The question of the business sector maximising on profits at the expense of the green economy came under spotlight at the recent Green Business Seminar, held at the OR Tambo Precinct. While the country donned red and white in celebration of Valentines Day, green took centre stage at the Ekurhuleni Metropolitan Municipality, with Alive2Green’s seminar aimed at lobbying the public and private sectors to prioritise the green economy agenda.

The seminar delegates heard that many companies have sustainable strategies incorporated into their coporate strategies only as a compliance matter and not as a necessary imperative.

Julie Stacy, one of the experts cautioned against an attack on profit maximisation by companies saying the profit imperative is a legal requirement for any appointed CEOs, and they must deliver to the expectations of shareholders. “However, we must find a way to get cooperates into paradigm shift and advocate for the green message to the younger generations as a matter of daily activity,” she continues.

Strong views continued to suggest that business needs to do more. Ekurhuleni Head of Economic Development Department, Caiphus Chauke, called on business to take a step back and reflect. “Profit maximisation still takes precedence and the fact is until such time that business integrates sustainable strategy as part of the corporate strategy as a business imperative, we will have difficulty in the area of green economy,” he says.

The seminar agreed on the sentiment that sustainability should not be limited to green projects that reduce carbon but how corporates affect the social aspect of its employees. The seminar called on bold leadership in the corporate world to usher the age of green economy.

Ekurhuleni Member of the Mayoral Committee responsible for Economic Development and City Planning, Clr Bennet Nikani, says the municipality’s new growth path has identified sectors and parts of the economy where jobs can be created. Nikani further stated that the most important element of the new growth path is the green economy and the enormous potential that it holds for creating jobs, decent work opportunities and lifting the rate of economic growth.

Meanwhile, in his State of the Nation Address, President Jacob Zuma confirmed government’s position on green economy, saying that an R800 million National Green Fund was established last year, out of which over R400 million investments in green economy projects have already been approved for municipalities.