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Cheating is a Choice – Not a mistake…!

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… can we now expect a tsunami of cheats that will be revealed… is it the end of CSR?

Do you remember him, the bicycle-athlete who deceived everybody during most of his career – Lance Armstrong, or the sprinter Ben Johnsson, or Justin Gatlin – the list of cheaters seems to be endless. (An incomplete list of doping cases can be found Here – and these are only those who have been found...)

If athletes are tested positive for doping, they are almost always suspended for a period of three or more years, some countries are even drafting legal bills that would lead to imprisonment. On top of this the cheating athlete is publicly disgraced and sometimes stripped of their medals and titles.

This is the punishment society deems reasonable in relation to the extent of cheating – which simplified can be described as; “Cheating from the rules of fair play”.

Too-Big-to-Fail, HQ-OptWhat happens if a corporation cheats – from the rules of fair play, from legal demands, from Social Responsibility or from ethics…?

…could it be that corporations get away with cheating easier than individuals – is it yet another “Too Big to fail” phenomenon…?

Let’s take a look at some “big-time” cheats, and you can judge for yourself. Continue reading

“Average” – a Sustainable Role model…

Average-1, HQ-Opt

… It is probably a bit presumptuous to think that everybody, will live a life equal to all in Every aspect – it is possibly not even a desirable scenario…

What we should aim for is to get everybody closer to a Sustainable Average – an Average that is securely anchored on the positive side of the Sustainable Bottomline.

Today’s Role models are almost always based on the lifestyles among the wealthy – the highest income, the fanciest cars, the biggest boats, the grandest houses, the most frivolous parties and so on – with little or no consideration of the consequences of such abundance.

Let’s look at what a Sustainable Role Model could look like… Continue reading

A Sustainable Nudge…

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Have you ever heard the expression…

“…a push in the right direction”

Maybe it is not more difficult than that… to move in a Sustainable direction.
It’s a little bit like rolling a large boulder, the toughest part is to get it moving in the first place.

There are kilometers of scientific text written about what “nudging” really is, there is a lot of ongoing research and there are several organisation focusing on the subject – no lack of facts and information if you want to dig deep into the subject.

Could perhaps nudging be a good tool to “get the boulder rolling…” when moving towards a Sustainable society?

Let’s delve a little on the subject…

Continue reading

Just begin…

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Do you really need a detailed plan for everything you do?
…then becoming Sustainable is probably the biggest challenge you will ever encounter.

Of course there is a need to make plans, but in today’s increasingly fast-changing global society, the need for adaptivity and “change-readiness” is probably far greater.

I have seen people and organizations so dedicated to extensive planning that it actually suppresses all enthusiasm and energy – even the most actual and brightest ideas are subdued or turned down, unless they are accounted for somewhere in the “master-plan”.

“Life is really simple, but we insist on making it complicated.”

Confucius

This is probably also one of the reasons that “culture-driven” organizations thrive while “structure-driven” tend to wither. There is simply very little room for more than “one” enthusiast in a hierarchical and structure-driven organization.

Continue reading

A little closer to a Sustainable World…

A Little Closer to a Sustainable World

Nobody knows exactly where we are going, and nobody knows what the journey will be like – the only thing certain is that unless we move to create a Sustainable existence on this planet, we are screwed…!

The extent of our stupidity when it comes to Sustainably living on our planet is almost impossible to comprehend and in the same way solutions will require changes, so far-reaching that we probably haven’t  realized more than a fraction of it yet.

img-bookProbably no one has described it better than Naomi Klein in her latest (2014) book “This Changes Everything“.

But – We must not let the magnitude of the challenge paralyze us, we need to keep up the momentum, or as Winston Churchill once said:

Never, Never, Never give up!

…and changes are happening – definitely not to the extent necessary and not at the speed the urgency requires, but nevertheless, some positive trends are “surfacing”…

Let’s take a look at some of them.

Continue reading

Break the Unsustainable pattern…

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Have you ever really thought about why you do the things you do in life?
Most people would argue that they do things based on their own decisions and that they are in charge.

…is that true?

I am not a psychologist or behaviourist, but I would argue that although we think we are “in charge”, most of us are not… at least not to the extent we think we are. Continue reading

Stranded Assets or DIV€$TM£NT…

Global Divestment Day, HQ

When the Fossil Free Movement is arranging Global Divestment Day on February 13 and 14 more than 400+ events are taking place all around our Planet. Media outlets like The Guardian are calling it “The fastest growing divestment campaign ever.”

This movement and all other actions to defund the Fossil Fuel Industry are absolutely crucial to the continued existence of Humanity on this planet.

“…80 % of known Fossil Fuel reserves must stay in the ground…”

…if we are to have any chance of keeping the global temperature rise below +2 deg C.

This is the scientific facts compiled not only by the large amount of researchers included in the UN IPCC network, but also by a wide range of other research institutions. These undisputed facts have been referred to by numerous important institutions such as the World Bank, IMF, among others.

…and still all kinds of excuses are being heard when Corporations, Funds, Banks and other Investors try to defend their continued addiction to Fossile Fuels.

What a load of Cr..!

Continue reading

Human to Human – the sustainable future…!

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“All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights. They are endowed with reason and conscience and should act towards one another in a spirit of brotherhood”

  UN, Declaration of Human Rights, Article 1

The Universal Declaration of Human Rights, was adopted by the UN General Assembly on 10 December 1948. The entire text of the UDHR was composed in less than two years under the leadership of Eleanor Roosevelt, at a time when the world was divided into Eastern and Western blocks. By its resolution 217 A (III) of 10 December 1948, the General Assembly, adopted the Universal Declaration of Human Rights with eight nations abstaining from the vote but none dissenting.

The UDHR has during more than 6 decades been the foundation for numerous laws and has inspired more than 80 international human rights treaties and declarations.
Isn’t it remarkable that an universal agreement with overall support to such extent is being neglected…

…and I am not only talking about wartime situations, extremists, evil regimes or dictators – I am talking about the Corporate world. Continue reading

The Door is about to close…

www.sorenandersson.comIt is disheartening to see so many people and corporations still trying to create a fictive “choice-situation”, pretending that we can somehow choose not to address Climate change…

When reading the latest IPCC-report and listening to scientists and people with access to vast amounts of accurate data on what is currently happening with our climate it is absolutely clear – emissions from fossil fuels have to peak within this decade, otherwise we are destined to a climate at least 4 degrees warmer with subsequent widespread destruction of society and environment, as we know it.

We are currently consuming renewable resources at a pace of >150% of what the planet can sustainably supply – even a 1:st grader can do the Math necessary to realize that continued growth and increased consumption under these circumstances is preposterous, but…

…still a majority of corporations, municipalities and states are planning for business-as-usual, as if there is nothing to worry about, as if the acutely necessary changes to our society are in fact never going to happen.

What about Consequences…?

Continue reading

Let’s exploit children and youth…

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…Do children and youth have a right to choice?

A couple of weeks back when we went out for a family-dinner at a very nice restaurant, I couldn’t help myself from doing a little bit of “social studies”…

What struck me the most was a family of five, two adults, one child around 2-3 years old and two around 7-12 years old. After some initial “hustle” on who was going to sit where, they more or less stopped talking to each other. Already before the waiter took their orders the parents had set up an iPad in front of their youngest, sitting in a “highchair” – from a distance it looked like some kind of “Disney-based” interactive movie/game – the other two were so preoccupied texting or playing with their smartphone’s that the waiter actually had to “cut-in” a number of times to complete the orders…

I will try not to be didactic or judgmental here, I’m just going to accept that I don’t understand everything I experience and see – but It sure left me contemplating on our society and how we introduce our kids into it for a while… Continue reading