The World Population Clock tell us this is so.
If nothing else it’s a milestone that should help us think hard.
Think hard about what the role of sustainable business should be in a world with that many people in.
When it comes to big macro issues such as population companies often struggle in terms of ‘taking a position’.
As well they might. What can they say? Issue a press release about “Short term opportunity and long term resource threat”?
That’s not really appropriate. On issues such as this, actions speak louder than words.
Actions such as:
- Supporting independent research on what population growth will mean for resource scarcity
- Joining competitors, peers and industry groups to express concern about this
- Work towards collaborative solutions that minimise waste and look at alternatives
- Being publicly honest about the outlook: Stop pretending that 8 billion people can all have iPhones
- Put greater pressure on politicians to understand the outlook – and incentivise solutions. Call it good lobbying, or call it self interest. On resource scarcity, it’s often the same thing
I'm Tobias Webb, founder of Innovation Forum and Sustainable Wine. I write on this blog, with others, about areas of interest to me in supply chains, circular economy and sustainability in general. I hope you find it useful. I've worked in sustainability for about 20 years, and work with large companies, NGOs and governments all over the world. I often act as facilitator, at our conferences, and other meetings, either private or multi-stakeholder. I also work as a 'critical friend' advisor to companies on strategy and stakeholder engagement. I have a separate wine website on sustainability in wine at 
