Sri Lanka must become role models for sustainability – Suresh Prabu

By Cheranka Mendis

Sri Lanka should become a role model in sustainable development and become the new heroes of the world, Former Indian Cabinet Minister of Environment and Forests, Industry, Energy, Chemicals and Fertilisers, Heavy Industry and Public Enterprise Suresh Prabu said.

Prabu, a keynote speaker at Friday’s Best Corporate Citizen Award 2011, stated that Sri Lanka is a country he has “always admired” but that Sri Lankans must establish a model for sustainability and development, one which should be adopted world over, making Sri Lanka not just a leader in the developing world but a role model.

He said, “Sri Lanka must not sacrifice the economic growth that is marked to take place in the country. It should in fact build a model that would help the country manage huge development without compromising the community.”  While commending Ceylon Chamber of Commerce (CCC) for organising an event that looks into CSR and sustainable business, Prabu urged the Chamber to develop a definition for sustainability in a Sri Lankan context stating, “It must be socially acceptable, political liable and have economic viability.” Even though sustainability is a topic that has been widely discussed over the past 20 years, the term ‘sustainability’ cannot be given a concrete form of definition. It should in fact be defined in each country’s context.

He said. “It cannot be one single description to fit all countries in one given manner. We really need to rethink it.”

The Award Ceremony in this regard, is a good start, he noted. “I find it extremely challenging to have the right kind of company that has the right kind of balance of society, ecology and economy. Some corporates have been able to do it so successfully and beautifully that such companies must be admired. Their bottom lines are in fact far better than other companies,” Prabu said.

To achieve sustainability one must ‘juggle’ community, economy and ecology in a balanced manner. It is possible to do this jugglery and build a successful business,” he asserted. In India companies that have struck the right balance are some of the most admirable companies in the Stock Exchange as well as in general, he said. “Such companies are role models and they must show the way for others to follow. The winners of the night should also take up the role to be role models for others.” Prabu also spoke of the importance of sustainable reporting. If done properly the corporates can within the next few years asses how much of natural capital is used for their activities and how much they actually give back. Sustainable reporting must integrate the three aspects of community, economy and ecology and present it in a single document. Corporates then can be sized up well, “you can then compare in the right manner.”

He stated that paradoxically, while the economies have done well over the past and achieved unprecedented growth in the past century like never before, the growth is followed by unprecedented discontent in the world.  The challenge at hand is to bridge the divide between growth and concerns of society. Drawing examples from India, Prabu noted that now new infrastructure project announcements are met with protests rather than celebration. The test is to develop a methodology where social concerns of the people are taken on board to be integrated into the development plans of the corporate world. This, he said, would determine the future of the world. This again is met with concerns as the water bodies in the world is sinking, land area remains the same and the air becomes more polluted day by day. “It’s a challenge to balance it. We can’t stop economic activities; that would be disastrous. Challenge is how we carry out economic activities in a way that people will be happy and the planet will not complaint in the form of natural disasters. We need to find the right balance.”

Minister of Power and Energy Champika Ranawaka also at the event noted that the world is under three forms of ‘stress’ levels- global stress with economic recessions, social unrest etc., ecological stress with pollution, scarcity of resources etc and social stress with poverty, drugs, terrorism etc. “We are now living in a world of uncertainty,” Ranawaka said. “As corporates you must adhere to what I call ‘social innovation.’ This means wealth to the businesses while empowering society.”

Ranawaka said that it is imperative for Sri Lanka to think strategically and formulate strategies to complement social innovation before it’s “too late,” and that the problem at hand is that often, priority is given to short-term financial gains at the expense of others. He stressed that the country must operate on “shared value, society and economy” and should focus on these areas for the productivity in the market value chain to be redefined.  He said, “We should not misunderstand this with CSR. Planting trees is not enough, we must internalise it.”

 Pix by Upul Abayasekara