The Club of Rome has published a "Survivalguide for the Planet". The message is clear:
We must succeed in achieving systemic change within this decade. Companies have a responsibility to make a substantial contribution - to protect resources and avoid harmful emissions. The Horst Brandstätter Group therefore pursues ambitious goals of its own and offers new forms of cooperation. Because we are convinced that economic success is the decisive driver.
The world is in urgent need of protecting ecological systems and ensuring that resource extraction takes place within planetary boundaries. Many governments, companies, and individuals are already taking important steps toward a more carbon-efficient world. Change, however, is not happening fast enough. According to the IPCC, current climate policies are likely to lead to a temperature increase of well over 2°C in the coming decades. Too often, the global community is still stuck in a triangle of inaction: People expect companies to change their operating or business models, companies expect governments to create the right policy framework or tax incentives, and governments wait for people to change their behavior. As Horst Brandstätter Group, we want to help break through this inaction - by taking new steps, launching new initiatives and enabling new forms of collaboration.
For companies to make a relevant ecological and social contribution to saving the world, economic success is crucial. Our group of companies is therefore developing new sustainable business areas step by step - to do the right thing and to do it profitably. In the process, challenges and tensions arise for which new creative solutions must be found. For established brands, too, it is crucial to build new trust. The key questions are: How do I design a product or service that helps people in the world? What design is necessary so that we do not consume more resources than our planet can provide?
The Horst Brandstätter Group wants to answer these questions cogently - and thus become a platform for future investments within the entire value chain. For the design of new cooperation models, we have defined 8 principles that guide our actions. Economic success is the means to a good end.
We provide impetus for people to find meaning for themselves or in community, whether through personal projects or social commitment. Our group, its brands and its products offer many possibilities for identification.
We create conditions for people that promote their health. This applies to our services and products as well as to our operational processes. All work processes are regularly checked for safety. We offer good working conditions that enable a healthy work-life balance.
We help to ensure that people can participate. This includes supporting freedom of expression and personal engagement. To this end, we are in dialog with various stakeholder groups.
To meet its energy needs, humankind is extracting enormous resources from the earth - in quantities and at rates that exceed the regenerative capacities of the ecosystems. Whether it's fossil fuels, water or rare earths. Fossil combustion releases harmful emissions. This is why the principle of resource protection is imperative for the future. There must be no further environmental pollution through the systematic extraction of resources. To realize this, the use of renewable energies, for example, is crucial.
Many innovations lead to synthetic substances entering nature, with negative effects on our eco-systems. Thus in the future any further environmental pollution from the production, use and recycling of synthetic substances must be avoided. It must be ensured that no new potentially harmful substances enter the environment. To achieve this, we are working, for example, on the evaluation of alternative materials for our products and on the introduction of a product take-back system.
We help people to develop individually or in community. To this end, we offer a variety of inspirational activities - personal, playful, educational.
Natural ecosystems are negatively affected by human activity. Jungle clearing, monocultures, land sealing or landfills lead to serious problems in nature and wildlife. The goal for all stakeholders must therefore be to support the development of nature and not to impair the ecosystem through their own operational processes. This includes ecological compatibility in construction and conversion planning, the use of organic raw materials, but also the responsible use of water. It must be ensured that there is no danger to nature or wildlife from products. We are working on a zero-waste strategy and are examining the conditions of organic raw materials and how they are produced.
We support people in forming an unbiased picture of the world. Our products and services help people meet each other without prejudice and without any form of discrimination. This applies to us in the company as well as to society.
This creates challenges and tensions for which new creative solutions must be found. For established brands, too, it is crucial to build new trust. The key questions are: How do I design a product or service that helps people in the world? What design is necessary so that we do not consume more resources than our planet can provide? The Horst Brandstätter Group wants to answer these questions cogently - and thus become a platform for future investments within the entire value chain.
From the perspective of climate experts, global supply chains are the area where cooperation on emissions reduction still has immense potential. Large corporations as well as SMEs must therefore now enter into a committed decarbonisation dialogue. The Horst Brandstätter Group also sets itself ambitious goals in this regard. We want to be pioneers - whether it is about implementing regulatory trends, such as mandatory climate reporting, or approaches to integrating climate targets into procurement processes. Platforms such as Science Based Targets provide important guidance.
We need a global systemic perspective to successfully address the socio-environmental challenges and to initiate a global shift in consciousness in favour of sustainability. This requires tremendous efforts at all levels - local, regional and global, coupled with ingenuity, innovation, new technologies, effectiveness and smart governance. "Business as usual" is no longer an option.
Dr. Johan Rockström from the Stockholm Resilience Center
