CSR Press Release

Last week's election of Barack Obama as President of the United States on the platform of hope and change -- as well as clean energy and green jobs and wealth distribution -- has sparked optimism for the prospects of transitioning to a sustainable economy underpinned by corporate social responsibility (CSR). The Obama win comes amidst worsening climate and economic crises, both of which require a transformed economy. Recommendations to President-Elect Obama abound on how best to accomplish this transformation, raising expectations on what path he will choose.

Business for Social Responsibility (BSR), which convened its annual conference during the election, seized the opportunity to survey a third of the 1,200 attendees on their fresh views of the Obama election. Almost nine in ten respondents welcome Obama's election as promising a positive impact on advancing CSR, primarily by promoting renewable energy investments, mitigating climate change fairly, and convening collaboration between business, government, and civil society. Almost two-thirds of respondents also say more robust CSR could have mitigated -- or even prevented -- the market meltdown. "The incoming Obama Administration can chart a more effective path to long-term economic recovery by embracing sustainability," BSR CEO Aron Cramer summarized.

Two conference events in particular weighed in on the prospects of a sustainable economy issuing from the Obama Administration. A panel on leadership toward sustainability amidst the financial crisis noted that Obama's acceptance speech acknowledged a planet in peril and a global economy in tatters, but he didn't connect the two crises. "We cannot think about these two issues separately -- they have got to be integrated," said Ceres President Mindy Lubber.

Fortune writer Marc Gunther echoed this sentiment at a GreenBiz-BSR Leadership Dinner. "You have to come up with a way to say the purpose of this is do two things: do something about climate change but also to stimulate the new green economy," Gunther said. "If it can be packaged that way, as opposed to something that will raise gasoline prices or raise electricity prices -- which it absolutely will do -- then it has a much better chance." Gunther suggested that Obama could tap the grassroots movement of his campaign to support action on climate and energy.

CSRwire President Joe Sibilia urged President-Elect Obama to support a new corporate structure to achieve a sustainable economy in a blog post on our Video, Commentary, and Research (VCR) site. He points to Underdog Ventures, B Corporations, Corporation 20/20, Common Good Corporations, and the Fourth Sector as propagating alternative corporate models. "There are many independent and fragmented thinkers and practitioners wrestling with innovative corporate structures; but, a clear leader has not emerged and President-Elect Obama could fill that void," says Sibilia.

Calvert and Ben & Jerry's Board Member Terry Mollner blogs that the moment is ripe for the transition to the next layer of maturity in socially responsible business where cooperation replaces competition. "At full maturity we naturally and effortlessly give priority to the common good of us all. It becomes our mature self-interest," says Mollner. In other words, we express individual freedom not by hording goods individually, as espoused by capitalism as currently practiced, but by embracing the common good. Natural Investments Director of Social Research Michael Kramer added his comments affirming this point: "We don't need to see the concept of individual liberty as freedom from intervention, rather we can see it as freedom to create the world we wish to see -- an equitable and regenerative planetary civilization within the context of healthy ecosystems that will meet our own individual needs."

This article was written by CSRwire contributor Bill Baue.