Is sustainable business compatible with the capitalist economy ?

Résumé du document

Sustainable development, fair trade, ecology and environment, ethics, ecological footprint; all these terms are nowadays taken up by the media. Over two hundred years, we went through four different approaches towards the environment: exploitation, simply seeking profit from it; preservation, with the opening of natural parks, like the Yellowstone national park in 1872; purpose, using natural resources with caution ; and finally a sustainable approach, using resources, while making sure it does not have any damaging effect on the human and the bio-physical environment. We are thus, witnessing the beginning of a profound transformation, the successor to the agricultural and industrial revolutions, the environmental revolution, or as Tony Blair refers to it, "the coming green industrial revolution". We also hear constantly the following terms : market economy, stock-exchange, interest rates, profit, monopoly, economic growth etc. They describe the capitalist economy in which we live. These two opinion circles are often in conflict and generate fiery discussions. Some argue that a development at the expense of the environment is not viable in the long run. In order to be perennial, the economic development should respect the regeneration rate of natural ressources, respecting at the same time the next generation. Others defend that sustainable development is a waste of time and money, and that is is not conceivable in our capitalist economy and its free market. This leads us to the following questions : do we have to choose between a prosperous economy and a clean environment ? Is it possible in a capitalist economy to set up a sustainable business ? Is sustainable business actually compatible with capitalism ?

Extraits

[...] In the same way, the rubber price is 30% higher. VEJA is involved in an education project for the children of the agrarian community. Then, the spinning, the weaving, the sewing and the general manufacturing are done with dignity in brazilian workshops, respecting the international rules of the International Labour Organization : no childwork, good working conditions, decent salaries, and respect of labour hours and overtime. Finally, for the carrying of stock and the delivery, VEJA works with a rehabilitation association. [...]

[...] Development, as a disguise for progress is an advertising catchphrase.9» It is a public-relations strategy : many companies spend more to let know they have adopted a CSR policy than in the policy in itself. The pragmatic argument : sustainability does not match capitalism Sustainable development has not yet proved its compatibility with capitalism. The objectives of the various Earth Summits have not been reached. The Stockholm Environment Institute has published a report in 2002, which shows that since 1992, most of the concrete improvements concerning sustainable development have come from NGOs, and not from companies. Does this not attest the impossiblity of correctly combining social, economic and environmental aspects ? [...]

[...] Is sustainable business actually compatible with capitalism ? Presentations on sustainable development : http://www.cons-dev.org/elearning/devdur/index.html British Sustainable Development Unit : http://www.sustainable-development.gov.uk/advice/business/index.htm 3 Facing the multitude of speeches and opinions on the subject, it is important to redefine in a first part the concepts of capitalism and sustainable business. We will then outline in a second part the arguments for the incompatibility of the two concepts, and in a third part those for their harmonious combination 1st Part: Presentation of the concepts The concept of capitalism Capitalism is an economic system based on wage earning and agreement, and characterized by capital accumulation3. [...]

[...] In Remaking society (1990), he wrote To speak of ' to growth'under a capitalistic market economy is as meaningless as to speak of limits of warfare under a warrior society. The moral pieties, that are voiced today by many wellmeaning environmentalists, are as naive as the moral pieties of multinationals are manipulative. Capitalism can no more be ' persuaded' limit growth than a human being can to be ' persuaded'to stop breathing. Attempts to ' green'capitalism, to make it ' ecological' are , doomed by the very nature of the system as a system of endless growth.12 It is the aim of everlasting growth in capitalism that makes it incompatible with sustainability, whose 11 "consumerism." The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition. [...]

[...] Sustainable development is not an oxymoron, but it has to face many contradictions within capitalism : we all want pure air to breath, but we also want a car to go from one place to another. How can a sustainable business go past these contradictions ? 12 Role of businesses in the success of sustainable development First, we have to remind that businesses have a pivotal role to play in the environmental revolution. They are more powerful than consumers, NGOs or governments. Out of all stakeholders, they are the ones powerful enough te really make things change. [...]