Adam Werbach：学生可以找到全球可持续发展的解决方案
Today’s students are the ones who will find the solutions to global sustainability, a leading expert in the field told those at the College of William and Mary on Thursday evening, Sept. 24. Adam Werbach, leader of the world’s largest sustainability agency and author of the 2009 book “Strategy for Sustainability,” addressed nearly 400 梅森商学院 students, faculty and staff at the newly opened Brinkley Commons Room of Alan B. Miller Hall.
“You're going to do it, you’re one of best universities in the world,” said Werbach, who was elected the youngest-ever president of the Sierra Club in 1996 and is now global CEO of Saatchi & Saatchi S. “Students are always at the forefront of great movements. It’s the great challenge for this generation.”
Werbach praised the university’s sustainability initiatives and especially its status as the first university to take on the challenge of DOT -- Do One Thing for Sustainability -- by encouraging individuals to post their actions, such as biking to work or eliminating meat from their diets, on the 梅森商学院 脸谱网 page.
But he also challenged the university to take its efforts beyond the campus and to the 下一个 step, while cautioning that the answers to what that 下一个 step will be won’t come from him or his company, but the students themselves. “I don't know, and I love that. 你会弄明白的。 We'll figure it out together,” he said.
但韦巴赫知道，要达到这一水平，像交通部这样的努力是必要的。 “The only way we'll figure out the mess we've gotten ourselves into is for everyone to be personally engaged,” he said. “It's magic, just magic. When people start becoming engaged, they'll become more engaged – a beautiful unraveling of one step into another.”
正如Werbach所描述的那样，在资源稀缺、人口增长和社会急剧变化的时代，减少大气中碳的需求将不仅仅是环境的可持续性。
“We face an extraordinary time,” he said. “Challenges that have never been faced before. 它要求你超越自己的期望。”
他说，到2050年，世界人口将达到90亿，这将需要一场蓝色运动，这超越了绿色，反映了可持续发展的定义，即满足当代人的需求，同时不牺牲满足后代需求的能力。 他说，绿色适用于环境的可持续性，但蓝色适用于社会、经济、文化等各个方面。
他表示，要应对这些变化，企业需要进行彻底变革。 The old model built business that was rigid and protected from change, but what’s now required is the ability to make change a constant.
他问道：“问题是，你如何建立一家能对这种变化做出反应的公司？”
Showing examples from nature as well as business, Werbach explained that it requires not only personal engagement, but also other qualities, including transparency – “It's inevitable. 他们什么都藏不住。 Information wants to be free,” Werbach said – and networking or thinking outside your own self interests. The last quality he called “North Star” – setting goals for five to 15 years out.
“考虑那些不仅仅是创造利润的目标，还要解决人类面临的重大挑战。”
尽管面临着这些巨大的挑战，Werbach——他说他的个人DOT包括与他的孩子分享自然和学习养鸡——相信，带着一种显而易见的敬畏，可持续发展的目标将会实现。
"We've faced catastrophe before, and it's built into us to be able to overcome,” he said. “我很乐观地认为，我们会找到办法再次做到这一点。”