What is the responsibility of business schools in helping to meet the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals? Are you optimistic that they will be achieved by their target dates?
Scientific and technical lessons related to energy, climate and biodiversity are essential, but they do not allow us to make the transitions that we so badly need. Proof of this is that 2022 will mark the highest level of net CO2 emissions ever recorded.
Engineers have been working for years on technical solutions aimed at improving efficiency, decarbonising and regenerating but they are not yet equipped to give society the inspiration and impetus to carry out the huge ecological and social transition projects that are required.
To get companies on board, we need inspiring and motivating narratives, something that marketing does very well. We also need competent HR experts who are aware of employees’ present and future energy constraints; business strategists who are capable of integrating environmental issues into the heart of companies’ business models; financiers and accountants who take into account biodiversity, climate, and energy challenges and ramifications to meet future compliance requirements.
Engineering schools do not train people in these skills specifically, so it is up to business schools and management universities to do so. Engineers know what to do to decarbonise, but they do not know how to ensure that this project is shared and carried out collectively.
Gaïa, by reconciling hard sciences with social sciences and business, offers solutions to this problem. But the effort must be made collectively, with academic partners, companies, states, NGOs and individuals. Will we be able to go fast enough in the transitions to avoid a bleak future? At Gaïa, we will do everything in our power to achieve this goal.