ECONOMIC REPORT

CARBON CREDIT CAPITAL LLC.

ECONOMICREPORT

By Olivia Fussell, Managing Director of Carbon Credit Capital LLC.

The 4th ‘P’ - Profit, People, Planet, and Purpose We are at a major crossroads between business and society. With the agreed upon Trans-Pacific Partnership, 18,000 tariffs placed on U.S. products will end, helping businesses in auto, machinery, IT, consumer goods, and agriculture (According to The Office of the USTR). The TPP will be a boon for consumers, offering lower prices. However, critics warn of reduction and layoffs for other U.S. sectors. How will progressive companies with triple-bottom line approaches react to globalization? And how will they react to economic volatility and uncertainty? The New York Times believes Harvard Business School Survey’s on U.S. Competitiveness “offers good reason to temper optimism” 2 | SUSTAINABLE BUSINESS MAGAZINE

on corporate social change. Harvard’s Survey found “inequality, poverty, and related economic outcomes to worsen in America.” So I ask again, this time to directors and managers, how will you balance social responsibility and sustainability priorities during economic uncertainty? In order to answer that question, executives must ask themselves, “What is your company’s corporate purpose?” Several years ago, Murphy’s Law struck the carbon-offset industry. First it was plunging prices, then the financial crisis, and finally major headlines surrounded the effectiveness and ethics of carbon-offsets. These were difficult times. Could we still compete? Did we still have trust and credibility among our clients? And