DNV GL - The road less traveled: Pathways to transformation

THE ROAD LESS TRAVELLED: PATHWAYS TO TRANSFORMATION

ROUNDTABLE OUTCOME DOCUMENT

ABOUT DNV GL Driven by its purpose of safeguarding life, property and the environment, DNV GL enables organisations to advance the safety and sustainability of their business.

DNV GL provides classification and technical assurance along with software and independent expert advisory services to the maritime, oil & gas, energy, food and health industries. It also provides certification services to customers across a wide range of industries.

Established in 1864, DNV GL operates globally in more than 100 countries with over 16,000 professionals dedicated to helping their customers make the world safer, smarter and greener.

CONTENT CHANGE IS COMING. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 04 A UNIQUE MEETING OF THE MINDS .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 06 THE JOURNEY. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 08 REFLECTIONS BY THE PRESIDENT & CEO.. . . . . . . . . . 12 REFLECTIONS BY THE MODERATOR .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14 ROUNDTABLE OUTCOMES 01 THE PROBLEM. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18 02 THE VISION.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20 03 THE STRATEGY FOR CHANGE. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26

A THE QUALITIES OF THE STRATEGY. . . . . . . . . . . 28

B DRIVERS OF CHANGE.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30

C KEY LEVERAGE POINTS. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32

D COMMUNICATION STRATEGY.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34

E TARGETING KEY CONSTITUENCIES. . . . . . . . . 44

F THE ROLE OF DNV GL.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 54

G YOUR COMMITMENT. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 58

NEXT STEPS: THE JOURNEY CONTINUES‌ . . . . . . . 60 PARTICIPANTS. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 62

Prepared by: Cecilie Arnesen Hultmann (lead author) Saya Snow Kitasei Anne Louise Koefoed Deepika Mital

OUR VISION IS TO HAVE GLOBAL IMPACT FOR A SAFE AND SUSTAINABLE FUTURE. TO GET THERE, WE MUST WORK TOGETHER.

On 15–16 June 2014, DNV GL hosted a roundtable with leading sustainability thinkers at DNV GL’s head office in Norway.

The purpose was to explore pathways to transformation towards our vision of a safe and sustainable future.

This was the second in a series of roundtables focusing on how we can achieve our vision. The first, Moving Beyond Business as Usual, took place in Copenhagen in November 2013.

These roundtables have been convened in association with the 150th anniversary of DNV GL in 2014. In addition to celebrating past achievements, DNV GL is using the occasion to look at how it can realise its vision of global impact for a safe and sustainable future.

This document presents the outcome of the discussion at the latest roundtable.

THE ROAD LESS TRAVELLED: PATHWAYS TO TRANSFORMATION

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CHANGE IS COMING The one constant that emerges in life is change. And indeed, wherever we look – nature, politics, economics, business, research, science and culture – change is looming. Change can either mean degradation or upgradation of life as we know it.

How we choose to act – individually and collectively – will determine the outcome.

In our hands, we have the power to shape how the future will look.

In the face of the greatest challenges humanity has ever faced – environmental breakdown, global economic uncertainty, widespread social upheaval and deteriorating global security – we remain hopeful.

All around the world, inspiring examples of courageous and farsighted individuals, entrepreneurs, businesses and organisations are offering solutions to emerging problems, and innovations that hold the promise to radically improve how human society is organised. These leaders are helping us towards a future that is not only safer, more equitable and sustainable – but also more vibrant, resilient, convenient and more desirable on all levels.

The current system is ripe for change.

But as any period of great transformation, this will involve as many deaths as new beginnings: deaths of old systems, models, technologies and ways of thinking and births of entirely new ways of living and doing business. Many opportunities arise from the need to transition towards a new economy. We believe that those who recognize these opportunities early will be positioned as winners in the future.

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A UNIQUE MEETING OF THE MINDS

WHAT WE HOPED TO ACCOMPLISH

To deal with increasingly complex global challenges, it is clear that our reductionist approach to problem-solving has proved insufficient. To deliver the urgently needed push for sustainability, we need to collaborate and start working on a systems-level.

With a vision of ‘global impact for a safe and sustainable future’, DNV GL has embarked on this project both out of a desire to learn as well as to do our part in setting the stage for a new economy to emerge.

This was the challenge we aimed to address with the Road Less Travelled roundtable, which gathered a small group of exceptional people with different backgrounds and experiences, from different sectors, geographies and age groups. The hope was that this unique ‘meeting of the minds’ would provide a setting for new ideas, reflections and solutions about how we can bring about large-scale systems change to emerge.

THE ROAD LESS TRAVELLED: PATHWAYS TO TRANSFORMATION

In 2014, DNV GL celebrates our 150th anniversary. In addition to celebrating past achievements, we use the occasion to explore areas where we believe we can have global impact and turn our vision of a safe and sustainable future into reality.

By bringing together a diverse and dynamic group of people, we hoped to gain a better understanding of: 1) What DNV GL can do to turn our vision into impact.

2) What a regenerative economy looks like, and what it will take to realise it.

3) What drives large-scale systems change, and how we can collectively build a strategy to set our map of actions into motion.

‘THE ROAD LESS TRAVELLED’ IT MUST BE CONSIDERED THAT THERE IS NOTHING MORE DIFFICULT TO CARRY OUT, NOR MORE DOUBTFUL OF SUCCESS, NOR MORE DANGEROUS TO HANDLE, THAN TO INITIATE A NEW ORDER OF THINGS. Machiavelli

ABOUT THIS DOCUMENT: THE BEGINNINGS OF A STRATEGY FOR CHANGE…

This document presents the outcomes from the roundtable discussion. Every argument, every fact, every action and every solution presented here, originate from the roundtable. Our aim has been to summarise arguments and ideas in a way that can be turned into a strategy for change. By no means do we claim that what is presented here is that roadmap or the solution. Instead, we hope it provides useful input to others who will further develop and refine it into a strategy.

DNV GL certainly commits to do our part and contribute to making this happen.

Together with our ‘A Safe and Sustainable Future: Enabling the Transition’ report (DNV GL 2014) and the related projects, this is our humble contribution to the beginnings of a strategy for change – towards a safer and more sustainable future for human kind.

The title of the roundtable is inspired by the bestselling 1978 book by American psychiatrist Dr. M. Scott Peck. Peck argued that confronting and solving problems is a difficult and painful process which most of us try to avoid.

Dealing with difficulties calls forth all our courage and wisdom.

But as Peck argued, it is through the pain of confronting and resolving problems that we learn and grow as human beings. This is taking the road less travelled.

We procrastinate, ignore and skirt around problems – hoping that they will go away – rather than meeting them head on. However, often this very avoidance results in greater pain and restricts our ability to grow mentally and spiritually.

There are many parallels to today’s situation, and Dr. Peck’s The Road Less Travelled offers wisdom we can learn from. To tackle current challenges, we must deal with them head on, we must all take responsibility and do our part, and accept that we must learn to make sacrifices today to ensure longterm prosperity for human kind.

To face life’s difficulties and learn how to work through and solve our problems, Peck said, we must learn to delay gratification, to accept responsibility for our problems and to be dedicated to truth. Only then can we determine the right course of action and make wise decisions.

SHARE YOUR IDEAS AND COMMITMENTS! Let us know what you think about the ideas presented in this document, how we can turn it into a real strategy for change, and what you commit to do to follow up on concrete actions presented.

Write to us at corporatesustainability@dnvgl.com.

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A UNIQUE MEETING OF THE MINDS PARTICIPANTS:

AGE RANGE FROM:

25 19–73

INSIGHTS FROM:

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CONTINENTS

COUNTRIES

WHY

WHO

WHAT

To break the current inertia and speed up the transition towards our vision of a safe and sustainable future.

Business leaders, government representatives, heads of UN agencies, international think-tanks, civil society and religious organizations, leading academics, representatives of international media, artists and activists – leading the way in bringing forth a sustainable future.

To explore how we can facilitate large-scale systems change to enable the emergence of a new regenerative economy.

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THE ROAD LESS TRAVELLED: PATHWAYS TO TRANSFORMATION

QUOTES BY PARTICIPANTS

We need to recognize that we have a moral responsibility. We need to work with our conscience.

Don’t forget that at the end of the day, we are human beings and we have been entrusted with this planet.

Georg Kell

It is really quite simple.

Move 2% of the capital and 2% of the workforce from dirty to clean industries. That’s all it takes.

Jørgen Randers

Climate change is our issue, our problem. This is our future and survival.

Every boardroom should have a future generation member.

Alec Loorz

We need to applaud and support good leaders by giving them positions and platforms from which to exercise their leadership.

Aimee Christensen

No company was founded on the sole premise of stakeholder maximization.

Most organisations have a noble purpose and ambition that involves solving problems and meeting needs.

Henrik O. Madsen

What we do in the next 10 years is going to matter more than what all of humanity does in the next 10.000. We have to act.

We always act in the face of uncertainty, but we damn well better act.

L. Hunter Lovins

Change happens through a constellation of thousands.

The way I see it, each of us in our own individualized way are creating change.

You don’t want one bright light inside. You want a thousand bright lights.

This is what creates a constellation. That’s what creates a movement of change.

Jo Confino

Unless we speak to those unconvinced, the currently marginalised, those in developing countries, those who are not sitting at this table, we will fail.

Majora Carter

The advertising industry is leveraging on human insecurities and converting them into wants, wants into needs, need into demand.

This fuels excessive consumerism and is opposite of what is should do.

Advertising should create demand for good, not for goods.

Pavan Sukhdev

Human society has become so focused on the material aspects of life that we have really undernourished the emotional aspect. If you go to a slum in Mumbai, people are watching soap operas from all over the world.

What are their aspirations?

The good life of well-to-do Americans. I’m exaggerating but I think youngsters have to be hooked off this kind of – what should I say – this obsession.

Rajendra K. Pachauri

We are winning battles not wars because we are too fragmented. We should find and agree on one or two core messages repeat them. Those messages have to work for rich and poor countries equally.

Marina Grossi

99% out there do not hear the message.

We are the 1% part of the knowledge elite.

Bawa Jain

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THE JOURNEY SO FAR ...

The roundtable is but one element of a wider process designed to more actively engage the roundtable participants to inspire reflections around what it will take to move beyond current thinking about solutions and towards strategies and actions that hold the potential to generate real transformative change. We call this process ‘The Journey’.

AUGUST 2013

01 THE DNV GL SUSTAINABILITY STORY

02

We shared a short animation presenting the history of DNV GL and why sustainability is important to us.

INTERVIEWS WITH PARTICIPANTS All roundtable participants were asked to outline their personal vision for a safe and sustainable future, and the most important actions needed to change course.

A sustainable future is not just about surviving.

It’s actually having a good time as well. Everybody – us, and future generations have the ability to make our dreams come true, and we do that in a way that doesn’t compromise anybody else’s ability to make his or her dreams come true. — Kevin Noone

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THE ROAD LESS TRAVELLED: PATHWAYS TO TRANSFORMATION

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At present, there are many barriers at play inhibiting our ability to change and constraining investments in sustainable solutions.

To overcome these barriers, a first step is to define and understand them.

INSUFFICIENT AWARENESS

19 COGNITIVE & BEHAVIOURAL BARRIERS

03

04 05

22

MATERIALISTIC VALUES

08

25

5

SOCIETAL BARRIERS

TECHNOLOGY & INNOVATION BARRIERS

PUBLIC FUNDING CRISIS

INSUFFICIENT FOCUS AND ORGANISATION

09 10

POLICY & GOVERNANCE BARRIERS

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13

LACK OF VISIONARY LEADERSHIP

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27

14

10

LACK OF DIRECTION AND COORDINATION

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BARRIERS IDENTIFIED

MATURE MARKETS VERSUS IMMATURE SOLUTIONS

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WEAK INSTITUTIONAL FRAMEWORKS

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32

INSUFFICIENT PROVISION OF BASIC SERVICES

33 34

HIGH LEVELS OF INEQUALITY

POOR INFRASTRUCTURE

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LACK OF COLLABORATIVE ARRANGEMENTS

35

INSUFFICIENT COORDINATION

SOCIAL UNREST AND CONFLICT

DESIGNS ARE NOT ‘CIRCULAR’ BY DEFAULT

36 30

ECONOMIC BIAS

26

MARKET UNCERTAINTY AND UNPREDICTABILITY

BARRIERS IDENTIFIED

SHORT-TERM FOCUS OF POLITICS

PROBLEMS OF DEMOCRACY

SKILLS SHORTAGE

EMPLOYEE APATHY

BARRIERS IDENTIFIED

DENIALISM AND LACK OF URGENCY

OPAQUE AND EXCLUSIONARY DECISION-MAKING

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ECONOMIC & MARKET BARRIERS

FINANCIAL SHORTSIGHTEDNESS

BARRIERS TO SUSTAINABILITY

12 07

LACK OF VALUE CHAIN OVERSIGHT

UNFAIR DISTRIBUTION OF OPPORTUNITY AND WEALTH

LINEAR ECONOMIC MODELS

COGNITIVE BIAS

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UNDERSTANDING BARRIERS

36

REACTIVE AND SHORT-TERM THINKING

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LACK OF DISCLOSURE ABOUT RISKS AND EFFECTS

BARRIERS IDENTIFIED

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BARRIERS IDENTIFIED

03

21

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LACK OF TRUE COSTING AND VALUATION

SKEWED AND PERVERSE INCENTIVES

HUMAN-CENTRIC VIEW OF NATURE

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SEPTEMBER 2013

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LOW EMPHASIS IN THE MEDIA

DEPENDENCE ON NONRENEWABLE ENERGY SOURCES

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BARRIERS TO ENTRY

Significant barriers are preventing the transition to a safe and sustainable future. We identified 36 barriers in five key categories – technological, market, political, societal and cognitive – and shared these with the roundtable participants.

04 SHARING PERSPECTIVES To introduce the participants to each other, brief video interviews were circulated, where each participant shared their vision for a sustainable future and the most important action to be taken in order to change course.

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THE JOURNEY SO FAR ...

NOVEMBER 2013 SAFER, SMARTER, GREENER

05 ROUNDTABLE 1: MOVING BEYOND BUSINESS AS USUAL HEADQUARTERS:

DNV GL AS NO-1322 Høvik, Norway Tel: +47 67 57 99 00 www.dnvgl.com

DNV GL Driven by its purpose of safeguarding life, property and the environment, DNV GL enables organisations to advance the safety and sustainability of their business. DNV GL provides classification and technical assurance along with software and independent expert advisory services to the maritime, oil & gas and energy industries.

It also provides certification services to customers across a wide range of industries. Combining leading technical and operational expertise, risk methodology and in-depth industry knowledge, DNV GL empowers its customers’ decisions and actions with trust and confidence. The company continuously invests in research and collaborative innovation to provide customers and society with operational and technological foresight. DNV GL, whose origins go back to 1864, operates globally in more than 100 countries with its 16,000 professionals dedicated to helping their customers make the world safer, smarter and greener.

The first roundtable which took place in Copenhagen in November 2013 concluded that there is: a need for a more compelling sustainability narrative a need for more visionary, transformative leadership a need to change mindsets and thus behaviour The trademarks DNV GL and the Horizon Graphic are the property of DNV GL AS. All rights reserved. ©DNV GL 04/2014 Design and print production: Erik Tanche Nilssen AS

•

IT IS BUSINESS AS USUAL THAT IS THE UTOPIAN FANTASY...

MOVING BEYOND

SAFER, SMARTER, GREENER

FEBRUARY 2014

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07 LAUNCH OF ‘A SAFE AND SUSTAINABLE FUTURE’ REPORT A study of what the world will look like in 2050 from a business as usual perspective, our vision for a safe and sustainable future, the barriers preventing the transition and the large-scale changes in the economic, societal and political domain needed to get the world on the right track.

WHAT’S NEXT? A coffee table book presents highlights from the interviews with leading thinkers and front-runners in sustainability.

A BROADER VIEW

A SAFE AND SUSTAINABLE FUTURE: ENABLING THE TRANSITION SAFER, SMARTER, GREENER

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THE ROAD LESS TRAVELLED: PATHWAYS TO TRANSFORMATION

MAY 2014

08 INTRODUCING THE REGENERATIVE ECONOMY The idea of a regenerative economy is embedded in our vision, and the focus of the discussion on the first day of the roundtable. The concept, presented in a video by John Fullerton of the Capital Institute, was shared with the participants.

JOIN US AS THE JOURNEY CONTINUES…

09 GETTING READY: ENABLING SYSTEMS CHANGE How can we effectively change large systems? We shared Donella Meadows paper on leverage points with the participants.

JUNE 2014

10 ROUNDTABLE 2: THE ROAD LESS TRAVELLED: PATHWAYS TO TRANSFORMATION

THE ROAD LESS TRAVELLED: PATHWAYS TO TRANSFORMATION

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REFLECTIONS

BY THE PRESIDENT & CEO

O

ur conception of what creates value changes constantly.

Today, sustainability offers vast opportunities in the broadest sense: for business to regain trust and legitimacy and generate long-term value and prosperity; for governments to show stewardship and to truly fulfil their public mandates once again; and for people to thrive on a planet that is safer, fairer and more vibrant, and that holds greater promise for the future.

SUSTAINABILITY IS NOT ABOUT limitations

or constraints, or about having to make big sacrifices today to secure some vague benefits in the distant future.

Quite the opposite. For me, sustainability is about letting creativity, ingenuity and entrepreneurship flourish. It is about having the courage to let new ideas, innovative technologies and new ways of doing things come to life. But more than anything, sustainability is about taking a leap forward and realising the full human potential.

AT THE SAME TIME, it is naïve to think that

the challenges we face today are marginal.

They are not. In the face of the greatest risk humanity has ever faced – the gradual destruction of the planet upon which we depend for our existence – our response must not be inaction. It must not be resistance to change. Our response must be to trust science and embrace change.

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Because in change lies opportunity. The global business community must seize this opportunity and become part of the solution by reconnecting with a broader purpose and recognizing that the wellbeing of society and the planet is core to business success.

THIS YEAR, DNV GL CELEBRATES its 150th anniversary as a company. Instead of look ing back and celebrating past achievements, we wanted to use the occasion to look into the future and explore what we can do to achieve our vision of global impact for a safe and sustainable future.

A vision that not only describes the world we wish to be part of creating, but which also continues to steer the focus of our business operations. The Northern Star towards which we want to set our course.

MORE THAN ANYTHING, SUSTAINABILITY IS ABOUT TAKING A LEAP FORWARD AND REALISING THE FULL HUMAN POTENTIAL. In June 2014, we invited leading thinkers for a two-day roundtable discussion at our to our head office in Høvik, Norway.

The Road Less Travelled brought together an extraordinary group of people for an intense discussion around the challenges we face, and the pathways that can take us towards a new model for our economy and society. The output of this discussion is presented here in this report – our modest contribution to a strategy of change towards a more prosperous future.

THE ROAD LESS TRAVELLED: PATHWAYS TO TRANSFORMATION

FOR ME PERSONALLY, the roundtable was

a deeply inspiring event that gave me insight, hope and energy to continue our quest as a company. We were challenged and received many concrete proposals for opportunities for us to focus on in the years to come. We will take these ideas with us as we continue to build and develop our organisation.

I want to sincerely thank every single person who accepted our invitation to come to our home and embark on this journey with us.

I am humbled and deeply grateful that you so enthusiastically and openly chose to share your insights and reflections with us.

You have broadened our horizons.

FINALLY, I WANT TO end these remarks by

calling on my fellow business leaders all around the globe to join me on this mission to make the world a safe, sustainable and more prosperous place to live. Take the broader view, search for opportunities for how you can create value across multiple capitals and turn your company into an agent of change. Together we have immense power to drive results.

The future can be ours.

Henrik O. Madsen President & CEO DNV GL Group

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REFLECTIONS

BY THE MODERATOR

O

ne of Einstein’s most famous sayings is that the mindset that got us into difficulties cannot by definition help us to escape them.

That means that if we are to loosen the vice-like grip of climate change, resource scarcity, extreme poverty and biodiversity loss, then our current strategy of incremental adjustments to the economic system is doomed to failure.

was exploring a new model of the economy that has been developed by former banker John Fullerton, which he calls regenerative economy; based on putting finance and the economy back in the service of life by mimicking living systems that sustain the natural world.

He makes clear we need to break out of the increasingly brittle belief we are constricted by the strait-jacket of profit maximisation and short-termism and therefore need to move beyond tinkering around the edges of change with programmes such as energy and resource efficiency.

TO SAVE OURSELVES and other species

on the planet from a future that looks dark and dangerous, we therefore need to find more radical solutions.

It is for this reason that DNV GL created a two day roundtable with a range of experts from around the world called The Road Less Travelled: Pathways to Transformation.

Where we fear to tread is paradoxically often where our greatest potential for salvation lies so we need to face up to one of our core fears around our marketdriven society, which is the belief that there is no credible alternative to the global economic system.

OF COURSE, WE MUST NOT FORGET that this current form of capitalism has over the last two 200 years created great wealth and brought hundreds of millions of people out of abject poverty, but we also need to recognize it is increasingly becoming a destructive force both in terms of generating increased inequality as well as destroying fragile ecosystems.

To help move beyond our collective failure so far to re-imagine another pathway, one of the centerpieces of the roundtable

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THE RECENT GLOBAL RECESSION

REMINDS US THAT WHEN THE CURRENT SYSTEM IS UNDER PRESSURE, IT LEADS TO SEVERE DISLOCATION; SHARPLY RISING UNEMPLOYMENT AND POVERTY AS WELL AS THE RE-EMERGENCE OF EXTREMISM. ALONGSIDE THE NEED FOR bold thinking

and imagination, there was also a sharp recognition, voiced most forcefully by Jørgen Randers, that we also need to focus some of our energy on critiquing the current system and looking for key intervention points which can be leveraged quickly to help us on the road to change.

Peter Bakker, the president of the World Business Council for Sustainable Development, has rightly pointed out that we should not become self-congratulatory about the mainstreaming of sustainability into business because if we were to combine all the initiatives of every company in the world, they would not stack up to a row of beans when compared to the scale of challenges we face.

THE ROAD LESS TRAVELLED: PATHWAYS TO TRANSFORMATION

IT WOULD BE FOOLISH to underestimate

the scale of the challenge and the likely turbulence of any transition to a new system. It’s not just that those who benefit from the status quo will fight to preserve their privileges. The recent global recession reminds us that when the current system is under pressure, it leads to severe dislocation; sharply rising unemployment and poverty as well as the re-emergence of extremism.

BUT IT IS VITAL WE STAY POSITIVE and

show there are realistic alternatives.

As Professor Tim Jackson, author of the influential book Prosperity Without Growth, has said: ‘We are told continually there is no alternative. We are saying another world is possible. We have stood up and said continuing growth in the Western world is unjust, inappropriate and potentially destabilising. Having said that, we understand why governments do it, so there is an onus on us to show there are other stories and to identify the institutional innovations you might need in order to arrive at this other place.’

WHILE THE PARTICIPANTS of the two-day roundtable did not come up with one solution that will save the world, you will see in this report that they developed a number of ideas and initiatives that hopefully will move us further towards the goal of a safe and sustainable world.

Jo Confino Executive Editor of the Guardian Editorial Director, Guardian Sustainable Business

THE ROAD LESS TRAVELLED: PATHWAYS TO TRANSFORMATION

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ROUNDTABLE ROUNDTABLE OUTCOMES OUTCOMES

1 16

THE ROAD LESS TRAVELLED: PATHWAYS TO TRANSFORMATION

THE PROBLEM: WE ARE WINNING BATTLES BUT WE ARE LOSING THE WAR

2

THE VISION: A SAFE AND SUSTAINABLE FUTURE

3

THE BEGINNINGS OF A STRATEGY FOR CHANGE…

THE ROAD LESS TRAVELLED: PATHWAYS TO TRANSFORMATION

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1

THE PROBLEM: WE ARE WINNING BATTLES BUT WE ARE LOSING THE WAR

THE SCIENCE

THE CAUSE

Continued population growth, irreversible climate change, severe resource scarcity, deepening inequality, proliferation of new health risks, and frequent eruption of violent conflict around the world: The beginning of the 21st century has confronted humanity with grave threats on many fronts.

The economic growth and progress we have experienced in the past centuries – which undoubtedly have brought tremendous and widespread benefit for humanity – have not only been highly unequal but has also come at the expense of the natural environment.

We are teetering on the edges of what the planet can tolerate. If we do not change our ways, we risk destabilising the fundamental earth systems upon which human civilisation depends. We have already crossed three planetary boundaries – climate change, nutrient pollution and biodiversity loss - and we are dangerously close to crossing many more.

Crossing these boundaries means jeopardizing the possibility for future generations to enjoy the same level of prosperity and well-being as we enjoy today.

Negative impacts from economic activity are, together with population growth, the main driver of our rapid progression towards and beyond the planetary boundaries. Today, the price of goods and services does not reflect negative externalities, such as air pollution, ecosystem degradation, groundwater depletion and GHG emissions.

Despite the fact that we know what the problems are, and to a great extent know what we need to do to solve these problems, the situation has steadily worsened in the past four decades. At the rate we are currently emitting greenhouse gases, an environmental and social catastrophe is likely to evolve by mid-century.

Current estimates show that the economic value of externalities from the top 3,000 listed corporations equals 2.1 trillion USD, equivalent to 3.5% of global GDP. Worse, the long-term cost of dealing with the damages imposed by climate change could be as high as 20% of GDP per year. As a result, the public currently pays for private economic gain. But more importantly, when externalities remain unaccounted for they are not adequately managed, leading to an ever more rapid deterioration of the biosphere. Finally, the current under-pricing of goods compared to their true cost encourages excessive consumerism.

The current system seems to have reached its potential, and needs to evolve in order to continue to deliver continued prosperity for humanity.

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THE ROAD LESS TRAVELLED: PATHWAYS TO TRANSFORMATION

To achieve our vision of a safe and sustainable future, a fundamental systems change is needed. The key question is how to facilitate large-scale systems change.

No politician can propose anything that is wise, because anything that is wise is more expensive than doing nothing.

Jørgen Randers

THE DILEMMA We have known for the last 40 years what the problems are, and what the solution is. At the most fundamental level, the solution is to adjust the size of the population and the size of the footprint per person so that the total burden of humanity is kept below the sustainable carrying capacity of the planet.

We also know what we should be doing, and we have the capital and technology needed to do so. However, appropriate decision-making is lacking. Today, the main barrier to change is the inability to agree on implementing the totally obvious solutions fast enough to avoid irreversible damage.

Two key obstacles to change arise: the short-term nature of human beings and the resistance of the incumbents. Firstly, the cost of implementing the necessary changes is (marginally) more in the short-term, both in monetary and employment terms, than doing nothing. For instance, the transition involves shutting down ‘dirty’ business before a sufficient number of jobs are created in the clean industry.

Most people are not willing to pay today for what they consider to be an uncertain benefit in the future, and therefore resist change. Under the current system, we are geared towards decision-making that favours the cheapest and most costeffective solutions. However, what we need is decisions to implement slightly more expensive solutions today (e.g. wind instead of coal, coal with CCS) to secure long-term benefit for humanity.

Secondly, change not only involves changing unsustainable business models it also involves closing down some industries.

As a result, it is confronted with great resistance by those with vested interest in preserving the status quo; those who will lose in monetary terms as a result of the transition. This hampers political decision-making to implement predictable regulation that could provide the necessary enabling conditions for a new sustainable and regenerative economic system to emerge.

CHECK OUT: Randers, J. (2012), 2052: A Global Forecast for the Next 40 Years Stockholm Resilience Center: The Planetary Boundaries Framework www.stockholmresilience.org/21/research/research-programmes/ planetary-boundaries.html

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2

THE VISION: A SAFE AND SUSTAINABLE FUTURE

A key element of our vision for a safe and sustainable future is achieving the transition to a green, inclusive and regenerative economy. To guide our way towards this goal, we need a model for the new economy we want to create: an economy that does not destroy – but contributes to sustain both people and the planet. An economy that:

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Is adapted to the resources of our one planet Is embedded in society and the environment Produces durable economic vitality for all Generates meaningful employment Contributes to peace and stability Fosters equality and equity Has the ultimate goal of engendering happiness and well-being

THE ROAD LESS TRAVELLED: PATHWAYS TO TRANSFORMATION

DNV GL believes it is possible to create a thriving economy where growth is decoupled from environmental destruction and material consumption.*

We believe it is possible to stay within the limits of the planet while still enjoying a decent quality of life.*

And we believe it is possible for a society of nine billion people to live well, enjoy universal access to the basics needed to live a healthy, safe and flourishing life.*

* A Safe and Sustainable Future: Enabling the Transition (DNV GL 2014)

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A REGENERATIVE ECONOMY

The concept of the regenerative economy seeks to present clear language on the ‘destination’ – the model of an economy re-embedded into society and the biosphere. It conceptualizes a new version of the economy that considers the impact of enterprise on societies and the environment and where value creation is no longer viewed through the narrow lens of financial performance over short time scales. It seeks to reinvent the fundamental objectives of the economy and to create long-term shared value for both business and society.

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Regeneration is the mature stage of natural systems, like we see in a rainforest, or a coral reef, or a human being. The human economy as it operates today is inherently degenerative: using resources at an unsustainable rate, depositing pollutions in the environment and with growing inequality. The big challenge is to put finance and the economy back in the service of life.

The regenerative economy paradigm sketches an alternative capitalism characterized by:

We need a systemic change towards a new economy that mimics living systems, the behaviour necessary to sustain life in the natural world. We must evolve beyond the outdated mechanistic worldview and exponential growth paradigm that defines contemporary economics and finance, and replace it with a regenerative paradigm grounded in the holistic, ecological or living systems worldview of contemporary science.

n An expansion of the meaning of ‘capital’ to include multiple forms of capital, and the vital patterns of their interdependencies, in keeping with a holistic understanding of true wealth.

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n A recognition that the regenerative process that defines thriving living systems, enabling many of them to be sustainable over the long run, must define the economic system itself.

n A new understanding of wealth and prosperity.

EIGHT FORMS OF CAPITAL

INTELLECTUAL CAPITAL EXPERIENTAL CAPITAL

CULTURAL CAPITAL

SPIRITUAL CAPITAL

8

SOCIAL CAPITAL

FORMS OF CAPITAL

LIVING CAPITAL

MATERIAL CAPITAL FINANCIAL CAPITAL

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Healthy ecological systems harmonise many variables rather than optimise single ones. Similarly the economy must harmonise multiple types of capital to respond to the needs of all living things and manage to meet different kinds of value. If there is a single goal of an economy, it is what EF Schumacher called an economy of permanence, meaning one that can continue.

True wealth is defined in terms of the wellbeing of the ‘whole’ achieved through this harmonisation of the multiple kinds of capital. This is in sharp contrast with the present focus on ‘optimising financial returns’ that defines contemporary finance, and largely directs the course of the contemporary capitalist system.

We need to reframe the challenge away from a financial challenge only, to a value optimisation challenge where organisations manage different kinds of value.

The far left side of the illustration documents the reductionist, mechanistic, conventional way of running an economy.

On the pathway to transformation, the first step is to green economic practises to make the economy less bad. Then there is a move toward sustainability strategies with social, environmental and economic aspects but without real clarity on its meaning and substantive terms. In a regenerative economy we shift from sustainability as a goal to sustainability as an outcome of a process that’s regenerative. (See figure underneath).

CHECK OUT: The Capital Institute: www.capitalinstitute.org The field guide to investing in a regenerative economy: http://fieldguide.capitalinstitute.org Kumarappa, J (1946): The Economy of Permanence Fullerton, J and Lovins, H (2013): Creating a regenerative economy to transform global finance in Fast Company: http://www.fastcoexist.com/3020653/ creating-a-regenerative-economy-to-transformglobal-finance-into-a-force-for-good Lovins, H. (2014): Economy on the Edge: Seeking a World that Works for 100% of Humanity in the Guardian: http://www.theguardian.com/ sustainable-business/blog/2014/jun/06/ global-economy-on-edge-create-world-for100-percent?CMP=twt_gu

STEPPING STONES TOWARDS A REGENERATIVE ECONOMY LIVING SYSTEM DESIGN

less

resources required

REGENERATING

CONVENTIONAL

GREEN

SUSTAINABLE

DEGENERATING more

resources required

TECHNICAL SYSTEM DESIGN

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RESTORATIVE

REGENERATIVE

THE EIGHT ELEMENTS OF A REGENERATIVE ECONOMY

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3

THE BEGINNINGS OF A STRATEGY FOR CHANGE…

The challenges facing the world today are the effects of an economic system that was consciously built – and because we built it, we can also un-build and re-build it. The time is ripe to craft a new system – a new model for our societies and economies - that safeguards the planet whilst creating durable economic vitality and prosperity for all.

To do this, we not only need a clear vision of the future we would like to see unfold; we also need ideas on HOW we can get there. What we need is a strategy to enable large-scale systems change towards a new regenerative economy – a roadmap stating what we will do and when, as well as knowledge of the tools we have available.

The following presents input to a strategy for change, collected from the roundtable ‘The Road Less Travelled’.

THIS SECTION COMPRISES:

A

The qualities of the strategy: What are the features of the new strategy?

B

Drivers of change: Whom and what can we leverage to speed up the desired change?

C D E F

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Key leverage points: What are the most promising places in the current system we can work on to catalyse change towards a new economy?

Communication strategy: How can we make our communication more impactful?

Targeted approaches towards three important constituencies 1) The business elite 2) The political elite 3) Youth

The role of DNV GL

I am here because I can’t stop trying to save the world.

It is not going to work, but I still can’t stop doing it.

Jørgen Randers

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A

THE QUALITIES OF A STRATEGY FOR CHANGE

By qualities we mean the characteristics or features of the strategy.

It does not refer to the elements that the strategy should comprise.

The following qualities were highlighted by the roundtable participants as important to ensure that the strategy achieves what it sets out to achieve.

A NEW NARRATIVE

The strategy should be based on a new narrative of the economy and the purpose of the economy and the corporation, a new conceptualisation of wealth and progress, of the future we want to see and a new purpose of humanity. It should speak to hearts as well as minds, and inspire action and bring hope by communicating positive stories of change.

ACTIONABLE AND CLEAR

A great strategy does not assure success unless it is accompanied by a clear action plan, which can be communicated to, implemented and rebroadcasted by a broad set of stakeholders. The strategy must be communicated in such a way that it is easy for a wide range of stakeholders to adopt and convert it into relevant and productive actions and initiatives.

REALISTIC

GLOBAL AND UNITING

Proposed actions and solutions must be evaluated to determine to what extent they are realistic. A vital success factor is that the strategy proposes actions and solutions that can be passed in democratic societies. This may mean to prioritise solutions where the benefit comes before the cost. Actions and solutions where the cost is found to be high today, and the benefit likely to materialise long into the future, may be less feasible.

The strategy of change must be global in nature and scope, and seek to unite the myriad of fragmented initiatives and approaches. One of the main reasons why we are only winning battles but not the war is that the sustainability movement is too fragmented. A more coherent and aligned approach would have more effect and reach.

Highlighting the benefits and opportunities of the proposed solutions will increase traction and absorption rates.

For example, jobs are political and social currency and the strategy must explain how it leads to net job creation. Other benefits may include energy security, lower levels of air pollution and health benefits.

All countries can be responsible for finding innovative ways to achieve sustainable development goals while respecting planetary boundaries. At the same time, the strategy must recognise that different approaches apply for different regions .

Whereas industrialised and emerging economies must bear the burden of the cost associated with the transition, poorer regions should be allowed to focus primarily on human development and poverty reduction.

BOTTOM-UP AND OPEN-SOURCE

COLLABORATIVE

Trust in traditional forms of authority based on the old top-down paradigm is rapidly eroding. Therefore, the process of developing the strategy of change must be much more participatory, creative and open-source than ever before. Importantly, the strategy should be open-source so that actions and messages can be copied, adopted and tailored to various audiences.

The strategy should recognize that we have different roles to play, and it should focus on creating platforms that bring different actors, communities, stakeholders together to enable collaborative action.

FOCUSING ON CO-BENEFITS AND OPPORTUNITIES

ALLIANCE FOR SUSTAINABILITY AND PROSPERITY The Alliance for Sustainability and Prosperity (ASAP) is working with several of the roundtable participants to develop a new narrative of a regenerative economy that will work

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DIFFERENTIATED AND TARGETED

for 100% of humanity, and a global strategy of change to implement genuine prosperity and wellbeing.

Explore how you can contribute: www.asap4all.org

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FOCUSING ON THE CONNECTIONS

The strategy must not propose old school solutions to new world problems. Problems today are highly connected and interdependent, and we must resist the urge to make simple plans of actions with prioritization and lists. Simplification does not allow us to understand the complete picture. The strategy must zoom in on connections - on the relational nature of problems.

INCLUSIVE AND EMPOWERING

The voices of the disenfranchised should be heard in the development of the strategy. It must have the dual goal in mind: to highlight tools of power to empower the disenfranchised, whilst at the same time safeguarding the environment.

IDENTIFYING ADVERSARIES

Change in any form is often feared and will cause resistance because it disturbs or even threatens status quo. As such, the transition is resisted and deferred.

To speed up the change process, the strategy must focus on identifying: who loses, what they lose, and how this can be compensated or overcome.

COMPASSIONATE

The strategy must identify those who will suffer from the transition and focus on finding ways to make the transition less painful. This is key to reduce resistance.

BASED ON UNIVERSAL VALUES

The strategy for change needs to be built on values that are universal and inclusive, such as justice, integrity, fairness, equality, equity, freedom, responsibility, collaboration, honesty, co-existence (community) and sharing.

CONNECTED TO A DEEPER PURPOSE

The strategy should explore some fundamental questions, such as what the purpose of humanity is. Today, the purpose seems to be to accumulate and take advantage.

We need to reconnect with nature and with our own nature, and learn how to be regenerative. And we need to evolve our social and economic systems to fit this purpose.

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B

DRIVERS OF CHANGE

Large-scale transformative change has happened in the past. It can happen again. By identifying and mobilizing drivers of change, we can speed up the transition towards our vision. The drivers listed here were highlighted as particularly promising in terms of driving the change towards a new economic model.

COURAGEOUS AND VISIONARY LEADERS

Implementing a large-scale strategy for change requires courage, and leaders who are willing to take a leap of faith and see beyond current socially accepted norms and ways of doing things. Role models are needed, from the private and public sectors, who drive change by leading the way.

PROGRESSIVE COMPANIES

At a time when governments are not fulfilling their mandate, and without the technical expertise and global reach needed, the private sector – with its resources, expertise and flexibility – is seen as the main agent of change.

COLLABORATION

KNOWLEDGE AND EDUCATION

New partnerships between leading actors from business, government and civil society to avoid working in silos and to pool competencies and resources in a smart way so as to generate systemic change.

Lack of awareness and the vast amount of information, misinformation and myth concerning issues causes confusion and fuels inaction. Access to knowledge – particularly when tailored and localised – can raise awareness and trigger action.

FINANCIAL FLOWS

Capital investments both in the real economy and by financial markets encourage unsustainable corporate practices and create lock-in in high-carbon technology.

The emergence of new investment practices that shift capital flows towards sustainable and regenerative business is a key driver of change.

VOICES OF TRUST

STUDENTS

TECHNOLOGY

Student communities can be very strong and positive agent of change should they be given the opportunity and be empowered to do so. Students are passionate, energetic, and have the benefit of not yet being shaped and disillusioned by the system and societal norms restricting what is possible and not. In several regions, students drive change for instance in making educational institutions greener.

Technology is and has always been a major driver of change. The critical issue is to incentivise the design, development and use of the right technology to drive change in the right direction. It is key also to have in mind the transformative role of ‘smaller’ technologies, such as tampons and contraceptives, which hold immense potential for empowerment, emancipation and to drive large-scale societal change.

OPTIMISM AND HOPE

EMPOWERING THE DISENFRANCHISED

Positive inspirational stories and solutions that offer hope and bring much needed courage to affect change.

Lack of voice and exclusion from power can result in an inability to act. Giving a voice to disenfranchised groups on the fringes of society can be a signif-icant driver of change.

Sifting through the overwhelming amount of information available today – and the myriad voices expounding on it – are serious challenges to decision making at all levels.

We need voices we trust from many sectors, cultures and ages to help us in this daunting task.

RELIGIOUS LEADERS

The majority of the world population follows some religion. With the unique capability for mass mobilisation held by Religious Leaders, there is potential for greater cooperation around sustainability and climate change issues to mobilise engagement on a mass scale.

STRENGTHENING THE BUSINESS CASE

The evidence of a business case for sustainability is stronger every day. However, strengthening efforts to move beyond anecdotal evidence and clarifying the business case for sustainable and responsible business will convince more business leaders to make operational changes.

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BOTTOM-UP ENTREPRENEURSHIP AND INNOVATION

New business models provide income whilst delivering social and environmental value.

Innovation drives shifts in economic activity and structural transformation by enabling gains in productivity and new product and service development. To generate local and sustainable economic growth and employment, foster innovation, inventions and social entrepreneurship in local communities.

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A NETWORK OF THE WILLING

We all have the power to persuade different types of constituents. We have ideas and networks and can put our efforts in service of one overarching goal, which is this new economic paradigm. To enable transformation, change agents are needed in all spheres of society.

We have in our hands the power to make change happen.

– Georg Kell

What will drive change?

MACRO ISSUE

MICRO DRIVER

MICRO SOLUTIONS

EXCESSIVE DEMAND

CULTURE OF CONSUMERISM FUELLED BY MARKETING / ADVERTISING

ETHICS & ACCOUNTABILITY IN ADVERTISING

UNDERPRICED SUPPLY

FINANCIAL LEVERAGE WITHOUT LIMITS (‘TOO BIG TO FAIL’)

LIMITED LEVERAGE: CAPITAL ADEQUACY ETC.

RESOURCE DEPLETION

UNDERPRICED RESOURCES (LOW ROYALTIES / PERVERSE SUBSIDES)

RESOURCE TAXES REPLACE CORPORATE TAXES

PUBLIC CAPITAL LOSSES

EXTERNALIZED COSTS

MEASURE & DISCLOSE EXTERNALITIES

From Pavan Sukhdevs presentation at The Road Less Travelled, June 2014

CHECK OUT: DNV GL Group (2014): NEXT: A Safe and Sustainable Future Alliance for Sustainability and Prosperity: www.ASAP4all.org Lovins, L. H. and Cohen, B. (2012): The Way Out: Kickstarting Capitalism to Save Our Economic Ass

Club of Rome: http://www.clubofrome.org/ Edge economy: http://www.theguardian.com/ sustainable-business/blog/2014/jun/06/ global-economy-on-edge-createworld-for-100-percent

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C

LEVERAGE POINTS TO CATALYSE A REGENERATIVE ECONOMY

Leverage points are points of entry in complex systems that hold the potential to catalyse substantial change. A leverage point is effective when working on or manipulating it means that it result in faster systems change in the desired direction.

The question is – what are these promising leverage points in the current economic system and what is the best way to manipulate them to catalyse change?

The following leverage points were identified as promising places to intervene in order to change the current economic system towards a regenerative economic model.

CHANGING THE PARAMETERS PENSION AGE

Increase the pension age so that people work longer, but with fewer hours per working week.

CHANGING THE RULES OF THE SYSTEM

FINANCIAL LEVERAGE INCOME

Introduce guaranteed income so that you can close down dirty industries without the opposition from the 250,000 people that will be left unemployed, until clean industries are able to generate this same amount of jobs.

VACATION

Introduce compulsory vacation per year to better distribute jobs and get the productivity growth down.

TAXATION

Shift taxation to tax ‘bads’ rather than goods. For example, tax of emissions and the harmful effects or cost of emissions.

BLUE TEXT: LINK TO MEADOWS ARTICLE CYAN TEXT: LEVERAGE POINT BLACK TEXT (BODY COPY): HOW TO PUSH THE LEVERAGE POINT

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sector intervention to align investments with a public purpose (introduce a public purpose model to replace private market principles in some sectors like utilities).

Due to industry concentration, a limited set of players currently has immense influence. Target the CAPEX budgets of the 1,000 biggest public companies representing 50% of the market cap (10 countries and 1,000 wealth funds and a few families). Identify a number of large private companies.

REDIRECT FINANCE

Redirect finance towards investment in the real economy, from investment in the speculative economy. Reconnect capital owners with the enterprise.

Introduce rules and limits to govern financial leverage to reduce risk of ‘too big to fail’ situations threatening global economic stability.

ACCOUNTING

Corporate externalities should be measured, accounted for and disclosed. Introduce Integrated Bottom Line Reporting.

INCENTIVE SYSTEMS

Provide incentives to re-organize production chains, value chains, distribution in ways that use fewer resources. From value extraction to value addition.

STANDARDS

Advance the use of standards seen as enabling the race to the top. Change the system from within by creating performance standards that reward performance rather than punish.

BUSINESS MODELS

CAPEX INVESTMENTS

Focus on the Capital Expenditure (CAPEX) investments by companies and governments in the real economy, and introduce transparency and ESG criteria. Public

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Identify and incentivise new business models that solve societal and environmental ills while providing income to the company. E.g. access over ownership, sharing/circular/collaborative economy.

DEFINITION: Leverage points are places within a complex

system where a small shift in one thing can produce big changes in everything. It is the silver bullet, the miracle cure that turns the tide of history. We want to know where they are and how to get our hands on them. Leverage points are points of power.

– Donella Meadows, 1999

CHANGING THE DISTRIBUTION OF POWER OVER THE RULES OF THE SYSTEM

CHANGING THE GOALS OF THE SYSTEM

CHANGING THE MINDSETS OUT OF WHICH THE CURRENT SYSTEM ARISES

ECONOMIC AUTHORITY

CONSUMPTION

MINDSETS

Challenge the rules governing who has power to tell ‘the truth’ in the economic domain. Curricula in business and economic education are based on the old paradigm, resulting in authorities (economists and business leaders) with simplified models of society and the economy.

Yet these are the experts leaders trust when it comes to economic questions.

Consumption has to be redefined because of the vast new global middleclass emerging. Change from consumption of products to services, and from the accumulation of wealth, to achieving wellbeing. Develop business and technology that enable sharing models.

Work on the mindsets of top business leaders and government officials. Target the unconvinced. Reward the courageous. Empower them with knowledge of challenges and opportunities. Focus on a new understanding of the purpose of the economy. Catalyse personal epiphanies and challenge the understanding of leadership.

CHANGING THE INFORMATION FLOWS

LEADERS AND ROLE MODELS

Identify, celebrate and leverage good leaders. Push good stories to inspire change. Give good leaders platforms and positions from which to exercise leadership.

ACCESS TO INFORMATION

PURPOSE OF THE ECONOMY

Navigate the enormous amounts of information available is difficult, resulting in confusion, misinformation and limited awareness of global challenges. Launch global and local information campaigns targeted at the 99%. Narratives and messages should be tailored to individual audiences.

Define and agree on a new purpose of the economy. What is the goal of the economic system? An economy re-embedded in society and the biosphere, in service to life and contributing to generating societal well-being.

ADVERTISING

Communication is used to reinforce and create more demand, leveraging on human insecurities and converting them into wants, wants into needs, need into demand. Advertising should do the opposite – to create demand for good, not for goods. Advertising should be made responsible and accountable via norms and standards.

THE PURPOSE OF THE CORPORATION

CHECK OUT: Meadows, D. (1999): Leverage points: Places to Intervene in a System, The Sustainability Institute The map of actions in Chapter 4 of the report A Safe and Sustainable Future (DNV GL 2014) Sukhdev, P. (2012): Corporation 2020: Transforming Business for Tomorrows World, Island Press

Redefine the purpose of the corporation: to deliver value across a broader range of capitals not only financial profit for shareholders.

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D

COMMUNICATION STRATEGY: ‘INSPIRING A BETTER FUTURE’

Although awareness of the challenges facing humanity is rising, the vast majority of people around the world remain disengaged. Public pressure is vital to push through the urgently needed political decisions, as well as the changes required in other domains.

2

To mobilise broader engagement, we must strengthen our communication.

First, we need to develop a new powerful narrative – of an alternative, better future for human kind and an economy that will deliver lasting prosperity – a positive story that can engage and inspire change. Then we need smarter and more targeted communications that can effectively mobilise action on a large scale.

youth/students (see next section).

Here are some insights from the roundtable.

WHO

Target those in power today:

the business and political elites (see next section) Purpose: change mindsets and catalyse action.

3 Mobilise those in power tomorrow: Purpose: empower and mobilise engagement.

BUILDING A NEW NARRATIVE

Outline the changes needed (in the economy and in society) and how can we achieve this.

We need a new powerful sustainability narrative: a narrative that is appealing enough to compete with the neo-liberal individualist message of ‘you can have it all’. A narrative that does not focus on limits, constraints and sacrifice, but one which offers a deeper sense of vision, hope, belonging, meaning and value.

Communication must target a broad range of constituents; from individuals to businesses and political decision makers. Focus on the unconverted in order to mobilise the many.

1 What’s not working in the current

Purpose: raise awareness and mobilise engagement.

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2 The vision of a better future –

WHAT

The new narrative should delineate:

To speed up change towards a new economic system or paradigm, we need to reach the 99% with limited knowledge of sustainability.

Describe today’s equation of winning and losing, and show how the transition alters their position.

a world that brings lasting well-being and prosperity for all of human kind

TARGETING AUDIENCES

1 Moving the masses:

Make upsides and downsides visible.

Explain the risk and return dimensions in the current economy, and accompany with financial calculations to test the tolerance of the downside.

Describe what this future will look like, and what life will be in this new scenario.

3 The benefits of the transition Change the story of what is possible.

Bring benefits and opportunities up front.

In what sense is the transition profitable, technologically possible and beneficial?

In what ways is it ethically and morally superior to today’s system?

system

TAILORING THE INFORMATION

Own up to the genesis of the problems – what exactly about the current economy is wrong and what are the sources of the problems?

Identifying and understanding the target audience is important to tailor information so it is perceived to be relevant. To be effective, information should be tailored to the group we are trying to reach (scientific / unscientific, converted / unconverted, marketers, strategists, policy makers, economists, youth) as well as to the specific geography / local context.

Explain the consequences of inaction, expressing the urgency in terms of present and future dangers, boundaries and tipping points. Emphasise that sustainability is essentially a safety and security issue.

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We know a lot of people who with regards to their social status may not be able to understand these issues immediately.

But not understanding the depth of something does not stop somebody from acting in wars that are beneficial to the environment.

– Bright Simons

Localise content: This is what will happen ‘in your backyard’ (e.g. produce national versions of the IPCC reports, or make available versions accessible to the general public).

Tap into self-interest: Outline specific problems, implications, as well as concrete actions (and benefits of actions) to be taken for each target group.

Enable ownership: Translate the regenerative economy for specific regions and audiences and outline concrete actions to enable them to take it forward.

DEVELOPING IMPACTFUL MESSAGES Speak to hearts and minds: Facts and numbers do not move the masses.

We must communicate to people hearts, and focus on positive stories of change and opportunity.

Leverage the full register of emotions: We need to craft messages that entail both the fear of handing over to our children a planet in a much worse condition, and a message of inspiration and hope that gives people the courage to continue to do good things.

Learn from youth: When crafting the message, learn from defiant youth who dare to go against what is socially accepted.

Create simple and understandable information: Most people have a limited understanding of how nature operates.

If we want to educate and win hearts and minds, we have to communicate in lay terms and find ways to make analogies simple.

We should use language that different spheres of society can take ownership of, especially to reach young people.

Tell optimistic and positive stories: Success is better communicated than failure, and real world stories are needed to anchor it in everybody’s universe. Combine ‘sexiness’ with morality to advance smart and green products and services.

Focus on a few core messages: We are a fragmented movement, which reduces our impact. We should try to agree on 2-3 core messages, repeat them and convince others to rebroadcast them.

HOW ‘IN YOUR FACE’ COMMUNICATION As attention is a scarce resource, we must continuously and consistently pitch information and ideas – to believers and nonbelievers – so as to sustain interest and attention. Information must be unavoidable and up ‘in your face’. The aspiration is to trigger antipathy with the downside of business as usual practices and excitement about the transition.

Involve the media to publish measurements, metrics, indices on performance and progress in order to raise the bar and create a race to the top.

Leverage our networks (religious, youth, business, students) to sensitise and make them aware of our work.

A CALL TO RELIGIOUS LEADERS Most people around the world follow some religion, and Religious Leaders have immense power to mobilise and engage their followers.

Equipped with a message about our moral obligation to safeguard the Earth for future generations, Religious Leaders can truly become a force for good.

Religious leaders should also communicate the simple actions people can take in their everyday lives to contribute to sustainability, and the benefits from doing them.

We need a ‘Silicon Valley Mafia’ to bring up an ‘in your face issue’, for instance launching a simple gadget showing what different actors, governments, corporations are really doing.

SPREADING THE MESSAGE

CHECK OUT:

Wikify the strategy and make it opensource.

For more insight on what the new narrative should contain, see It is business as usual that is the utopian fantasy: Moving Beyond – the meeting report from the DNV GL Sustainability Roundtable convened in November 2013.

Seek collaboration with young artists, musicians, movie makers to harness ‘soft power’.

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A SHOT AT SOME CORE MESSAGES

We must agree on a few core messages that can be repeated everywhere.

Then develop targeted messages for individual audiences, based on these (countries, communities, companies, population groups, gender).

If it’s unsustainable – it’s unsafe.

The new economy is regenerative, circular, collaborative and sharing.

The transition is profitable, technologically possible and beneficial.

The purpose of business is to create value across a broad set of capitals.

A healthy environment and stable and prosperous societies are fundamental for long-term business success.

Creating and enhancing any kind of capital – not just financial, but also natural and social – generates jobs.

A sustainable future is a better future.

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Stories can be told in different ways.

To reach out to a wider segment of the population with our sustainability messages, we must start using a broader range of communication tools.

Over the following pages, we exemplify this by telling the story of the roundtable from a slightly different perspective. Situations depicted are inspired by what actually happened at the meeting.

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E

TARGETING KEY CONSTITUENCIES

The world is highly divided demographically, developmentally and agewise. The elites of the world are overwhelmingly in the developed world.

They are older, wealthier, and enfranchised. They have knowledge (or misknowledge), power and resources, and the ability to influence change.

Then there is a younger world that will be the inheritors of what we leave behind. They are predominantly in the developing world, predominantly poor and disenfranchised.

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How can we start thinking about a mobilisation strategy for those empowered in the current economic paradigm and those with a stake in tomorrow’s? What can we do to change the mindsets of three important constituencies: today’s youth, the business elite and the political elite – to give birth to the idea of a new economy that is adapted to the carrying capacity of our planet and that and delivers prosperity for the many and not the few.

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E TARGETING KEY CONSTITUENCIES

01 THE BUSINESS ELITE

The business elite comprise two very different constituencies: ■ Business leaders, in particular Chief

Financial / Investment Officers.

■ Institutional holders of financial assets

(pension funds, sovereign wealth funds, and a handful of families).

Why: There is a widespread sense that with dysfunctional political leadership in many countries, leadership is more likely to come from business. Business and finance is core both to the challenges we face as well as to delivering solutions.

Business (enabled by finance) is more flexible, has more resources and can more effectively provide innovations and solutions that build momentum to deliver a regenerative economy.

However, in order for business to deliver tomorrow’s economy, we must change the environment of the corporation

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– its enabling environment, its treatment, its policies, its prices and its institutions.

We need to redefine success from a corporate angle – not only refer to financial success, but across a broader range of parameters and capitals.

The question is how do we inspire and enable real leadership to emerge in business and finance? In what way can we strategically alter mindsets in this group?

ACTIONS TOWARDS BUSINESS LEADERS

■ Support NGO watchdogs that high-

■ Develop ‘toolboxes’ for leaders to tap

light negative impacts of business operations (company, sector and/or geography specific).

into to become more sustainable (ideas, inspirational stories, successful models, tools to measure and disclose performance etc.).

■ Invite individual or groups of CEOs

on trips to experience, challenge and enhance their understanding of issues.

THE FOUR PROPOSED E’s of business leadership engagement:

■ Target leaders in the making (business

schools). Ensure that curricula reflect the business case for a new Regenerative Economy.

■ Assist business leaders in making

operational goals for their company based on science, and support in the process of making operational changes towards becoming a more sustainable and regenerative company.

■ Create ‘dream teams’ around corporate

■ Identify, support and work with initia-

ENLIGHTEN

EMPOWER

tives and groups that are already reaching CEOs (UN Global Compact, WBCSD, BSR, Ceres, Natural Capitalism Solutions) and the not so usual suspects like local Chambers of Commerce, Rotaries, industry associations and mainstream industry conferences.

management to support in strategy development processes. Help leaders understand how to implement a change process.

■ Identify and support initiatives that are

empowering business leaders, e.g. the Ellen MacArthur Foundation empowering and training leaders on the circular economy.

■ Mobilise Religious Leaders to speak

ENGAGE

with CEOs. ■ Create ‘safe, authorized, recurrent

ENABLE

spaces’ in which CEOs, researchers, faith leaders, artists and others can safely learn from each other and begin to co-design new innovative solutions to our wicked problems.

3) ENGAGE: TO CATALYSE TRANSFORMATIONAL CHANGE Foster deeper engagement with business leaders (and their organisations) to speed and scale up change.

■ Build partnerships and collective action

1) ENLIGHTEN: REACHING THE UNCONVINCED

2) EMPOWER: WITH KNOWLEDGE AND TOOLS

Reaching business leaders who are not convinced of the need to change our current economic model is the first and most difficult step. There is agreement that personal epiphanies are powerful in triggering change. The question is how can we create enabling conditions for epiphanies to occur? What are entrypoints that can change business leaders’ understanding of issues radically and result in recognition of the need to do things differently?

Once understanding and commitment has emerged, the next step is to educate and empower business leaders with the knowledge, strategies and tools to enable them make the necessary changes to their business model and operations.

Tools and resources must be aligned with business objectives.

■ Convene CEO-to-CEO dialogues.

■ Educate leaders with knowledge

of issues that is science-based and company-specific. Explain how global challenges will impact their business operations. Encourage leaders to make science-based decisions.

initiatives with leading companies to more effectively tackle complex challenges (identify risks and challenges where collaboration is beneficial and target companies to build coalitions).

■ Help business leaders to identify and

capitalise on opportunities. E.g. how building ecological infrastructure, such as planting forests to prevent desertification or mangroves to help with coastal damage problems, can bring business opportunity, create jobs and protect natural capital.

■ Start collective action initiatives with

leading business to lobby policymakers for improved regulation, raise the bar on standards etc.

■ Produce business relevant briefing

material specifically for CEOs (e.g.

■ Clarify the business case for action

■ Form collective groups of leaders

IPCC briefings targeted at sectors and

(move beyond anecdotal evidence, and tailor to the specific company context).

Help leaders see opportunities to generate revenue and create jobs whilst protecting the environment and doing societal good.

Ensure that corporate leaders are familiar with the growing body of evidence of the business case for behaving more sustainably.

leading the way. Identify the 8–10 biggest businesses in any sector, and couple them with 4–5 most relevant governments. Get together and agree on collective targets.

Example: In Indonesia, leaders from several industries agree with government on no net deforestation by 2020.

geographies).

■ Mobilise children: Reach out to children

of business leaders, and invite kids / youth into annual meetings.

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47

ACTIONS TOWARDS INSTITUTIONAL HOLDERS OF ASSETS

Only a marginal shift of capital allocation (around 1-2%) from dirty to clean industries is needed to enable the transition to a green economy.

The world has never had more money than it has today. Yet, much of the money currently flooding the system is earning zero to negative returns. There has never been a time where investment in the green economy has looked as attractive, and it is in the self-interest of capital owners to look at the risk-reward landscape and to allocate money toward green investments.

4) ENABLE: THE EXERCISE OF LEADERSHIP Once leadership is borne, business leaders must be mobilised to reach out to a broader audience. At present, few leaders are comfortable speaking openly and strongly on the issue of sustainability. More voices of good leaders should be celebrated and fostered.

■ Celebrate leaders who show courage.

Give good leaders platforms and positions from which to exercise their leadership. Map upcoming events and political moments we can leverage and leaders that are willing to be vocal.

MESSAGES TOWARDS BUSINESS LEADERS

■ The overwhelming body of scientific

evidence tells us that the physical and biological world is changing rapidly and for the worse. Economic activity is pushing us towards planetary boundaries. Consequences will impact the financial performance of business in the short and long term. Take responsibility to manage and mitigate impacts, and start adapting to change.

■ The purpose of business is to generate

■ Support the development of communi-

cation strategies and messages to enable leaders to communicate the rationale for decisions (based in both science and economics) to shareholders, customers, peers and the general public.

value across a broad range of capitals, beyond financial, and this should be part of the culture of the way business is conducted. In the end of the day, business will only thrive in stable, healthy and educated communities.

■ Create platforms of dialogue between

■ Start seeing sustainability as oppor-

groups of CEOs and policymakers.

tunity. The business case is now incontrovertible. Time is ripe for business opportunities with co-benefits in both generating wellbeing and taking control of environmental challenges.

■ Develop and communicate stories of

impact. Most leaders are not communicating well enough the good work they are doing, and the results they achieve.

■ Be vocal about needs for predictable ■ Celebrate creative, responsible entre-

preneurship and business models that generates both financial value and value for society and the environment.

48

regulations. Lobby politicians to raise the bar.

THE ROAD LESS TRAVELLED: PATHWAYS TO TRANSFORMATION

However, institutionalised capital such as pension funds tend to be managed by politically elected representatives who hand over capital allocation responsibility to investment professionals.

These generally invest according to the principles of modern portfolio theory despite the fact that this has proven to perform poorly throughout multiple financial crises. For political leadership, this is risk reducing as responsibility for poor performance can be transferred to the investment professionals.

A problem with modern portfolio theory is that it makes it legitimate to speculate in stocks. When you invest in a public company, experts are playing the stock market looking to gain from buying and selling. This is a very different kind of investment than investing in an actual enterprise’s cash flows. What the pensioners need is steady flow of income over time which you can get if you invest in the cash flow of the business.

The challenge is to shift big flows of money from the speculative economy into the real economy in ways that deliver the pension revenues the pensioners need? How do we work on the mindsets of institutional capital holders to enable this shift?

ACTIONS TOWARDS ASSET OWNERS

■ Ensure that asset owners understand

the increased risk of investing in unsustainable companies, and the superior performance of sustainability leaders.

■ Work with capital owners to move

investments towards direct ownership in companies (invest directly in companies and their cash flows), rather than speculative investment. Move from short-term speculative investment to long-term investment acting both in the interest of the company and the asset owner.

■ Divest from companies that are not

performing well on environmental, social and governance indicators.

■ Encourage capital owners to engage

with companies to improve measurement, management and reporting on externalities. Require regular disclosure of performance on non-financial metrics.

■ Investors should reward good corporate

performance to speed up the transition.

■ Require transparency and disclosure

by capital owners and asset managers how they invest and how ESG criteria are incorporated in analysis and decision-making.

■ Awareness raising and training of asset

owners and the professional consultants they rely on to better understand nonfinancial risk.

MESSAGES TOWARDS ASSET OWNERS

■ Shift capital flows towards the real

economy. Invest directly in sustainably managed companies.

■ Engage with companies to improve

performance on environmental, social and governance criteria.

■ Demand that investment professionals

investing on your behalf embed ESG metrics in their investment analysis and decision-making.

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49

E TARGETING KEY CONSTITUENCIES

02 THE POLITICAL ELITE

Against the backdrop of an emerging environmental disaster, rising levels of unemployment, inequality and deteriorating global security, there is a widespread and growing sense that political leadership is failing on its mandate.

In the context of the global economy, regulation defines the context within which private profitability works.

Finance flows where regulations guide it to flow. However, at present, the risks of business as usual are underpriced, underdiscussed and not sufficiently understood, and investments in unsustainable businesses are over-rewarded. On the other hand, opportunities associated with the regenerative economy are not rewarded and the risks are exaggerated.

50

Lack of smart, predictable long-term regulation aggravates problems and limits economic (and social) prosperity in the long-run. However, if the shift towards sustainable and regenerative investments is incentivised, the likelihood of continued economic prosperity in the decades to come is significantly increased.

We know that only a marginal shift in capital allocation is needed from brown to green, for the emergence of a green economy. Now is the time to capitalise on opportunities for change - for making sustainable investments and creating jobs, opportunity and value for all.

THE ROAD LESS TRAVELLED: PATHWAYS TO TRANSFORMATION

What can be done through regulation, incentives, standard-setting, public procurement etc. to tilt this landscape?

How can the political elite be encouraged to step up and be counted, to avert the dangerous consequences of business as usual, to realise the potential of a new societal and economic model and provide a vision for achieving it?

■ Reward leadership and entrepre-

ACTIONS

MESSAGES

TOWARDS THE POLITICAL ELITE

TOWARDS THE POLITICAL ELITE

neurship: Celebrate, incentivise and reward green leadership and entrepreneurship.

■ Education: Update curricula of

national institutions of education to foster green leadership.

■ Start holding political leaders account-

■ Multilateralism: Continued to support

able for making science-based decisions.

multilateralism. Push for a global agreement. Make the business case for a carbon price, and for taking aggressive action to solve the climate crisis.

■ Transparency: Good policies need

■ Beyond politics: Depoliticise the debate

■ Redirect ODA: Use Official Devel-

so that it opens up more space to regulate for a low-carbon, equitable and regenerative future.

opment Assistance (ODA) to cover transition costs towards green and regenerative economy (monetary and employment costs).

■ Lobby to ensure that financial regu-

lation and incentives are aligned with sustainability priorities and that capital flows towards sustainable and equitable investments.

■ Lobby to shift incentives towards re-

sponsible bottom-up entrepreneurship – tools, models, strategies – to drive sustainable job creation. Create incubators like Unreasonable Institute in all countries.

■ Powerful business leaders are capable

of changing the minds of political leadership. Mobilise groups of powerful CEOs to speak with political leadership on how to raise the bar related to sustainability.

■ Regulation as part of the solution:

Counter the idea that regulation is bad.

The regulatory strategy is not a political approach; it is a solution for a problem with immediate and multiple benefits: in health, in providing jobs, in generating more equality and more personal satisfaction.

■ Ensure predictability: Develop stable

■ Deploy new technology to improve

transparency around government decisions.

■ Identify, share best practices, and

to be transparent, and business needs to be part of building new regulatory systems.

and predictable regulation. Dialogue with business leaders about what they need to succeed in business whilst allowing society to succeed in our common goals.

show the benefits of smart regulations.

■ Align regulations and mandates:

Align regulation and policy with scientific evidence across all government departments (including finance ministries).

■ Job creation: Financial capital is not

the only kind of capital that generates employment. Creating or enhancing any form of capital, e.g. natural capital like replanting forests or rehabilitating rivers, creates jobs.

■ Raise awareness: Rich countries should finance a global communications campaign to raise awareness of sustainability issues.

■ Regulate pricing: Establish two price

labels on products - average lifetime usage cost and retail prices – to allow consumers to make wiser decisions.

■ Empowerment: Apply the public

health concept of KAP – knowledge, attitude and practice – in sustainability.

By informing and educating people at every level of society, and by working with them on their attitudes (or aspirations), we help develop their practice that allows them to achieve their aspirations.

■ Local job creation: Advance a model for sustainable job creation at the community level to tackle unemployment and poverty: ¨ Eliminating unnecessary outflow

– people drain, money drain, resource drain – support self-sufficiency. How can the community do more for itself?

Start by understanding what the community’s capital is across a broad range of capitals (See the LASER manual: http://natcapsolutions.org). ¨ Support the existing business

community – train and educate locally, source locally. ¨ Create an entrepreneurial climate

■ Financial flows: Redirect capital

investment of public pension funds directly towards companies, rather than in the speculative economy.

■ National assessment reports: Produce national versions of the IPCC assessment reports so that people understand what is happening ‘in their backyard’.

– teach entrepreneurial mentality and tools to youth they believe they can build their own businesses. Establish institutional support mechanisms to enable new entrepreneurs. ¨ If you bring in things from the outside

– ensure that there is a net-economic gain for the community.

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51

E TARGETING KEY CONSTITUENCIES

03 YOUTH

‘Nobody washes a rental car’: Some people are pre-disposed to not care since they do not own the problem and are not going to live with the consequences. The advantage with youth is that there is an acknowledgement that ‘they are stuck with the rental car’.

Young people are wired to be part of change and want a shot at the future.

To be given the opportunity take part, be creative and do something positive.

However, frustration is high – the world is messed up but how can we make a difference?

We must empower youth everywhere to participate in discussions concerning their future. Mass youth unemployment, lack of opportunity and rising levels of inequality cause frustration with dangerous consequences (shootings in the USA, rapes in India and recruitment to terrorist organisations). In addition to generating jobs and opportunity for youth, there is a need to involve youth in decision-making to create a sense of responsibility and control that they have a voice in determining their future.

The benefit is that youth have a regenerative mindset by default, and as such we do not need to focus on changing their mindsets (but are not versed in the concepts and need to be informed). Instead, what is needed is a concrete vision that is pragmatic and achievable to give hope and inspire commitment and action to break from the past and to change the

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THE ROAD LESS TRAVELLED: PATHWAYS TO TRANSFORMATION

errors of the system. A vision offering a new definition of success and worth, needs to encourage a move away from consumption of material goods and a new concept of personal status that does not depend on what we own, to guide desires and aspirations towards different values (sharing, relationships, community, compassion).

To inspire engagement, for instance on climate change, it often takes something personal to connect people to the issues.

From cities to rural areas, programs to engage youth must be tailored to location to enable them to become active contributors to making their communities better and more sustainable places to live and work. In fact, there are unlimited ideas, enthusiasm and aspirations to tap into but resources and support are needed to help youth pursue these ideas.

ACTIONS TOWARDS YOUTH

■ Common vision: Concretise the vision

and mission to enable a better understanding of what people are getting behind.

and to think about nature in different ways.

Encourage involvement in urban and local initiatives such as to change conceptions about where food is coming from – through simple gardening promoting locally sourced food, water catchment system and beekeeping. Show kids that producing food means that it doesn’t just show up on their plate as just another product they can consume. This can affect mindset change about consumerism.

■ Foster intergenerational dialogue:

■ Create a kids version of the Regener-

ative Economy: a version that is understandable for kids so that we can prepare them for the mentality they are going to take over and create a new world.

to promote sustainability and conservation by fostering engaged action, sharing knowledge and experience, and mutual learning.

■ Create a Brain Chain: to channel

■ ‘One size does not all’: Use technology

to communicate pains and gains and tailor locally. Most people are only ‘as big as their own bubble’, and the creation of a movement may be more successful if location-based strategies are developed. For instance, tools should make it possible to see how climate change is affecting local conditions. Regional stories are needed to spread messages specific to locations and to show how sustainability challenges affect ‘your backyard’.

knowledge, vision and actions into the youth community and to create a young majority attitude. Young religious leaders may be effective in ingraining knowledge with communities.

■ Convene youth in cross-continental

events to create young leaders: expos and festivals can be localised with local causes but fit into larger picture of global issues such as climate change, waste, and water. Build commitment to spread insights and initiatives to communities to create regenerative citizens.

■ Use social media: Capitalise on the

power of social media to engage, galvanize fast and to communicate urgency and action. Mobilise ‘geeks to movement’ with apps and services for doing good on the web.

■ Mentorship: Corporate leaders can

drive the shift by offering professional mentorship to students to help develop them into sustainability leaders.

o Initiate social media campaigns to

mobilise youth all over the world not to buy from companies that are not willing to meet with youth and discuss their strategies and operations. o Provide qualified information to put

attention on corporations and then invite them to the 21st century town hall for challenge-focused discussions.

■ Green educational institutions: Establish green auditing of schools and launch competitions and give awards and incentives to schools that are going green and becoming more sustainable.

Mobilise student communities to be the agents of change. Show inspiring examples of how they implement (e.g. recycling, creating art from waste).

■ Youth Certified: Establish a trans-

parent, professional and accountable methodology and infrastructure for ‘youth certification’ of corporations and organizations – certifying that they are acting responsibly towards future generations.

Make this certification as rigorous and trustworthy as any other accepted certification scheme.

MESSAGES TOWARDS YOUTH

■ Connect youth with those in power: ■ Build capacity: provide the means by

equipping youth with the right tools to drive engagement with stakeholders and to influence corporate decision making.

■ Hands-on tools: Organise workshops

for young students (10-20) on issues like carbon calculation to give them handson skills, so they can take it back and use in their own lives.

■ Cultivate new heroes: Identify and

mobilize youth icons to inspire broader engagement.

Include youth on all major corporate boards and where decisions are made to check that corporations and politicians are making decisions that are beneficial to our long-term well-being. Train youth leadership voices to be effective in the decision-making arenas.

■ Engage with corporations: Use isolation tactics and target ‘bad’ companies or companies with planned obsolescence.

Companies respond to public criticism on social media. Step one is disgrace, step two is to invite to peaceful discussion and dialogue (in ‘town hall meetings’):

■ Target teachers and education:

Change educational curricula in primary school to teach younger students to respect the earth, to act with compassion, to balance cooperation with competition

o Establish Evilcorp.org or corporate-

watch.org with youth holding corporations accountable for a regenerative economy.

■ You are more powerful than you think,

and you are capable of more things than you can imagine.

■ Be vocal about what you want for the

future, and the changes you want to see.

You have a voice and a right to take part in decision-making.

■ Climate change is your issue and prob-

lem. It is about your future and survival.

Take a stand and be active. Hold companies and politicians accountable.

■ Aspire for other values in life (commu-

nity, compassion), beyond the Western/ American lifestyle. Consumption of material goods is not the purpose of life.

A similar level of comfort is possible based on other values and models (sharing).

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53

F

THE ROLE OF DNV GL: ENABLING THE TRANSITION

DNV GL strives to be a sustainable organisation. Through the services we provide to our customers, the investments we make in research and innovation, and the way we run our business, we seek to create social, environmental and economic value over the long term.

Our vision – global impact for a safe and sustainable future – expresses our ambition to make a positive contribution to the world by aligning the needs of business with the needs of people and the planet.

Driven by our purpose of safeguarding life, property and the environment, we enable our customers to advance the safety and sustainability of their business.

With 80,000 customers in 25 industries, our approach is to embed sustainability in everything we do. Building on science, we seek to use our independent expert assurance and advice to improve the performance of business globally whether in the maritime industry, energy, oil & gas, healthcare, food & beverage or any other sector we operate in.

Our approach is to embed this knowledge into standards, guidelines and recommended practices, which is shared to the benefit of industry.

In a time of increased stakeholder scrutiny, complexity and risk, we believe that such standardisation will raise the bar of performance, enable concerted and joint action, and help to re-establish important trust between business, government and society.

HOW WILL WE WORK TO ENABLE THE TRANSITION?

54

With technology qualification and validation, we aspire to accelerate solutions and the deployment and commercialisation of sustainable technologies while ensuring reliability, performance, and that they are introduced safely into society.

■ Building resilience

Our risk-based framework helps decision-makers include climate risks in their assessment of different adaptation measures.

■ Tackling the energy trilemma:

Through our classification, verification, testing and assurance services we seek to enhance safety, efficiency and sustainability of our customers.

Decarbonising our power sector is an essential part of the low carbon transition. We work with customers to solve the energy trilemma: delivering energy which is not just clean – but affordable and secure.

■ Sustainable performance

■ Investments in research and

Through our certification and advisory services, we seek to embed sustainability into the core of business operations to improve management and disclosure of impacts.

innovation Every year we channel 5% of our revenue into research and innovation, to provide customers and society with operational and technological foresight.

■ Confidence in outcomes

■ Standards and guidelines

Our independent status and global reach enable us to explore technology, ideas and innovations that lie in the intersections between sectors and regions.

It also enables us to act as a neutral convening platform for dialogue where actions, solutions and opportunities can be explored and developed.

■ Trust in technology

We continuously update and develop new standards, guidelines and recommended practices based on science – to improve performance and build trust.

THE ROAD LESS TRAVELLED: PATHWAYS TO TRANSFORMATION

So to me, as an outsider, the essence of DNV GL is trust.

That’s a value that is in huge demand right now in face of increasing risks. So I wish I could buy your shares.

– John Fullerton

THE ROAD LESS TRAVELLED: PATHWAYS TO TRANSFORMATION

55

F THE ROLE OF DNV GL

A SELECTION OF SUGGESTIONS FROM THE ROUNDTABLE PARTICIPANTS TO DNV GL:

Crowdsource around the Safe and Sustainable Future report

Partner to advance a Regenerative Economy

Ask roundtable participants how they will contribute to the 66 actions in Chapter 4: Changing Course, and establish a clearing house to keep track of these commitments.

Establish a collaborative effort anchored at DNV GL to move the idea of a regenerative economy into the world.

Certify the safety of contraceptives

Assess the State of the Planets Future Publish a biannual ‘State of the Planet’s Future’ report, DNV GL’s best judgment on whether humanity is on its way to a good future for most people or not.

Collaborate with the government of Norway to question the future of oil, and oil development.

Provide technical advice to governments

Certify the safety of the world Look at parts, sectors, how far are we from the place we want, and should be?

How far are we from the right levels and how far are we beyond the borders?

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THE ROAD LESS TRAVELLED: PATHWAYS TO TRANSFORMATION

Some governments do not have technical capacity to know what is right or wrong.

Maybe the advice they get from consultants is not right. DNV GL should show governments the right way to do things, how it should be done.

EXAMPLES OF HOW WE WORK: INVESTING IN INNOVATION

VIKING LADY: THE WORLDS MOST ENVIRONMENTALLY FRIENDLY SHIP

POWER MATCHING CITY: EXPLORING THE FUTURE ENERGY SYSTEM

PLASTIC AQUATIC: CLEANING UP PLASTIC DEBRIS IN THE OCEANS

AQUA RECOVERY: MOBILE OFFSHORE WASTEWATER RECYCLING

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57

G

YOUR COMMITMENT

What will you do now to contribute making the world safer and more sustainable?

Write down your commitment and send it to corporatesustainability@dnvgl.com

NOTES

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THE ROAD LESS TRAVELLED: PATHWAYS TO TRANSFORMATION

SINCE THE ROUNDTABLE: FROM COMMITMENTS TO ACTION Words must be translated into action. Here is a selection of actions and commitments by roundtable participants since June:

TRAINING YOUNG LEADERS Alec Loorz’ has launched the Circle of Fire project to train young leaders to dialogue with those in power today, with the proud support of DNV GL. ENGAGING RELIGIOUS LEADERS Bawa Jain has distributed 285 copies of the Safe and Sustainable Future report and NEXT book to his network of world religious leaders.

RAISING AWARENESS Jo Confino has launched the Rethinking Prosperity website, in partnership with DNV GL GREEN CHEMISTRY TECHNOLOGY

SHARING PRACTICES John Fullerton will profile DNV GL in the Field guide to a regenerative economy.

A GLOBAL STRATEGY FOR CHANGE Hunter Lovins is convening a network of 100 international experts to craft a new narrative for the economy anand build a global strategy for change (the Alliance for Sustainability and Prosperity).

TECHNOLOGY TRANSFER DNV GL has launched a partnership with UNEP to establish the Climate Technology Centre and Network to improve access to climate change mitigation and adaptation technologies in developing countries.

Tine Rørvik and Norner will work to influence clients to think sustainability within their investment portfolios. The company has also decided to strengthen its focus on building a brand new strategy for green Chemistry technology.

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59

NEXT STEPS: THE JOURNEY CONTINUES… The roundtable was but one stop on DNV GL’s sustainability journey.

Our vision of having global impact for a safe and sustainable future will continue to guide our efforts in the years to come.

The roundtable has given us a better understanding about what the world needs to do to move in the right direction, and how we can work with the most important constituents in this transition. We also appreciate more than ever the importance of working together as we collectively write the next chapter in the history of humanity.

This document presents a synthesis of the collective thinking of a unique group of wise, experienced people, and outlines concrete ideas for how we can engage key constituencies to speed up the transition to a regenerative economy.

DNV GL ROUNDTABLE IN 2015: FROM STRATEGY TO ACTIONS DNV GL will to continue to facilitate the discussion among the roundtable participants, and will invite participants to a third roundtable in 2015.

We do this because we believe that this particular group of people is uniquely positioned to take a leading role in developing new ideas and solutions which may contribute to overcome critical

barriers and speed up the change we urgently need to see. If we continue to work together, share experiences, learn from and inspire each other, and align our forces – we believe we can deliver the push impact the transition towards a new model for our society and economy.

We invite you to continue to work with us to turn our ideas and commitments into action.

We encourage every reader of this document to take on the actions outlined herein and join us on our journey towards a safe and sustainable future for human kind.

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61

PARTICIPANTS The roundtable brought together a wide cross-section of leading voices on sustainability.

This mix of people was designed to create a meeting of all the talents, inspiring original thinking to help find solutions to some of the most important challenges the world faces today.

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HENRIK O. MADSEN

RAJENDRA K. PACHAURI

President & CEO, DNV GL Group

Chairman, Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC)

JOHN FULLERTON

MAJORA CARTER

BRIGHT SIMONS

SONY KAPOOR

Founder and President, Capital Institute

Founder, Sustainable South Bronx; Urban Revitalization Strategist And Public Radio Host.

President, Mpedigree

Director of International Think Tank Re-Define

KEVIN NOONE

ROBERT ENGELMAN

KAJSA LI PALUDAN

JACK LIU

Director, Swedish Secretariat for Environmental Earth System Sciences

Former President, the Worldwatch Institute

Co-Founder and co-Director of Cultura 21 Nordic; DNV GL Future Young Sustainability Leader

Director, MSU’s Centre for Systems Integration and Sustainability

THE ROAD LESS TRAVELLED: PATHWAYS TO TRANSFORMATION

GEORG KELL

HABIBA AL MARASHI

JO CONFINO

PAVAN SUKHDEV

MARINA GROSSI

Executive Director, United Nations Global Compact

Co-Founder and Chairperson, Emirates Environmental Group; President at Arabia CSR Network

(MODERATOR) Executive Editor of the Guardian; Editorial Director, Guardian Sustainable Business

Founder, CEO of Gist Advisory; author of corporation 2020

President, BCSD brasil (CEBDS)

AIMÉE CHRISTENSEN

BAWA JAIN

ALEC LOORZ

JØRGEN RANDERS

L. HUNTER LOVINS

Founder and CEO, Christensen Global Strategies

Secretary-General, the Millennium World Peace Summit of Religious and Spiritual Leaders; The Would Council of Religious Leaders

Founder of Imatter, Kids vs. Global Warming; DNV GL Future Young Sustainability Leader

Professor of Climate Strategy, Norwegian Business School

President and Founder, Natural Capitalism Solutions

SVEN MOLLEKLEIV

TINE RØRVIK

BJØRN K. HAUGLAND

LAILA BOKHARI

SARAH KAY

Senior Vice President, DNV GL Group; President, Norwegian Red Cross

CEO of Innovation Company, Norner AS

Executive Vice President and Chief Sustainability Officer, DNV GL Group

State Secretary, Office of the Prime Minister of Norway

(STORYTELLER) Spoken-word poet

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SAFER, SMARTER, GREENER

HEADQUARTERS: DNV GL AS NO-1322 Høvik, Norway Tel: +47 67 57 99 00 www.dnvgl.com

Driven by our purpose of safeguarding life, property and the environment, DNV GL enables organisations to advance the safety and sustainability of their business.

We provide classification and technical assurance along with software and independent expert advisory services to the maritime, oil and gas, and energy industries.

We also provide certification services to customers across a wide range of industries.

Operating in more than 100 countries, our 16,000 professionals are dedicated to helping our customers make the world safer, smarter and greener.

The trademarks DNV GL and the Horizon Graphic are the property of DNV GL AS. All rights reserved. ©DNV GL 11/2014 Design: Fasett Photos: Dag Thorenfeldt (participants (portraits and roundtable meetings)), Andy Glass / Happy Finish (page 16–17), Getty Images: (page 21), iStock (page 27).

Illustrations: John Christian Ferner Apalnes (page 38–43), Erik Tanche Nilssen AS (page 25)