PHOTOS: ALLTECH
CONFERENCE ▶▶▶
‘Net zero doesn’t cut it’
The buzzword in many industries around the world is achieving ‘sustainability’ by making operations ‘net zero’. But just as the masses realize that they shouldn’t be using more resources and emitting more pollutants, forward thinkers are getting to grips with the idea that ‘net zero’ isn’t good enough. We should be aiming for ‘net positive’.
BY FABIAN BROCKÖTTER
Close to 3,000 delegates joined the Alltech One Ideas confer- ence in person, another 5,000 online.
I
t was one of the main mantras in the life of the late Dr Pearse Lyons, ‘Don’t get it right. Get it going’. And the lat- est edition of the Alltech One Ideas conference carried on in this spirit. Mark Lyons: “My father was right! It’s not
about perfectionism, it’s about progress. If we change the lens and the way we look at things, we can change the way we think.” In exchanging their ideas, the conference speakers definitely offered a new perspective on sustainability and the steps beyond that. Former Unilever CEO Paul Polman shared his point of view on the direction in which the world should move. “‘I need to be sustainable,’ that’s ‘net zero’. But what
does sustainable mean? No harm. It’s a very noble thing to do. But ‘sustainable’ means, ‘I keep the status quo of what is currently happening. I sustain it.’ And that’s not good enough anymore. A little less bad, is still bad. The only way of thinking is to think restorative, reparative, regenerative, and that is what we call ‘net positive’.” He continued: “Net positive is not about doing less harm. It’s about doing more good”. According to Polman, a change needs to happen well beyond the scale of the Industrial Revo- lution. Increasingly, CEOs are required to be broader social leaders and to partner up within and beyond the industry. Many CEOs are struggling to make changes – and that is nor- mal. The good news, however, is that the greatest challenges also present the greatest business opportunities. “It really is about making a business model where you can show that you profit from solving the world’s problems, not creating them,” advised Polman. “And when you can honestly answer the question, ‘Is the world better off because your business is in it?’ We are at the point, confirmed by study after study, where the cost of not acting becomes higher than the cost of
6 ▶ POULTRY WORLD | No. 5, 2022
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