Care for the planet and turn a profit too

(Vatican Radio)  Are stopping climate change and turning a profit at odds with each other or, can businesses profit while helping care for our planet?  That was one of the main questions posed at a conference held in Rome Wednesday at the Pontifical University of the Holy Cross - Santa Croce. The conference, entitled “The New Climate Economy – how economic growth and sustainability can go hand in hand”  comes ahead of Pope Francis’  soon-to-be released encyclical on climate change.

Sponsored by the Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace and the Embassy of the Kingdom of the Netherlands to the Holy See, the World Resources Institute and the Global Commission on the Economy and Climate, the conference reflected on how improving economic performance and reducing climate risk can complement each other. 

In a message to conference participants, Vatican Secretary of State Cardinal Pietro Parolin said,  “The Conference is timely given that  two important preparatory processes of the United Nations system are underway: the UN Summit to adopt the post-2015 development agenda and the UNFCCC COP-21 in Paris, next December, to adopt a new agreement on facing the adverse effects of climate change. Both of them represent the serious ethical and moral responsibility that each of us has towards the whole human family, especially the poor and future generations.”

Conveying  Pope Francis’  and his own best wishes to participants, Cardinal Parolin said they hoped the conference would “contribute to further and deepen reflection on the meaning of the economy and its goals, as well as to finding ways to guarantee access to a truly integral human development for all, especially the poor and the future generations.”

Her Excellency Lilianne Ploumen, Minister for Foreign Trade and Development Coordination of the Netherlands participated in Wednesday’s conference.  Describing her job as the Minister for “Aid and Trade,”  she told Vatican Radio hers is “the most interesting portfolio for a minister to hold because it’s both about inclusivity, leaving no one behind, and economic growth.” 

Listen to Christopher Altieri's interview with the Netherlands' Minister for Aid and Trade, Lilianne Ploumen:

The future: understanding that you can only make a profit if you care for the climate

“Looking green is not enough” for businesses today, Minister Ploumen says.  “In order to grow, to benefit companies but also society, we need to be very responsive to climate change.  And the conference today I think made the case that caring for the climate is a business case... it does not need to be a zero-sum game where you either care for the climate or you make a profit.  I think the future is in the understanding that you can only make profit if you care for the climate.”

Doing good is good for business

To make her point, Ploumen indicates the multinational company Unilever which also produces tea.  “They know if they don’t do that in a sustainable way, there will be no production in ten, twenty, thirty years.”  Doing good is good for businesses she stresses.   “Some business leaders, and more and more I have to say, act on their moral convictions to do the right thing.”  “I would encourage everyone – we’re moving [in the right direction] but we’re not yet there – so please step up and join this club.”

Ensuring a trickle-down effect of economic wealth

One of the challenges of our times, Ploumen says, is that economic growth is patchy and does not reach everyone, “so we have to make a concentrated and a joint effort to make sure that also wealth trickles down to everyone.”

She notes that more than two million jobs in the Netherlands depend on the foreign trade the nation does with other countries. 

The Netherlands, she says, is looking beyond its most important trading partners: the Eurozone, Japan, Canada and the U.S., because “it is fair to say that they are not the only game in town anymore.”

Some of the world’s fastest growing economies like Asia and Africa are of increasing interest, she notes, saying the Netherlands has had “a very longstanding development partnership” with some countries such as Ghana and Rwanda which  both want to “stand on their own two feet”  and  not be “dependent on development aid by 2020.” 

Minister Ploumen explains, “they know they need economic growth, inclusive economic growth to make that happen.  And we want to become their partner in that growth. And you could say it’s a transition from development aid – which we still need in many contexts – to economic relations.  So it’s also about having a more equal partnership.”

Governments should consider creating a Ministry for Aid and Trade

Combining “aid and trade,” she  adds, “is really about the future,” but she cites only Denmark as having a similar Ministry.  “I would encourage all countries to think about this concept and renew their thinking on how we can create global inclusive, economic growth.”

“One of the challenges obviously is to create an environment where businesses act responsibly and where governments provide the legal frameworks for their local businesses but also for international businesses.”

If the rule of law provides security to a country’s citizens, she observes, it can also provide security to businesses. “So that’s why we are assisting countries to work on those legal frameworks.”

There is “a lot at stake in Congo, for example,” she explains - because the minerals needed for mobile phone are mined there .

“We are very much aware of the fact that not all mines in Congo are acting responsibly.  Some are even fueling the conflict and we have a program where we provide for conflict-free tin to go into a mobile phone.  So we’re working with the Congolese government, the mining companies, governments like China, but also companies like Philips and Motorola.  So I think that in working together on these global value chains, we can really bring development and trade together.”