The Swiss Project Management Journal
The People Project
Are they Sustainable?
Sustainability i nitiatives of o rganizations . By Singaravelan Thangevelu
“It is now beyond argument that human rights law
includes obligations relating to the environment,” -
UN Independent Expert on human rights and the
environment, John H. Knox.
“Earth provides enough to satisfy every man's needs,
but not every man's greed.” - Mahatma Gandhi
“The greatest threat to our planet and environment
is the believe that someone else will save it”- Robert
S
ustainability is a complex concept.
The UN’s Bruntland commission
defines it as follows: “sustainable deve-
lopment is development that meets the
needs of the present without compro-
mising the ability of future generations to
meet their own needs.”
The sustainability committee of UCLA
(University of California, Los Angeles)
defines sustainability in a similar way:
“the physical development and institu-
tional operating practices that meet the
needs of present users without compro-
mising the ability of future generations to
meet their own needs, particularly with
regard to use and waste of natural re-
sources. Sustainable practices support
ecological, human, and economic health
Swan. This article consists of three parts. In the first,
we look at how sustainability is defined. In the
second, we explain the Paris climate accord and
provide an overview of how a few companies have
contributed to meeting the objectives of that accord.
Finally, we interview leaders of sustainability from
two companies in Switzerland with international
reach.
and vitality. Sustainability presumes that
resources are finite, and should be
used conservatively and wisely with a
view to long-term priorities and conse-
quences of the ways in which resources
are used.”
In simpler terms, sustainability is about
balancing the needs of society, conserving
the environment and at the same time
managing the economy optimally (see
illustration), to the benefit of our children
and our grandchildren, and the world we
will leave them.
Paris climate accord
The Paris Agreement (French: Accord de
Paris), or Paris climate accord and Paris
climate agreement, is an agreement with-
in the United Nations Framework Conven-
tion on Climate Change (UNF
CCC) dealing with greenhouse gas
emissions mitigation, adaptation
and finance starting in the year
2020. The language of the agreement was
negotiated by representatives of 196
parties at the 21st Conference of the
Parties of the UNFCCC in Paris and
adopted by consensus on 12 December
2015. As of June 2017, 195 UNFCCC
members have signed the agreement, 151
of which have ratified it.
In the Paris Agreement, each country
determines plans and regularly reports
the contribution it should make in order
to mitigate global warming. There is no
mechanism to force a country to set a
specific target by a specific date, but each
target should go beyond previously set
targets.
Concerns in the present situation
Graph 1 shows clearly the worrying state
of affairs with the temperature of our
earth and especially since the industrial
revolution, it is consistently on the rise.
The Graph 2 indicates the CO2 emissions
Graph 1
Project Management Institute
SWITZERLAND Chapter
16
2017 Edition