Sustainable Development Handbook- A South Asian Perspective

Introduction: Today’s companies and business leaders can no longer hide from their responsibilities to wider stakeholder communities with claims of ignorance regarding corporate malpractice and failure. At present, the websites and press releases of multinational companies highlight only their positive activities and contributions, without the counter balance of announcements and discussions addressing issues of concern. Given the importance of corporate image in the marketplace, rarely will there be open forums amongst stakeholders to give an informed and complete picture behind the screen or of comparative standards of corporate responsibility in different geographical locations. Key people and stakeholders are responsible for both the successes and failures of their enterprises, as well as for their own conduct and behaviour. Over the course of the last decades - driven by democratic reforms, increasing social awareness and more integrated global communications networks - the actions of business have increasingly become a concern not just for shareholders but also for the wider community at large. As scientific recognition has affirmed the interdependence of all aspects of planetary functions, local communities and global populations have also established a genuine claim as stakeholders in the actions of business, in which the business leader is but one part of the wider complex machinery of trade and production. Given this recognition, business ought no longer to be just about running the company as competently as possible in narrow cost and profit terms. Business must address its wider responsibilities, which in economic theory are termed externalities. As is plain to any economist, these externalities form an integral part of the production equation. They cannot be simply brushed under the carpet. Key people and directors need to travel beyond narrow and traditional corporate governance concerns that simply deal with their well-designed job titles, their salaries, progression strategies, and legal requirements. They must understand how their personal ideals, behaviours, and measures affect the organisations and employees they lead, and also how these shape the surrounding communities within which they are embedded. It requires that one does not divorce personal responsibility from corporate responsibility. This is the attitude we must adopt if we are to tackle the most pressing issue facing humanity today: the sustainability and evolution of human life, to ensure a satisfactory level of production with which to support human life that is not at the expense of a satisfactory standard of living. Human-induced global warming is perhaps the most serious threat that the whole of humanity has ever faced. It is the result of the most profound failure of perception and reason in the history of humanity. Climate change is not really new. Since time began we have had to adapt to changing climatic conditions. However, most of the adjustments humans have made in the past were in response to short-term regionalized climate variations caused by natural events, such as volcanic eruptions and fluctuations in solar radiation. Today, for the first time in history, climate change threatens the entire world and humans are the dominant cause. (Bob Doppelt) The tsunami disaster in the Indian Ocean underlines the importance of the global ecosystem and of our fundamental ability to live safely on Planet Earth. In 2004 Sir David King, Chief Scientific Adviser to the UK government, came under attack in the United States of America after voicing his opinion that global warming posed a greater threat than terrorists. Yet his was a positive statement, asserting that it remains within our power to control. What is happening in the Indian Ocean underlines the importance of the earth's system to our ability to live safely. And what we are talking about in terms of climate change is something that is really driven by our own use of fossil fuels, so this is something we can manage.” A concerted effort and unbending will are required if we are not to shirk our responsibilties. At the same time, as stakeholders, we are in the best position to progress towards sustainable development. Each era has a challenge, and this is ours. We do it not only to prevent harm, but to build a better and stronger world.