The entire economy needs to learn from the forestry industry what sustainability means—the "Holzweg" is a good example.
Sustainability is everywhere. You come across it on the news, in the cleaning supplies cabinet, in the latest spring collection of any fashion company, when choosing a web browser, or on the packaging of disposable items—sometimes more, sometimes less vague, and often used as a selling point. After all, sustainability has long since become a buzzword—an ambiguous umbrella term, a criterion tossed off casually, and a counterargument or killer argument. Many of the things touted as “sustainable” today are difficult—or even impossible—to reconcile with the 17 global goals of the 2030 Agenda for socially, economically, and environmentally sustainable development.
[Sustainable] companies will generate more profits than other types of companies.
The 2030 Agenda is described as “a roadmap for the future that enables a life of dignity worldwide while, at the same time, sustainably preserving the natural foundations of life”—as stated on the German federal government’s website. The goals are aimed at everyone, the website continues, including “governments worldwide, as well as civil society, the private sector, and the scientific community.” However, today’s roadmap has far too many one-way streets, dead ends, and construction zones to ensure a smooth transition toward sustainable development. Above all, because—even under the banner of sustainability—people get entangled in turf wars and ideological skirmishes. Organic vegetables clash with organic meat, e-mobility with plug-in hybrids, wind farms with nuclear power, cargo bikes with company car privileges. Whether at a political banquet, a cultural event, or on social media: opinions are preconceived, discourse is stifled by distractions and hostility, and debates are reduced to slogans. Meanwhile, division, suspicion, and prejudice are flourishing. Social sustainability? Not a chance. Instead, we’re being divided—as they say today. Yet another buzzword.
...an economic agenda that serves people's needs while respecting the planet's limits is compatible with financial success and, ultimately, is even necessary.
It would certainly be good to look to the place where wood has been split since time immemorial: the forest. After all, that is also where sustainability was invented. In late-medieval forestry and timber regulations in Central European mining regions, these measures were implemented to counteract uncontrolled deforestation, ensuring that the long-term timber needs of the mines, saltworks, and wood-processing industries could be met. Harvest only as much wood as can regrow: this is the core of the original concept of sustainability. Significantly, it was preceded by an acute shortage of wood. An emergency situation that was brought under control—with a cool head, through skillful, efficient, and needs-based planning and management. Based on these principles, sustainability should also be practiced, advanced, and lived out today—with an eye toward economic efficiency. It’s no coincidence that the goals of the 2030 Agenda are also formulated with economic sustainability in mind. For while money is an artificially created resource, it is just as finite as oil or gas. Anyone who fails to recognize this is on the wrong track when it comes to the critical issues of the future.
...every company can be pro-community, pro-business, and pro-environment—and at the same time (...) there is no need to compromise between profitability and positive change.
