Campaign for Sustainability | Addressing and advocating progress towards sustainable social change | A campaign by truCSR

 

In the months and years to come, we will be witness to a world that has been through a critical phase due to the COVID-19 Pandemic. It will be a world that continues to work towards rebuilding and trying to achieve various economic, social, cultural, ecological and general development goals. One could regard this as a process of learning and unlearning about existing infrastructures and their potential in the future. While measuring the potential of things in the future, there are several factors taken into consideration, factors that stand out in these largely borrowed from the idea of sustainability. 

Hence, the concept of sustainability has more value today than ever before. Given this background, truCSR is launching its “Campaign for Sustainability” for the span of two months where we breakdown complex ideas of sustainable development across thematic areas. 

In the process of analyzing the future and what the future should hold, sustainability becomes the bedrock of these conversations. In the broadest sense, sustainability refers to the problem of allocating scarce resources over the very long term. It is largely linked to the idea of intergenerational equity, but not identical to it. The primary argument of sustainability lies in the question of fairness and wellbeing for and between future generations. The Brundtland Report of 1987 established one of the earliest conceptual basis for ‘sustainable development’ and that continues to be one of the widely accepted definitions of the same. The report defines it as: ‘development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs’.

When the world stands at a cusp of depleting resources and beginning the process of welcoming what the future holds, it is time for us to start working towards building mechanisms that support the idea of future wellbeing. For the longest time, sustainable development has been associated with ecological wellbeing which has reduced its relevance that can be used as a premise for monumental development changes. Conversations of “in the longer run” require the lens of sustainability that allows us to visualize a future that is all-encompassing. Sustainable development brings with it the ethics of inclusivity, accountability, accessibility and empathy that often gets sidelined in efforts taken to bring and initiate change. 

Serving the purpose of providing us with a cohesive outlook, the Global Goals for Sustainable Development or the Sustainable Development Goals provides a shared blueprint for peace and prosperity for people and the planet, now and into the future. Being a universal vision and the basis for renewed coordination, it provides countries a medium that allows interconnected ways of approaching issues at their own pace by leaving no one behind. It highlights the importance of everyone playing a huge part in the process of sustainable development. 

It is crucial that developing countries implement creative policy frameworks to ensure immediate socioeconomic assistance in the aftermath of the COVID-19 crisis, as well as sustained progress toward the 17 Sustainable Development Goals. Current policy distortions and perverse incentives that inhibit sustainable growth should be addressed in a post-pandemic strategy. Policies can also build synergies through several SDGs at the same time, such as increasing economic growth, creating jobs, reducing poverty, improving the environment, and improving health outcomes. While also focussing on cost-effectiveness, revenue, efficiency and effective enforcement. This necessitates prioritizing policies that produce immediate progress toward multiple SDGs without jeopardizing other SDGs, along with additional financial support. 

Looking inwardly, India, as a country that is on its way to becoming an economic superpower given it has the largest workforce and its geopolitical standing. It is also important to note that economic growth becomes a skewed measure of evaluating growth and setting benchmarks for the same. For a country that accounts for 17% of the world’s population, parameters outside of economic growth are equally crucial. The social, economic and cultural disparity between various sections of the society poses central questions regarding India’s efforts in tackling vulnerabilities and their consequences. COVID-19 has not made this journey smooth, it continues to pose challenges that need to be addressed in the path to recovery from the pandemic through sustainable solutions.

In an attempt to throw light on the effective measures that can be taken on this road to the well-being future world, we use the platform to LEARN, SHARE and COMPREHEND from examples and best practices across the globe. Each week comes with a theme that will give us an opportunity to delve deeper into the dynamics of sustainability with different lenses. And, towards the end of this two-month-long journey, we will be addressing the fundamental questions of ‘what and how of sustainability?’ in order to raise awareness of social change and our role as change-makers in the course.

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truCSR is a social engagement platform run by a group of professionals with a passion for social development with a cumulative experience of more than 100 years in the field of Corporate Social Responsibility (#CSR), finance, taxation, corporate and allied laws, corporate governance and strategic management. The platform seamlessly connects Implementers and Contributors to amplify the #CSRimpact and accelerate the process of social change with digital solutions. This platform is owned and developed by a company headquartered in Mumbai, Maharashtra. 

If you are looking for projects from #nonprofit organizations in different thematic areas, write to info@trucsr.in - truCSR will coordinate end-to-end with the nonprofit community and share proposals with you as per the requirement.