More and more these days, I find myself reading the news in the morning and becoming increasingly fed up with what we are doing to ourselves, the society we live in and the planet we live on. Driving through my local town, High Wycombe, Irealise that this Chiltern town is sadly a great example of exactly what we are doing, or not doing, on a local scale.

More and more, businesses are being asked to demonstrate their Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) credentials, also known as CSR and if a business can’t illustrate what they are doing, they will miss out on opportunities to win new business. This sounds like a great way forward and it is, however, it can often be a “tick in the box” and not a genuine effort on behalf of the awarding body or the business, to do the right thing and play their part in the global recovery.

As with many towns across the world, there is more pressure on the local authority to develop more housing, provide more infrastructure and support a growing population, whilst at the same time trying to protect the environment.  A tough task in anyone’s books. Sadly, what happens more often than not, is money rules, retail spaces are developed in areas that would be good residential opportunities, services are downsized and the community suffers. This then drags people away from the town centres, causing a break down in the social structure of a community, making it harder to support those people who really need it and increasing the carbon footprint of the area.

In order for our society to have any chance of evolving and protecting what we have for generations to come, we have to change the way we think and change our priorities. This does not mean we have to become a communist state, far from it, what we have to do is put society and the environment on an equal footing to profit and in doing so, we will be able to build a truly sustainable society.

I am not a politician, but it does seem to me that the traditional political structure of left wing and right wing has to change and there needs to be a democratic option that allows business to thrive when they are doing the right thing and to penalise those who aren’t.

Increasingly, I am working with more businesses to develop ESG / CSR strategies and it does seem that there is greater awareness now within the business community. However, for those who are not interested or are just ticking boxes, be warned, Gen Z will not engage with you either as a customer or an employee or supplier and your drive for short term profit will lead to long term pain and financial problems.

Doing the right thing is no longer a nice thing to do, it is an essential part of business. To find out how I can help you, get in touch or have a look at www.csr-accreditaion.com where you can find out how to get an accreditation for your business that ensures you will have a framework in place to deliver a genuinely sustainable business that is profitable.