lives and livelihoods more sustainable and inclusive? How can we facilitate growth for current and future generations if we do not have the strength of sustainability on our side? How can we ensure the desire for growth, if all citizens lack access to productive jobs and satisfying life? Getting to and—moving to a world, where development, sustainability, and inclusion form a powerful dynamic—is, in fact, a prerequisite for the next business period that is to come.
But, before we get to the difficulty, let's face it: accelerating growth, sustainability, and inclusivity are all really challenging tasks in and of themselves. Fortunately, intellectuals, strategists, activists, and many others around the world are working on it—dreamers and doers alike. We are as well. In our opinion, the world will need to address three issues at the same time:
Growth is difficult to achieve. As per World Economic Outlook Database, October 2021, International Monetary Fund, since the 2008 global financial crisis, GDP (Gross Domestic Product) growth in the mature G-7 nations has been cut in half to 1% per year on average. The same has turned true in emerging economies: despite notable exceptions, such as China and India, growth in emerging economies has recently been lower than it was in the early 2000s.
Despite advancements, poverty remains widespread. As per Mckinsey, around 600 million people were still living in extreme poverty in 2017. Another 100 million or so people have joined them in 2020 as a result of the COVID-19 outbreak. This will continue until today's leaders provide enough decent-paying jobs, as well as a robust social contract that guarantees affordable housing, healthcare, and energy to the poorest of the population, depending on the country. Meanwhile, a new threat to personal income is emerging: a growth in technology-driven changes in how we work, spurred by the epidemic. The same report has estimate that over 100 million people will need to change employment across all industry verticals by 2030.
To assure a sustainable future, the massive investment will be necessary. According to the International Energy Agency, net-zero emissions could need $5 trillion in annual investments by 2030 and $4.5 trillion in annual investments by 2050. The annual bill is nearly equal to half of the global corporate earnings in 2019, or roughly 1.5 times the annual increase in public debt over the previous 15 years. Additional decarbonization spending in agriculture, transportation, and other sectors may roughly treble the bill. While many of these companies would be profitable, they lack the necessary finance to reach paramount success.
The Way Ahead for Sustainable Growth
The only way left ahead is to work together, whether they are developed nations or emerging economies. UN’s ‘Agenda: 2030’ binds the member nations to cumulatively work in the direction of sustainable growth but extra cautious steps are also the need of the hour. Not just the nations, but industries and industry leaders must step forward as well to light the path and be a beacon of hope for a foreseeable ‘existing’ future. As they say – charity begins at home; we all must start paving the path with our sustainability mission and carbon neutrality program, no matter we are enterprises or individuals.
When growth is elusive, poverty in endemic, we know one thing for sure that vision of a sustainable future will require great investments from all-inclusive parties, individuals, corporates, and economies. The elephant in the room that the world has to address now is – ‘Where & how far are you from the goal?’
Experts suggest a conceptual model that may provide the best opportunity for changemakers across industries, governments, and societies to discover a solution that sustains. It all starts with this: we believe the end is important and, in actuality, the means to an end is what we may call quintessential. Growth, sustainability, and inclusivity are closely intertwined and cannot be viewed as alternatives.
Consider this: how can we acquire wealth and well-being if there is no growth, or how can we pay for the required economic adjustments lives and livelihoods more sustainable and inclusive? How can we facilitate growth for current and future generations if we do not have the strength of sustainability on our side? How can we ensure the desire for growth, if all citizens lack access to productive jobs and satisfying life? Getting to and—moving to a world, where development, sustainability, and inclusion form a powerful dynamic—is, in fact, a prerequisite for the next business period that is to come.
But, before we get to the difficulty, let's face it: accelerating growth, sustainability, and inclusivity are all really challenging tasks in and of themselves. Fortunately, intellectuals, strategists, activists, and many others around the world are working on it—dreamers and doers alike. We are as well. In our opinion, the world will need to address three issues at the same time:
Growth is difficult to achieve. As per World Economic Outlook Database, October 2021, International Monetary Fund, since the 2008 global financial crisis, GDP (Gross Domestic Product) growth in the mature G-7 nations has been cut in half to 1% per year on average. The same has turned true in emerging economies: despite notable exceptions, such as China and India, growth in emerging economies has recently been lower than it was in the early 2000s.
Despite advancements, poverty remains widespread. As per Mckinsey, around 600 million people were still living in extreme poverty in 2017. Another 100 million or so people have joined them in 2020 as a result of the COVID-19 outbreak. This will continue until today's leaders provide enough decent-paying jobs, as well as a robust social contract that guarantees affordable housing, healthcare, and energy to the poorest of the population, depending on the country. Meanwhile, a new threat to personal income is emerging: a growth in technology-driven changes in how we work, spurred by the epidemic. The same report has estimate that over 100 million people will need to change employment across all industry verticals by 2030.
To assure a sustainable future, the massive investment will be necessary. According to the International Energy Agency, net-zero emissions could need $5 trillion in annual investments by 2030 and $4.5 trillion in annual investments by 2050. The annual bill is nearly equal to half of the global corporate earnings in 2019, or roughly 1.5 times the annual increase in public debt over the previous 15 years. Additional decarbonization spending in agriculture, transportation, and other sectors may roughly treble the bill. While many of these companies would be profitable, they lack the necessary finance to reach paramount success.
The Way Ahead for Sustainable Growth
The only way left ahead is to work together, whether they are developed nations or emerging economies. UN’s ‘Agenda: 2030’ binds the member nations to cumulatively work in the direction of sustainable growth but extra cautious steps are also the need of the hour. Not just the nations, but industries and industry leaders must step forward as well to light the path and be a beacon of hope for a foreseeable ‘existing’ future. As they say – charity begins at home; we all must start paving the path with our sustainability mission and carbon neutrality program, no matter we are enterprises or individuals.
When growth is elusive, poverty in endemic, we know one thing for sure that vision of a sustainable future will require great investments from all-inclusive parties, individuals, corporates, and economies. The elephant in the room that the world has to address now is – ‘Where & how far are you from the goal?’
