One small step for man…one giant leap from the ashes

I left the UK last year, just before the economic downturn hit so I was little bit apprehensive about the state of the country upon my return for a holiday last month. Thoughts and questions went through my head like will my local post office still be there? Will my favourite high street shops be having closing down sales? And even more depressing, will Brits be even more cynical than usual?

Pushing those thoughts out of my head, I focused on the positive aspects of my trip like spending quality time with my family. As I settled down for the long flight ahead I took a moment to look out of the window and caught myself staring in wonderment. It just amazes me how beautiful yet fragile our planet looks, especially the view you get from the plane*. It got me thinking about all the troubles on the ground and how we seem to focus a lot of attention and money on fixing the vulnerability of our economies and less on protecting the very support system that sustains us. It reminded me of a quote from an American astronaut Donald Williams, “For those who have seen the Earth from space, and for the hundreds and perhaps thousands more who will, the experience most certainly changes your perspective. The things that we share in our world are far more valuable than those which divide us.”

After arriving safely I was pleasantly surprised to see no obvious sign of the doom and gloom that the media had depicted. Whilst visiting my brother in London for a few days I went along to an event hosted by the Institute of Business Ethics where I heard sustainability guru (and inspiration of mine) John Elkington speak. His topic was Business Ethics in a Phoenix Economy – an analogy of the mythical bird rising from the ashes. His take on the current economic climate is that there is no global recession rather that we are experiencing ‘economic discontinuity’. He went on to explain that this discontinuity is engendering a radical clear-out of unsustainable economic models and opening up new market and entrepreneurial solutions. He gave examples of organisations like the Skoll Foundation, Google.org, and the Obama Presidency as a symbol of leadership for change.

After the event I felt a sense of relief that all this talk of failing economies may actually be good for us and our planet. The other key take-out from the event was that true leadership in sustainability is not going about your business and feeling satisfied with your own performance, it’s about stepping out of the comfort zone, having a voice and lobbying on the key issues impacting our society. This approach has been part of Westpac’s DNA for a number of years and one which has been recognised globally (e.g. Dow Jones Sustainability Index and Corporate Responsibility Index). And it’s this kind of leadership that makes me proud to work for Westpac. Recently our sustainability programme Our Tomorrow Project went public. The key message of the campaign “little things we do today, add up to big things tomorrow” captures the very essence of what John was saying in that a new generation of individuals and entrepreneurs are capable of accelerating the changes required for delivering scalable sustainable solutions to the world. So, if you haven’t already, I urge you to join Our Tomorrow Project and be part of our local movement to drive change in New Zealand.

One final note, I read this quote by American icon Bruce Barton the other day and thought it a fitting end to my blog “sometimes when I consider what tremendous consequences come from little things…I am tempted to think…there are no little things.”

To read more about The Phoenix Economy report click here http://www.volans.com/volans-solutions/phoenix-economy/

*In case you were wondering emissions from my trip (approx 4.5 tonnes of CO₂) will be offset via the carbon neutral company http://www.carbonneutral.com