Commissioner addresses the 2006 BCSD Summit

Stewart Davies' conference speech to Scottish business

S Davies "The Sustainable Development Commission is the Government's independent advisor on sustainable development. We aim to assist both government and business to work together for a sustainable future.

The markets in which businesses find opportunities for wealth creation are increasingly being shaped by the need to live and work sustainably within the resources of our planet. Transforming our society and economy onto a sustainable basis would, from a global perspective, mean that our burden on the biosphere is reduced to a fair share, so called "one planet" living.

This is in contrast to our current impact which is around three times this. This change would be of similar magnitude to that brought by the industrial revolution and, unless there is a wholly unanticipated change from our current economic system, capitalism, it will be delivered by businesses.

This is an exciting new frontier of opportunity: leading businesses are already engaging with the fast-developing changes and focusing on the market openings they create. Business opportunity extends across all sectors, not just those recognized as “green industries”. For many of these businesses, the thinking has moved deep into the organization, from beginnings which may have been in "end of pipe solutions", through supply-chain innovation and recycling to new product development and fundamental redefinition of business strategy.

As a nation, the prize for being at the vanguard of this change is reinvigoration of the economy as our companies will have internationally competitive skills: skills honed by success in their home market delivering a world-class programme of transformation to sustainable development.

Government at the Scottish, UK and EU level must act judiciously, but with pace and ambition, to create the framework in which businesses can succeed in delivering this change. One vital area is creating market certainty, which enables businesses to turn innovation into successful mainstream products and services. Key interventions by government can make all the difference, speeding up the switch to consuming products and services that are more sustainable.

The Commission is working to promote more effective action through policy, fiscal measures, public procurement, provision of information and engagement. Through collaboration with business, such as our links with the BCSD, we aim to ensure that sound understanding of the business perspective and leading-edge insights from best-practice are fully factored into our advice to government."

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